Doug Lambert

Co-founder & COO, Saronic

Search every verified Doug Lambert interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Doug Lambert, co-founder and COO of Saronic, appeared in a September 2026 interview alongside his co-founders to discuss the company's growth and the broader defense landscape. He stated that China outbuilds the U.S. in ship production by a ratio of 230 to 1, and noted that the current U.S. naval fleet of about 290 ships falls short of the 355-ship statutory minimum set by Congress in 2018, with the Navy later revising its estimate to 381 manned ships. Lambert also described the need for key "Lego blocks" to fall into place for market success, including upfront capital investment to demonstrate demand signals, and discussed contracting reforms, expressing support for program managers having clear authority and accountability. In the interview, Lambert highlighted Saronic's engineering achievements, noting that its autonomous boats have experienced accelerations above 20 gs, which would be dangerous for human crews. He expressed enthusiasm for open-source AI, saying it could democratize tooling and resources, and predicted continued growth in hardware and capital expenditures. Lambert also framed Saronic's work as providing faster capabilities while potentially saving taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars by reducing costs.