Stanford Seminar - Silicon Valley & The U.S. Government: Army Application Laboratory’s Casey Perley

Dr. Casey Perley's Journey

• Dr. Casey Perley, the director of the Army Applications Lab, shared her career journey from pediatric oncology to microbiology, specifically hemorrhagic fever viruses.
• She worked at the United States Army's Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland, before joining the Army Futures Command and eventually becoming the director of the Army Applications Lab.

Mission and Focus of the Army Applications Lab (AAL)

• The mission of the Army Applications Lab is to get the best technology into the hands of warfighters by expanding the Army's access to the civil innovation base, including companies and academia.
• The lab focuses on non-traditional businesses and academia to gain a competitive advantage over adversaries and leverage the latest technologies from the commercial sector.

Key Lessons Learned and Challenges Faced

• The lab refined its mission to focus on non-traditional businesses and divested from the academia mission and the maker space concept.
• Key lessons learned from other innovation arms included starting with a problem rather than a specific technology and issuing broad problem statements to encourage commercial ingenuity and creativity.
• Companies and investors were initially skeptical of AAL but were willing to cautiously collaborate on projects.
• AAL realized that each technology transition project required a bespoke approach and there was no one-size-fits-all playbook.

AAL's Hiring Strategy and Workforce

• AAL's hiring strategy focused on talent rather than specific job roles, allowing them to adapt and build their business model around the team's strengths.
• The civilian workforce within AAL can be broadly categorized into project managers, contracts personnel, and those with commercial project management experience.
• AAL's hiring and firing criteria are based on the ability to translate between technical, corporate, and military languages.

AAL's Metrics and Success Factors

• AAL measures innovation by considering factors such as customer preferences, congressional priorities, soldier needs, and return on investment.
• AAL tracks transition rates, the number of companies with limited DOD experience that go on to do more business with the government, and the amount of money companies raise after working with AAL.
• AAL has received positive feedback from investors and companies on its metrics and reporting, which has led to improvements in the way it measures its success.

Advice for Startups and Companies Working with AAL

• Recreate access companies get in the commercial sector by giving them access to potential buyers (soldiers) to provide feedback.
• Be transparent and provide a business case upfront, including quantity, timeline, and budget, to avoid faulty assumptions.
• Ensure speed to capital by delivering contracts within 90 days and structuring payments to minimize out-of-pocket expenses for companies.
• Give new organizations at least five years before evaluating their success and allow flexibility in problem-solving.

AAL's Role in the Defense Tech Ecosystem

• AAL aims to be known as business-friendly in the commercial space and as the entity that delivers technology quickly to the Army.
• AAL integrates startups through solicitations, which can be specific (need a widget) or cohort projects (involving multiple technical areas).
• Startups can be located anywhere and will be provided with opportunities for soldier touchpoints and experimentation facilities.
• AAL does not own any testing facilities but can provide access to prototype integration facilities and a list of common testing facilities.
• Public-private partnerships can be beneficial, as seen in a case where a company created a private test range in exchange for water rights.

Building a Defense Tech Ecosystem

• Organizations like AAL, SoftWorks, Naval X, and private capital play a crucial role in building a defense tech ecosystem to support the Army's mission.
• The speaker emphasizes the importance of involving the best and brightest minds in Silicon Valley to address the challenges in building hacking defenses and turning the tide in the face of current losses.
• The speaker highlights the significance of clearly defining the problem in broad terms, rather than presenting a solution or requirement, to encourage innovation and creativity among experts.
• The speaker acknowledges the institutional and structural advantages of competitors like China, but stresses the comparative advantage of the US in terms of innovation and creativity.
• The speaker underscores the importance of top cover and leadership, drawing on their military experience and citing the example of General Jim Ry, a war fighter known for his exceptional leadership in challenging roles.