DevFest DC 2026 - Build Edition

Mission Briefings are curated, small-group conversations designed to give defense and dual-use startups access to the experts that can help them scale. The fourth session provides 25 startups with direct access via 1:1 matchmaking to 25 experts from the Department of War, primes, venture capital firms, accelerators, and service providers. Each startup will have several matchmaking sessions with pairings driven by a preference-based process that connects founders with the experts most relevant to their technology and stage. Before and after the sessions, startups can connect with fellow founders and additional experts on-site. Space is limited due to the matchmaking format. EXPERTS Army FUZEJessica Dyroff, Private Capital, Business Analyst AWSRyan Ricer, Lead - Mission Tech Beacon Global StrategiesKaly McKenna, Vice President CSC LeasingJonathan Price, Managing Director, Originations Energy Innovation Capital/EIC VirtusAndrew Lackner, Managing Director Enlightenment CapitalRob Albritton, Managing Director, Innovation and Technology FedTechSevan Araz, Program Manager, Defense and Commercial Innovation Fuse VenturesGarrett Custons, Federal Programs & Strategy Lead Knobbe MartensLincoln Essig, Partner Leonid CapitalSamuel MacGregor, Vice President Lockheed Martin VenturesJohn Richmond, Sr. Investment Manager NASAChristie Funk, Technology Transfer Expansion (T2X) Manager Kelli Jones, Technology Transfer Program Coordinator Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock DivisionLauren (Tink) Hanyok, Facilitation & Foresight Lead Noblis VenturesBill Collier, Principal NooksDanni Guy, Security Specialist Drew Ives, Senior Director, Solutions Northeastern University/Kostas Research InstituteJamie Jones Miller, Dean and CEO Northrop GrummanPaige Anderson, Sr. Analyst, Technology Scouting & Strategic Innovation PillsburySteve Ryan, Partner, ECVC Practice Group Leader Plug and PlaySean Rybus, Venture Analyst, Aerospace and Defense SAICMichael Hauser, Managing Partner, SAIC Ventures Sa

AI governance has become a matter of international diplomacy. In the past few weeks, the UN Security Council held a high-level briefing on AI risk where leaders from major AI companies called for global regulation. Separately, a group of about 20 countries proposed an international oversight body to manage the dangers of AI. Join us for a globe-trotting discussion on where AI policy is heading around the world. We'll see how the EU, the U.S., China, the UK and other countries are regulating AI, and how multilateral efforts like the Hiroshima AI Process fit alongside new UN proposals. We'll also look at the main tensions of global regulation: innovation v. safety, national competitiveness v. global cooperation, and voluntary commitments v. rules that can be enforced. You'll leave understanding how the global rules are forming, what the gaps are and what it means for organizations working across borders. Featured speaker: E. Brian Alexander\, AI Governance\, ISO 42001 & EU AI Act Compliance for Regulated Industries \| ISO 42001 Auditor \| AI Risk Assessment \| AI\, Privacy & Cybersecurity Attorney \| Founder\, Vision AI\+ Consulting Group Location: AWS Skills Center, 1550-G Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202 Drinks and Networking After: Tacombi, 1550 Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202 Description: Join us at AI Innovators Network for our upcoming meetup in the Mosaic, which is dedicated to exploring the latest trends in Artificial Intelligence. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, a professional, or someone curious about the intersection of technology and AI, this event is perfect for networking, learning, and sharing insights. Connect with like-minded individuals from DC, Northern Virginia, and Maryland as we dive deep into the opportunities and challenges of integrating AI. Don't miss this opportunity to be part of the conversation driving innovation and progress in Artificial Intelligence.

AI coding agents can produce changes faster than teams can review them. In this interactive session, we’ll explore how to keep that speed while making confident decisions about quality and risk. We’ll use CodeRabbit’s agentic change management framework—validate, prioritize, explain, and secure—to examine what needs to happen between a generated change and a decision to ship. A proposed hands-on format: walk through a sample AI-generated pull request, have the group decide what they would approve or challenge, and then compare their findings with CodeRabbit’s review. We’ll discuss which issues matter most, what still needs human judgment, and how to apply the same approach in participants’ own workflows. Featured speaker: Jeff Woodall\, Helping Engineering Leaders Ship Trustworthy Code Faster \| AI Code Review\, Security & Agentic Change Management Location: AWS Skills Center, 1550-G Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202 Drinks and Networking After: Tacombi, 1550 Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202 About CodeRabbit: CodeRabbit helps software teams ship faster without lowering the bar for quality. As people and AI coding agents produce more code, teams need a reliable way to understand and review those changes. CodeRabbit’s approach is Agentic Change Management, which brings together four capabilities: validating proposed changes, prioritizing reviews by value and risk, explaining what changed, and identifying security vulnerabilities before and after merge. Our goal is a shared, independent layer of review that helps the whole team make informed decisions about what ships, whether the code was written by a person or an AI agent. Group Description: Join us at AI Innovators Network for our upcoming meetup in the Mosaic, which is dedicated to exploring the latest trends in Artificial Intelligence. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, a professional, or someone curious about the intersection of technology and AI, this event is perfect for networking, learning, and sharing in

AI coding agents can produce changes faster than teams can review them. In this interactive session, we’ll explore how to keep that speed while making confident decisions about quality and risk. We’ll use CodeRabbit’s agentic change management framework—validate, prioritize, explain, and secure—to examine what needs to happen between a generated change and a decision to ship. A proposed hands-on format: walk through a sample AI-generated pull request, have the group decide what they would approve or challenge, and then compare their findings with CodeRabbit’s review. We’ll discuss which issues matter most, what still needs human judgment, and how to apply the same approach in participants’ own workflows. Featured speaker: Jeff Woodall\, Helping Engineering Leaders Ship Trustworthy Code Faster \| AI Code Review\, Security & Agentic Change Management Location: AWS Skills Center, 1550-G Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202 Drinks and Networking After: Tacombi, 1550 Crystal Dr, Arlington, VA 22202 About CodeRabbit: CodeRabbit helps software teams ship faster without lowering the bar for quality. As people and AI coding agents produce more code, teams need a reliable way to understand and review those changes. CodeRabbit’s approach is Agentic Change Management, which brings together four capabilities: validating proposed changes, prioritizing reviews by value and risk, explaining what changed, and identifying security vulnerabilities before and after merge. Our goal is a shared, independent layer of review that helps the whole team make informed decisions about what ships, whether the code was written by a person or an AI agent. Group Description: Join us at AI Innovators Network for our upcoming meetup in the Mosaic, which is dedicated to exploring the latest trends in Artificial Intelligence. Whether you're an AI enthusiast, a professional, or someone curious about the intersection of technology and AI, this event is perfect for networking, learning, and sharing in