The Pair Program

Built for Pressure: What a 15-Year-Old Professional Muay Thai Fighter Can Teach You About Performing When It Matters This special bonus episode explores a different kind of high-performance journey. Today’s guest is Elijah Hinzman, a 15-year-old professional Muay Thai fighter competing on some of Southeast Asia’s biggest stages. While his arena is the ring, the qualities behind his success are the...

Founder-Led Growth in the AI Era: Rethinking the CRM from First Touch to Close | The Pair Program Ep98 What happens when your sales stack becomes the bottleneck instead of the growth engine? In this episode of The Pair Program, we are joined by David Zhu, CEO of ReevoAI, and Lukas Haffer, CEO of Casca, to explore how AI-native platforms are reshaping modern sales. They discuss why traditional CRMs...

From Snapshots to Systems: Why 3D Earth Awareness Is Becoming Critical Infrastructure | The Pair Program Ep97 In this episode of The Pair Program, we’re joined by Andrew Peterson, Co-Founder and CEO of Array Labs, and David Gauthier, Chief Strategy Officer at GXO, for a conversation on the future of Earth observation and what happens when the world can be mapped in near real time. From distributed...

From Sidewalks to Scale: What It Actually Takes to Build Real-World Robotics | The Pair Program Ep96 What does it take to turn autonomous robotics from a demo into real-world infrastructure? In this episode of The Pair Program, Paige Craig, Managing Partner at Outlander VC, and Zach Rash, Co-founder & CEO at Coco, discuss scaling autonomous delivery, building operational moats through real-wor...

Designing the Impossible: AI, Quantum Mechanics, and the Future of Materials | The Pair Program Ep95 In this episode of The Pair Program, we’re joined by Joseph Krause, Co-Founder and CEO of Radical AI, and Nathan Doctor, Founder and Managing Partner of Infinite Capital, for a conversation on the future of AI-driven scientific discovery and the rise of physical AI. From autonomous labs and materia...

From Services to Software: How Dual-Use AI Companies Actually Scale Inside Government | The Pair Program Ep94 In this episode of The Pair Program, we’re joined by Darren Kimura, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of AI Squared, and Abir Ray, CEO of Expression, for a deep dive into what it really takes to scale AI in complex, high-stakes environments. From the “last mile” problem in AI adoption t...

From Chip to Constellation: Building a New Global Network in Space | The Pair Program Ep93 In this episode of The Pair Program, we sit down with Jonathan Dyer, Co-Founder & CEO of Muon Space, and Alex Haro, Co-Founder & CEO of Hubble, to explore how space is evolving from exploration to infrastructure. From Bluetooth-powered satellites to scalable constellation manufacturing, this conversa...

Mission Speed: How Commercial Innovation Is Reshaping Defense Acquisition | The Pair Program Ep92 In this episode of The Pair Program, we sit down with Darian Harris, Founding GP of Connected Capital and co-founder of Fuse Accelerator, and Drew Trojanowski, President and CEO of the Southwest Mission Acceleration Center (MAC), to unpack what it really takes to move innovation at mission speed. From...

Contested Logistics Reimagined: The Case for Dual-Use Air Systems | The Pair Program Ep91 In this episode of The Pair Program, we’re joined by Arthur Dubois, CEO of Grid Aero, and Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Leonard Kosinski, Chief Strategy Officer at Air Space Intelligence. From autonomous aircraft to AI-powered logistics, they break down how supply chains are being rethought for a world where speed, scale,...

Building Tech For Tactical Decision Dominance | The Pair Program Ep90 In this episode of The Pair Program, we sit down with Garrett Smith, Founder & CEO of Reveal Technology, and Les Craig, General Partner at Next Frontier Capital. Together, they explore how new technologies are reshaping the tactical edge and what it takes to build and fund defense startups that deliver real capability for op...

Policy to Production: Fielding Faster, Governing Smarter | The Pair Program Ep89 In this episode, we sit down with Michael Weigand, Founder & CEO at Aventra, and Joshua Stiefel, Vice President for Government Relations at Second Front, to explore what it really takes to move defense technology from idea to execution. The conversation centers on the practical challenges of building, scaling, and...

Insurtech at Speed: Engineering the Future of Specialty Insurance | The Pair Program Ep88 In today’s episode, we’re joined by Nathan Hall, Chief Technology Officer at Ledgebrook, and Mike Mansell, investor at American Family Ventures, for a deep dive into how modern technology is reshaping specialty insurance. The conversation explores how speed, automation, and broker-first design are redefining...

From Tickets to Autonomy: Reinventing IT with AI Agents | The Pair Program Ep87 On today’s episode of The Pair Program, we’re joined by Jake Stauch, Founder & CEO of Serval, and Patrick Chase, Managing Director at Redpoint Ventures, for a deep dive into the future of IT service management. The conversation explores why legacy ITSM tools are breaking under modern demands, how AI-native automati...

