Wednesday, 07 October 2026 08:00 AM
Conferences
Artemis II pilot Victor Glover, former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Director Kimberly Budil and former Defense Innovation Unit Director Doug Beck headline two days on the San Francisco waterfront during Fleet Week
SAN FRANCISCO, CA / ACCESS Newswire / October 7, 2026 / VetsinTech, in partnership with The Bay Area Council and its network of more than 350 member companies, will host the NatSec + Space Innovation Summit (NSSIS), a two-day convening at the intersection of national security, space innovation, and veteran talent. No region is better positioned to lead this work than the Bay Area. This is where the world's frontier AI companies, NASA Ames, and the Defense Innovation Unit converge with research powerhouses and the deepest pool of venture capital on earth, and where veteran talent and veteran-founded startups are already shaping what comes next.
Anchored during Fleet Week, when the nation's defense and maritime community convenes in San Francisco, NSSIS is an inaugural, curated summit where veteran talent, government, corporate innovation and university leaders connect directly.
What: NSSIS is a two-day, invitation-only NatSec and space innovation summit during Fleet Week that brings together founders, investors, government buyers, and veteran operators in a high-signal room built for real national security deal-making. Sean Randolph of the Bay Area Council Economic Institute will brief attendees on the U.S. defense tech market with a Bay Area focus, drawing on the Council's forthcoming report on the region's defense technology economy. More information: vetsintech.co/nssis
Who: An invitation-only convening of 250 to 300 of the most consequential leaders at the intersection of national security, space, and technology. Featured speakers include:
- Victor Glover, NASA Astronaut and Artemis II Pilot
- Raj Shah, Managing Partner, Shield Capital, and former head of the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit Experimental
- Frank Kendall III, former Secretary of the U.S. Air Force
- Maynard Holliday, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies
- Dr. Kimberly S. Budil, Laboratory Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
- Doug Beck, former Director, Defense Innovation Unit, U.S. Department of Defense
- Col. Andrew S. Menschner, Deputy Commander, Space Systems Command, U.S. Space Force
- Dr. Victoria Coleman, Associate Provost, Berkeley Air & Space Center
- Libby Schaaf, CEO, Bay Area Council
- Katherine Webster, Founder and CEO, VetsinTech
The program also features the military's own innovation units, including Army Fuze, Navy and Marine Innovation Units, AFWERX and SpaceWERX, and investors including Shield Capital, In-Q-Tel, ForgePoint Capital, and The Veteran Fund.
When:
- Thursday, October 8, 10:00 AM: NSSIS Career Day. A fireside chat between Doug Beck and Katherine Webster, career panels with speakers from Space Systems Command, Blue Origin, Vast, Scale AI and Accenture, and a hands-on OpenAI Academy session for veterans.
- Friday, October 9, 8:30 AM: NSSIS Innovation Day. Opening remarks from Libby Schaaf, a fireside chat between Victor Glover and Raj Shah on the Artemis II mission, a fireside chat between Frank Kendall and Maynard Holliday on lethal autonomy and the future of warfare, and panels on space, military innovation, research, drones and robotics, AI and cybersecurity, and veteran-led investing.
Where: The Historic Klamath, Pier 9, San Francisco
Visuals: Attendees will be treated to naval maneuvers and ships on the bay and see a planned live, on-the-water autonomous systems demonstration staged against Fleet Week's naval operations.
- On the water:
Navier: Trusted by the U.S. Navy, Navier's all-electric hydrofoil ("the flying boat") "flies" above the bay on autonomous systems, a live preview of the next era of maritime defense. - On-the-ground:
Joby Aviation: An all-electric air taxi, capable of vertical take-off and landing, will be on display for participants to see what's next in cutting-edge door to door travel.
Radiant: The rig that moves the mission. Radiant, the road to rails company, hauling America's freight on road and rail since 1938, will showcase one of its trucks to the waterfront.
- In the sky: The Blue Angels fly overhead with Artemis II astronaut Victor Glover, adding to a convergence of legacy American defense power and next-generation capabilities that no panel or keynote can match.
Story Angles:
- Artemis II, up close: NASA astronaut and Artemis II pilot Victor Glover sits down with Raj Shah, former head of the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit Experimental.
- The future of warfare: Former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Maynard Holliday on lethal autonomy, followed by panels on drone and robotics lessons from Ukraine and on AI and cybersecurity at the edge of national security.
- Veterans building defense tech: Veteran founders, and the investors backing them, on why warfighters are building the next generation of defense and space technology.
- The Bay Area's defense economy: The Bay Area Council Economic Institute previews its forthcoming report on the region's defense technology economy.
- From service to tech careers: Career Day connects veterans, transitioning service members and military spouses with employers in AI, defense technology and space.
Why: For the first time, the San Francisco Bay Area's defense technology ecosystem will gather in one place, with veterans at its core. As other regions move to claim the future of space and defense innovation, NSSIS makes the case, in person, that the San Francisco Bay Area leads the ecosystem. The stakes are rising: the Defense Innovation Unit, headquartered at Moffett Field in Mountain View, saw its funding grow roughly fivefold, from $191 million in FY2023 to $983 million in FY2024.
Media Contact | Media RSVP: NSSIS is invitation-only.
Media interested in attending, or in arranging interviews with speakers and veteran founders, should contact Carmen Hughes at [email protected] or 650.576.6444.
About VetsinTech
Based in San Francisco with more than 150,000 veterans and 28 chapters across the country, VetsinTech is the leading national non-profit devoted 100% to springboarding veterans into tech careers. VetsinTech harnesses the national technology ecosystem to help veterans returning from active military duty pursue new technology careers by applying their exceptional training, skills, and experience. Comprising technology industry leaders and former service members, VetsinTech is the only non-profit supporting veterans and military spouses through tech-based education, employment, and entrepreneurship programs. Learn more at www.vetsintech.co.
SOURCE: VetsinTech