Google's Dahut: Quick embrace of emerging tech is "a mindset challenge"
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Karen Dahut, the chief executive at Google Public Sector, would like to see the defense world more quickly adopt emerging technologies.
- "I think that is a mindset challenge. I think it's a cultural challenge. I think it's a process challenge, and I think it's an acquisition challenge," she told Axios in an interview.
- "Legacy providers are motivated to maintain the status quo," she said. "That's a challenge for the Department of Defense."
Why she matters: Dahut has decades of experience in the tech space. She's a former U.S. Navy officer and spent time with Booz Allen Hamilton's global defense business.
Q: When you hear "future of defense," what comes to mind?
A: This question has been on my mind for some time. I've actually been saying data and software are really the future of defense.
- Quick story. I started some of my technology consulting in the automotive industry, and one of my key customers at that time was Toyota Motor Corporation. The chief information officer at that time said 65% of the cost of a car is software. That was an aha moment for me.
- I don't think about hardware. I think about the software and the data that drive that hardware and the ability to make a much more agile defense force.
Q: What region of the world should we be watching? Why?
A: We have to be paying close attention to Indo-Pacific Command. It's where so many things are coming together: economics, population, threats.
- How do we really invest there to make sure that America stays strong and ahead of any threats — but also stays strong economically?
Q: How many emails do you get a day, and how do you deal with them?
A: I love this question, I have to say. I get hundreds of emails a day. I don't use any filtering; I don't use any sorting mechanism. I feel like I'm probably old school. I need to put eyes on the email, and I sort my work based on who the emails are coming from.
- External customers, external partners, that, sort of, takes precedence.
Q: What's your secret to a successful overnight flight?
A: Very simple: Have no expectations of sleep. It's impossible.
Q: What advice would you give your younger self?
A: Enjoy the ride more.
- I joined the Navy right out of college, and it was always about, "What's the next achievement? What am I going to do next?" And I really wish I had sat back and, maybe, enjoyed being in the moment a little more than I was.
- I'm trying to do that at Google.
