Gabe Alix

"I got my start in the IC during college. As part of my Horatio Alger scholarship program, I was invited to D.C. to mingle with people from different companies and learn more about what they do. While we were there, we took a tour of an Intelligence Community member, where I met a recruiter. We hit it off spectacularly, and she advised me to apply for the Stokes scholarship, letting me know that it was highly competitive but could lead to me being hired by that agency. I won the scholarship and became a government employee while I was still in school, and after graduation, I went to work for them full-time. It was a life-changing experience!"

"Building a product from the ground up like SHIFT and helping it succeed was the defining highlight. I helped design the first prototype of SHIFT, build its branding, strategy and sales, and helped customers tackle complex problems.

When you take commercial software and try to bring it to classified regions of the cloud, it actually doesn’t work unless you make significant changes. We started with developing a proof of concept for a software company, so their app could work in a disconnected region of the cloud. It was a success, and it opened up a world of opportunity for them to bring in a whole new set of customers.

That’s when we realized that we had a product that would help hundreds of National Security customers access the best commercial software. We knew it would also allow companies to hire uncleared and remote talent to develop new applications destined for classified use. It was exciting to transform a small professional services company into a software products company with all the mechanics and the insane hours that went into it. Applied Insight bought the company because they saw the value for their own customers and how it could be used with their Altitude product, so that’s how I became part of the Applied Insight team."

"Remote work is a defining issue for the IC. How we all respond to this challenge will change the IC’s trajectory for the next 10-20 years. We’ve been trying to solve the same problems for years: we don’t have enough cleared people; everyone’s too expensive; and we’re not getting everything we need done in time. Improving the complicated clearance process seems to be so challenging that it can’t be the only solution. Embracing low to high side development and managing the risks of remote work will define whether the IC becomes more or less successful over time. Zero Trust is part of that equation – it’s a way to mitigate the risks and build the next generation of better, more secure capabilities."

"My advice to a young person would be to join the IC early on, build your network and hone those foundational skills. They will serve your career for decades, wherever you decide to go. You will be part of a great mission, helping stop threats to our national security and preserving the freedom of our nation."

Favorite TV show: I’m reading a great book right now: Good Economics for Hard Times. Such an exciting book linking our times to economics in a very accessible way. When it comes to movies, my favorite of all time is Gattaca. It’s set way in the future where humans have found a way to manipulate DNA to make the perfect children. It raises questions about what makes us human. It’s a harrowing tale of fighting for your dream, no matter the odds. As noted in the film: “There is no gene for the human spirit.” It just came out on 4K, and it’s on my “to watch list” upstairs.