A trio of CEO transitions to highlight

PDW

James Slider, formerly the drone tech maker’s chief operating officer for three years, will lead the next phase of its push to build small unmanned aerial systems at greater scale.

Ryan Gury, a PDW co-founder and former CEO, will transition to the chief innovation officer role and focus on the company’s technology roadmap and longer-term vision.

Also known as Performance Drone Works, the company was founded in 2015 to manufacture smaller autonomous platforms for use in combat and crisis response missions. Gury, Trever Smith and Matt Higgins started PDW with the idea of countering the market dominance of foreign-made drones with a domestic alternative.

“Our collective focus, now more than ever, is delivering great technology at scale to the operators that need it most. PDW remains an innovation-first company and Ryan and I will remain deeply engaged in shaping what comes next,” Slider wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Slider’s elevation to the CEO post follows a $35 million investment in November from Ondas Networks, which also focuses its strategy around artificial intelligence-enabled autonomous systems. PDW and Ondas will collaborate on tech development efforts related to homeland security.

Valiant Integrated Services

Daniel Simms’ elevation to the CEO role took effect Monday, one month after he rejoined this provider of logistics and training services as chief operating officer.

Simms held the COO role at Acuity International for one year before Valiant brought him back for that same role. His prior five-year stint at Valiant includes work as vice president of critical mission solutions.

A military veteran, Simms’ two-decade career in industry includes 11 years at Mission Essential.

In conjunction with Simms’ promotion, Valiant’s board of directors has also brought back former CEO Mike Devoto to the panel less than one year after he retired from that post.

Valiant has been owned by investment firm The GC Companies since 2017, when a group of former Supreme Group USA executives stood up the contractor following a carve-out transaction involving certain business units.

Valiant has recorded approximately $167.3 million in unclassified prime contract revenue over the trailing 12 months. The Defense Logistics Agency represents 60% of that spend with the Army next at 29% and Navy the remaining 11%, according to USASpending.gov data.

Valkyrie Enterprises

Josh Jackson now leads this provider of engineering services and technology solutions following his departure from Science Applications International Corp., where he previously worked for 15 years.

Jackson joins Valkyrie following a trio of acquisitions over the past three years inclusive of Hill Technical Solutions, Ship 2 Shore and Optical Sciences Corp. 

At SAIC, Jackson most recently led the Army business group after previously working in the same capacity for the company’s Navy group.

Valkyrie’s strategy in recent times has prioritized its core Navy business, while those purchases were aimed at further rounding out product and services offerings.

Private equity firm DC Capitals acquired a controlling stake in Valkyrie in the spring of 2022, then promoted David Streett from chief operating officer to COO. Streett has departed Valkyrie after being there for 10 years.

Valkyrie has recorded approximately $43.5 million in unclassified prime contract revenue over the trailing 12 months. The Navy represents 81% of that spend with Air Force and Army work collectively at 15%, according to USASpending.gov data.