Baird Unveils 2024 Defense & Government Conference Lineup

Financial Services Company Bairdwhich is active in the government contracting community, advising on major mergers and acquisitions, announced the schedule and speaker lineup for the 2024 edition of its annual event. Defence and Government Conference.

According to details shared with GovCon Wire, the all-important gathering of GovCon’s top brass will take place on Thursday, November 21st at the Ritz-Carlton, Tysons Corner. The topics will include innovations in defense technology and the implications of the 2024 presidential election and its impact on industrial companies.

As always, Wash100 Award Winners Jean Stack and John Song, Managing Directors at Baird, are the lead organizers and will moderate a number of sessions as well as deliver keynote addresses of their own.

Stack and Song told GovCon Wire that the event is essential because “government and industry come together to talk about the most important topics of the day. Today’s topic is innovation.” They said the 2024 conference is already approaching 1,000 registrants.

Notable GovCon Speakers

Highlights of the day included the former CIA deputy director of innovation and Wash100 winner Jennifer Ewbank’a review of non-traditional players in an interview, after which he will moderate a panel that will include leaders of such emerging organizations, including Michael Southworth from Babel Street.

As mentioned, M&A is Baird’s specialty, and their first panel on the subject—focused on the buyer perspective—is a must-see, featuring Jacob Markish, VP of Strategy and Corporate Development, North America, at Thales, as well as distinguished representatives from SAIC, Northrop Grumman, and L3Harris.

In keeping with the theme of the day, which is defense technology innovation, Parry Labs CEO and Co-Founder JD Parkes will appear in “Transforming Warfighting: Defense Tech Disruption.” Sigma Defense President and CEO Matt Jones will continue the conversation during “Software Delivery to the Edge,” and Wash100 Award winner Steve EscavarageVP of Analytics and AI at Booz Allen Hamilton, will discuss “The Future of Warfare in the Digital Battlespace” with reformed federal official Greg Little, who now works at Palantir Technologies.

Straight from his recent sale to CGI FederalAyeon President and CEO Sunny Singh will participate in an M&A panel on vendor prospects later in the day, and the Wash100-recognized company Scott McIntyrewhose company Guidehouse was sold by Veritas Capital to Bain Capital At the end of 2023, he will perform solo, surely delivering an engaging speech.

Regular attendees can expect commentary from Policy Research Analyst Daniel Clifton (Clifton comes from Strategas) and Baird Senior Research Analyst of Aerospace and Defense Peter Arment’s “A View from Wall Street.” Both sessions are always insightful and draw on the unique perspectives of the presenters.

Finally, don’t miss another Wash100 winner – Leidos’ Chief Development Officer Gerry Fasanowhose discussion (moderated by Song) summarizing the overall market evolution and prospects for the defense sector will conclude the day’s proceedings.

If you are interested in the conference, please write to (email protected). Participation is by invitation only and limited to those who would benefit the most from the event.