Will Walker

I currently serve as the Vice President of Defense Industrial Policy at the General Catalyst Institute, where I work with founders and policymakers to strengthen the American industrial base and advance our national resilience through transformative technologies.

I grew up in Southern Appalachia and came of age around 9/11, as our nation and its Allies went to war. An Army ROTC scholarship took me to The Citadel, where I commissioned as an infantry officer.

I spent the next eleven years in the Army, leading infantry and special operations formations, with combat and operational deployments across South Asia and Eastern Europe. I worked alongside diplomats and intelligence professionals, and came to value teams that bring different perspectives to hard problems.

That work eventually brought me to Washington, D.C., and deeper into national security. I later studied international public policy at Johns Hopkins SAIS, where I researched how emerging and disruptive technologies are changing the character of war and reshaping America’s strategic competition.

I wanted to work more directly with the people building those technologies and the national security professionals putting them to use. At Onebrief, I established the company’s first international vertical, working with U.S. Allies and partners as they adapted to a rapidly changing technological and security environment. I later established Onebrief’s federal vertical, working directly with the Office of the Secretary of War, the Intelligence Community, homeland security organizations, and other federal agencies.

Curiosity carries through most parts of my life, from traveling and being outdoors to art, history, languages, and staying active. Most of all, I value time with family and friends, and remaining connected to and supporting the military, veteran, and national security communities that have given me so much.