Mission Modernized: How AI is Reshaping Intelligence from the Inside Out | The Pair Program Ep86 On today’s episode of The Pair Program, we’re joined by Sheetal Patel, former CIA Assistant Director for the Transnational and Technology Mission Center, and Bruce Frost, Vice President of Intelligence at Rhombus Power, to discuss how AI is reshaping modern intelligence. With decades of experience acro...

Feeding the Beam: Powering Directed Energy & Counter-UAS | The Pair Program Ep85 In today’s episode, we’re joined by Adam Warmoth, Founder & CEO of Chariot Defense, and Michael LaFramboise, CEO & Co-Founder of Aurelius Systems, for a deep dive into one of the most overlooked constraints in modern warfare: power. Together, they explore how energy, autonomy, and cost collide at the tacti...

How We Hatched: Luigi Lenguito, Founder & CEO of BforeAI In this How We Hatched episode, we sit down with Luigi Lenguito, Founder & CEO of BforeAI, to explore the thinking behind predictive cybersecurity. Luigi shares what convinced him the industry was too focused on reacting to attacks—and why stopping threats before they happen is the real challenge ahead. We talk about building a compa...

From Open Source to Open Skies: Why Sapphire Ventures Backed Defense Unicorns | The Pair Program Ep84 In this episode of The Pair Program, we sit down with Rob Slaughter, CEO of Defense Unicorns, and Jai Das, President, Partner, and Co-Founder at Sapphire Ventures, for a deep dive into what it takes to modernize defense software—and why a leading enterprise VC made its first-ever bet in defense te...

Securing the Supply Web: From the Global Network to the Tactical Edge | The Pair Program Ep83 In Episode 83, Tim Winkler and Sean Leahy talk with Peter Goldsborough, Co-Founder and CTO of Rune Technologies, and Evan Smith, Co-Founder and CEO of Altana, about how AI and modern data systems are reshaping defense logistics. They explore the disconnect between global supply networks and frontline sust...

Runtime Confidence Meets Real-World Adoption: How AI Is Transforming Traditional Industries | The Pair Program Ep82 In this episode, Tim Winkler and Mike Gruen sit down with Kevin McGrath, Co-Founder and CEO of Meibel, and Rob Murray, Founder and CEO of SpecBooks, to unpack what it actually takes to move AI from impressive prototypes to dependable, production-ready systems. They dig into the chall...

Supply Chain at Escape Velocity: How InnoFlight and Verigon Are Scaling Secure Space System for the SDA Era | The Pair Program Ep81 In this episode, Tim Winkler and co-host Mike Gruen sit down with Jeffrey Janicik of Innoflight and Greg Davis of Verigon to explore what it really takes to scale secure space systems fast—and without sacrificing quality. They dive into the rise of small-sat architect...

Building Space Together: Inside the U.S. Space Force’s Push for Commercial Collaboration | The Pair Program Ep80 In this episode of The Pair Program, host Tim Winkler is joined by Holly Bertrand, Founder and Chief Operating Officer of ExoAnalytic Solutions; Dan Ceperley, Chief Operating Officer and Founder of LeoLabs; and Lt. Col. Tim Trimailo, Director of the Commercial Space Office at Space Syst...

AI at the Tactical Edge: Scaling Secure, Warfighter-Centric Tech in Denied Environments | The Pair Program Ep79 In this episode, host Tim Winkler sits down with Tyler Saltsman (Founder & CEO, EdgeRunner AI), Colton Malkerson (Co-Founder & COO, EdgeRunner AI), and TJ Rowe (Chief Revenue Officer, Second Front Systems)for a deep dive into how secure, on-device AI is transforming decision-maki...

Sea Change: How Autonomy and Acquisition Will Shape the Future Fleet | The Pair Program Ep78 In this episode, hosts Tim Winkler and guest co-host Sean Leahy dive into the intersection of autonomy, AI, and defense acquisition with Austin Gray, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer at Bluewater Autonomy, and Alex Campbell, former Chief of Staff at the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU). Together, they...

The Future of Autonomous Electronic Warfare in Multi-Domain Operations | The Pair Program Ep77 In this episode of The Pair Program, hosts Tim Winkler and Mike Gruen are joined by Nathan Mintz, Co-founder & CEO of CX2, and Dr. William “Dollar” Young, Jr., Former U.S. Air Force Colonel & Spectrum Warfare Expert, for a deep dive into the future of electronic warfare. Together, they unpack how...

Securing the Industrial Frontier with Frenos | The Pair Program Ep76 In this episode, hosts Tim Winkler and Mike Gruen chat with Harry Thomas, CTO of Frenos, and Colin Murphy, Chief Hacking Officer at Frenos, two cybersecurity experts redefining how we protect critical infrastructure. They unpack what it takes to defend operational technology (OT) environments that keep power grids, water systems,...