Vanguard Magazine

60 APRIL/MAY 2018 www.vanguardcanada.com gamE CHANGER See the full interview online Q Tell us a little more about your company and your role in it? I am President of the Government Sys- tems Division of Viasat, Inc. Viasat was founded over 30 years ago by three young engineers working out of their garage. Today, Viasat is a $1.6 billion company with over 4,500 employees around the globe. Viasat has three main business segments: Commercial Net- works, Government Systems and Com- mercial Broadband Services. The seg- ment I lead, the Government Systems segment, has revenues of ~$800M per year and has experienced a compound annual growth rate of ~12 per cent over the last six years. Viasat produces satel- lite payloads and ground infrastructure, satellite terminals, networked data links and cybersecurity solutions that provide high speed, assured, secure global com- munications serving both the commer- cial and government sectors. Q What was your most challenging moment? There have been many challenging mo- ments. Mergers and acquisitions are a good example and can be very chal- lenging for all concerned, as they bring together people that might operate very differently and have very different cul- tures. As an example, I once participated in a multi-step merger and associated as- similation of six different defence com- panies. One of my responsibilities was to bring these six companies together by creating a single strategic technol- ogy roadmap across the newly created enterprise – effectively bringing together the technologies and business strategies of the six newly merged businesses. This was really challenging as there were very significant cultural differences among these six companies. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? Having begun my career in the defence industry – which at the time was in the business of inventing new capabilities for the warfighter such as satellite communi- cations, GPS and mobile networking – I saw firsthand how challenging complex DoD technology development programs can really be, especially in terms of cost and schedule. It has been amazing to see some of these defence technologies cross over to the private sector and bring new capabilities to the commercial market. Satellite communications is a great ex- ample of this innovation and technology trajectory. Our Viasat satellites, for ex- ample, have 100 times the capacity and performance of a DoD satellite that was state of the art as recently as 2007. We can now bring these private sector tech- nologies back to the warfighter more rapidly and more affordably than would be possible using the DoD acquisition process. Leveraging these private sector satellite networks will rapidly and afford- ably empower warfighters in ways that are truly game-changing while imposing difficult challenges on our adversaries to deter future conflicts. Q What is a habit that contributes to your success? I am genuinely passionate about what I do, and I think that shows; that makes a difference in every aspect of my profes- sional life. Q What people or organizations do you believe best embody the innova- tion mindset? Viasat. The Viasat culture is designed to unleash people's passion and excitement, and that spurs innovation that is absolute- ly game-changing. Q What are some of the biggest im- pediments to innovation in your industry sector? In the last 25 years, we have seen a tech- nology leadership crossover from the military to the private sector. The pres- ent reality is that private sector innovation continues to accelerate at a pace much faster than the DoD. Driven by market pressures requiring exponential innova- tion to stay one step ahead of the compe- tition, the private sector now clearly leads technology development in the mobile communications and cybersecurity tech- nology sectors, and this technology has been integrated into the fabric of everyday life and military operations. The biggest thing holding innovation back within the global defence industry is that defence organizations haven't come to terms with this technology crossover. Q What technologies, business models, and trends will drive the biggest changes in your industry over the next two years? I think the biggest change we are going to see in the defence sector is a push for superiority in space. As part of that push, satellite communications (SATCOM) will play an integral role. Due to looming threats, I think we will see a shift by the DoD to move to a hybrid adaptive network architecture, which would allow military forces to roam freely across private sector and DoD purpose-built net- works. By combining the power of com- mercial and DoD systems, we will be able to develop the most assured, secure, high capacity SATCOM network in the world, equipping our warfighters with the tools needed across today's digital battlespace. Q What is your parting piece of advice? Find your passion and follow your heart. Ken PetermAn PreSiDent, governMent SySteMS ViASAt inc.

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