Sam Gray
Executive Director
Silicon Valley Defense Group
Sam is the Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Defense Group, a non-profit focused on connecting the people, technology, and capital required to maintain a techno security advantage for the US and allied democracies.
Sam is a retired Naval Officer with over 20 years of experience in operations, strategy, and acquisitions. Sam was a founding member and Deputy Director of the Navy and Marine Corps innovation office, NavalX, where he led expansion efforts from a single office in Alexandria, VA to 15 offices across the US and UK.
Prior to NavalX, Sam managed an aerospace procurement portfolio for the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisitions and Sustainment). Previously, he was a strategic planner at Pacific Command focused on China. As a fighter pilot, he deployed seven times including operations in both the Pacific and Middle East. Sam was the commanding officer of VFA-115, an F/A-18 squadron based in Japan, in 2017 and 2018.
Sam has a degree in history from The Ohio State University, a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the US Naval War College, and was a member of the 2019 cohort of Stanford Ignite.
