How modern defense technology companies get capabilities into the hands of end users | The Pair Program Ep100

How modern defense technology companies get capabilities into the hands of end users | The Pair Program Ep100

This week on The Pair Program, we’re joined by Nick LaRovere, Co-Founder & CEO of Pryzm, and Allie Coukos, Partnerships Lead at Onebrief, for a conversation on how AI is transforming the defense technology ecosystem. Together, they explore the evolution of federal business development, why startups have more opportunities than ever to enter the government market, and how strategic partnerships are becoming a key driver of innovation.

Key topics covered:

• Why defense tech is becoming more accessible to startups than ever before
• How AI is transforming federal business development, capture, and teaming strategies
• The shift from compliance-driven procurement to delivering mission outcomes
• Why context, not just data, is the next competitive advantage for AI
• How startups and prime contractors can build successful partnerships instead of competing head-to-head
• Why AI literacy and prompt engineering are becoming essential skills for defense professionals

About Nick LaRovere: Nick is Co-Founder and CEO of Pryzm, an AI platform helping companies navigate federal business development and acquisition. Before founding Pryzm, he worked at Palantir and Tesla. He holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and Colby College.

About Allie Coukos: Allie is Partnerships Lead at Onebrief, where she focuses on building strategic partnerships across defense and national security. Previously, she worked at Deloitte advising technology and government clients. She earned her MBA from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

This episode is supported by Defense Unicorns

Defense Unicorns builds platform technologies that help deliver mission-critical capabilities faster and more reliably. Their open architecture approach enables secure, scalable systems without vendor lock, creating flexibility across the software ecosystem. Backed by a team of engineers, innovators, and veterans, they bring deep experience across defense and federal tech. Get in touch at hello@defenseunicorns.com

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