Jane Edwards
Rick Wagner, president of Microsoft’s federal arm and a 2023 Wash100 awardee, said he sees as a primary challenge the emergence of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation and how the federal government can take advantage of such technologies, the Washington Business Journal reported Friday.
He told the publication in an interview about talent recruitment and retention issues facing Microsoft Federal.
“It is a very limited talent pool with the clearances that we need. And so we focus a lot of our attention on what we can do to attract the best there,” he said.
Wagner shared his thoughts on the Department of Defense’s Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract.
“There will be system integrators who have a need for cloud that will end up being contracted to JWCC. It’s a vehicle that is to be used as the need arises,” he said.
He also mentioned Microsoft Federal’s tech partnership with Lockheed Martin.
“We recently signed an agreement with Lockheed Martin where we’re going to work in the Secret cloud together and bring some of our technology together with some of their technology to help us advance the needs of the DOD and other federal customers,” he noted.
