The Honorable Sue Gordon, Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence

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Sue is currently the Director at CACI International which provides the unique expertise and distinctive technology that address customers’ greatest enterprise and mission challenges.
 
She was the fifth Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) from August 2017 to August 2019. As PDDNI, Sue was a key advisor to the President and National Security Council and led the 17-member Intelligence Community. With more than three decades of experience in the IC, Sue has served in a variety of leadership roles spanning numerous intelligence organizations and disciplines. Prior to the DNI, Sue served as the Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency from 2015 to 2017, helping the director lead the agency and manage the National System of Geospatial Intelligence.
 
Before joining the NGA, she served for 27 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, rising to senior executive positions in each of the Agency’s four directorates: operations, analysis, science and technology, and support. In 1998, she designed and drove the formation of In-Q-Tel, a private, non-profit company whose primary purpose is to deliver innovative technology solutions for the agency and the IC. She is the recipient of numerous government and industry awards, including the Distinguished Intelligence Medal and the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award. Sue earned a Bachelor of Science from Duke University. A trusted authority on strategy, innovation and leadership, Sue is currently a consultant on global risk, technology, cyber and space issues and a member of the Board at Pallas Advisors, a Washington D.C.-based consultancy.

  
Summary:
In this week’s episode of Building the Base, Hondo and Lauren join Sue Gordon, Director at CACI International and former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, to discuss the future of the defense industrial network.
 
In the first part of the podcast, Sue touches on inefficiencies in the defense acquisition system and the procedural and cultural barriers one must overcome when innovating. One of the most promising avenues Sue highlighted was increased collaboration with the private sector, an area which has seen increased activity in part spurred on by the urgency of the Ukraine crisis. 
 
Hondo, Lauren, and Sue go on to discuss a variety of topics, including:
  • Public/private collaboration in the intelligence community
  • Leadership
  • Work/life balance when in high pressure jobs
  • How the national security sector needs to improve its talent acquisition practices
  • Mentorship
The Honorable Sue Gordon, Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
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