ACG National Capital
Bill Weber, CEO of KEYW, speaks with ACG members prior to his address. Bill had the unenviable task of filling in for previous CEO and Founder Len Moodispaw. According to Bill, “Following an icon like Len is difficult, he did a great job of building something that was very unique in the market place.”
On Friday, July 15, 2016, ACG National Capital hosted its monthly meeting, which brings together industry leaders and growth professionals in the National Capital Region and provides them with truly unique opportunity to network, discuss best practices and learn from business thought leaders in their community.
This month, Bill Weber, CEO of KEYW Corporation, addressed the ACG National Capital membership and discussed who they are as a company, their expectations for the future and how the company – as a team – has evolved in the last nine months, after the passing of their iconic founder and leader, Len Moodispaw.
Not a single chair was left empty (a new record) as members eagerly waited to hear an answer to one very curious question. What is KEYW?
Bill began by explaining why KEYW was a very private company in the past, and for so long. According to Bill, “KEYW is one of the best kept secrets in the intelligence industry, and we’re going to change that.” He further explained that, because of the unique community that they serve, KEYW has struggled to clearly define their mission, identify, technology and differentiators to their customers, investors and even employees. Which is why, when he took over the company on October 1, 2015, it, “…wasn’t completely clear on where [the company] was going and what it wanted to be when it grew up.”
During the past year, after the sudden death of its founder and CEO, Len Moodispaw, the Maryland-based company has worked to transition to its new leadership. “Following an icon like Len is difficult,” Bill explained. “He did a great job of building something that was very unique in the market place.”
“So who is KEYW?” He asked the audience, knowing that only he had that answer.
“KEYW is a total solutions company that provides proprietary capabilities and innovative problem solving to address the end-to-end mission needs of its customers,” Bill explained. Meaning, they are collectors of information (information that is not easily collected) which is ultimately converted into intelligence for their customers. KEYW utilizes proprietary technology and solutions to enable its customers to overcome some of the toughest challenges in cyberspace, geospatial intelligence and counterterrorism.
Looking forward, he plans to focus on three major components, which are:
- Strengthen the leadership team
- Improve business efficiency, and
- Get back into growth mode.
He went on to discuss the significant change that the leadership team at KEYW has gone through in the last nine months, when he said, “We are in a great spot with the talent that has come to KEYW recently, and have also made a significant investment in business development with our leadership team.”
He also explained the importance of recruiting and hiring great people, and holding on to them, saying, “We’re looking at recruiting differently than we did in the past, and I think with just a little improvement…there will be a great dramatic impact.”
KEYW today services twenty five percent of the intelligence community. However, the company has no plans of stopping there. In three to five years, they hope to be services all of the agencies that comprise the intelligence community.
According to Bill, “KEYW has a plan to grow into the rest of the agencies and the community where we don’t have a presence today…and we’re not going to make our investors wait long for this growth transformation to happen. 2016 is going to be a growth year with KEYW, largely with the products that we make. We’re projecting some real growth.”
“I’m proud to be in a company that makes its money solving issues where – if we fail in our mission – lives are lost. Which makes it perhaps the most noble cause that we can be apart of.”