Supply chain fragility was leading to major national security gaps. We found that supply chain fragility was responsible for inflationary pressure. We found that supply chain vulnerabilities were at the core of almost every effort to modernize manufacturing and reshore our production capacity to the United States.
Everybody, welcome to the future of GovCon. This is a weekly podcast to bring together experts from across the industry and look at what's happening today and how it's going to impact the future of our industry. I'm Jake Fraser. I'm the owner and CEO of Precision Talent Solutions. In leading one of the industry's top executive search firms, I get to talk to influencers every day. C-suite executives, board members, growth leaders, top government officials, military flag officers. On this podcast, we bring in these experts from AI, space, medical, logistics, engineering, and we sit down and talk about what's happening in their specific area and how it'll impact the future. So pour a cup of coffee and let's get started.
Hey everybody, it's Jake. Welcome back to another episode of The Future of GovCon. We've had some fascinating personalities and experts here, but today we bring one of the fast-rising executives leading a very interesting area of government contracting that I've been involved in the past. So happy to have Brandon Daniels here. Brandon is the CEO for Exiger, a supply chain risk management company powered by AI. I'll let Brandon take the mic and talk briefly about what you're up to, Brandon.
Yeah, so Jake, thanks for having me on. It's great to be with you again. So what does Exiger do? The first and most important thing is we build AI applications. That's what we've done since we created the software business back in 2016, 2017. We build artificial intelligence to help tackle some of the largest challenges our customers have when trying to assess markets, relationships, and supply chains. We build AI that helps you do diligence on companies, assess the vulnerability and resilience of markets, materials, products, and sites. We deploy that AI built off our proprietary data. We have the world's largest supply chain knowledge asset, literally billions to trillions of records.
AI. That's the brand, that's the product name, right?
Yeah, that's right. We're an AI company first, and we focus on the challenges of supply chain cost management, supply chain readiness, and supply chain risk. That's where we focus our technology like a laser beam to help our customers.
So this is the future of GovCon. I could swear you must have seen the future when you got into this because knowing who you do business with now is more important than ever. Managing scarce resources and knowing where everything is in the supply chain is so relevant right now. It's amazing what you've done with Exiger.
Before we get into business, talk a little bit about Brandon growing up. You're obviously a smart guy with a GW degree. How did you get into this business? How did you grow up, go to school, and what decisions brought you where you are today?
I appreciate the compliments, but I wasn't a smart kid. I got into a lot of trouble. I was always a class clown, not always making jokes, but talking to my friends. I was on the teachers' list of people to make sure they were focused and paying attention.
You sat by the teacher's desk, right?
That's right. I was always right in the front row. But I grew up in and around Boston. I was born at Beth Israel Hospital. I lived in Somerville, Medford, Winchester, different parts of greater Boston. My diction has become non-regional living in DC for so long. Boston is both blue-collar and academic, a great mix. I learned grit from friends who were welders or warehouse workers, and also had friends who went into technology or academia. I learned resilience and perseverance. Boston people love their teams.
Yeah, they love their teams.
I am a die-hard Red Sox and Pats fan. When I was growing up, they were terrible, always underdogs. I left Boston before any championships. I was a fan during the Bledsoe years. I fell in love with the losing, but it teaches you loyalty and to stick with it.
Exactly. Now we're winning all the time. It feels like the crescendo of my life. Middle class, lower class, middle class, and now I'm the CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. Life goes in cycles.
Did you have anybody in your life that was in government, military, any early influences?
A lot of my family served. My grandfather was one of only 2,000 sailors who served on the beaches of Normandy and in Okinawa. He saw both theaters. That through-line of service sticks with me. Many of my buddies went into the military—special forces, Marines, infantry, Rangers. After 9/11, I wanted to sign up, but personal financial stuff didn't work out. I've always been connected to service.
I can tell you're focused on the mission and the warfighter.
So did you leave Boston and head down to DC for school?
I went to DC for school and stayed here.
Why would you leave Boston and go to DC?
My brother went to GW. I used to come down and hang out with him in Dupont Circle and Foggy Bottom. DC in the '90s had a different feel—great jazz clubs like One Step Down. It had similarities to Boston: human scale, mixed neighborhoods. But the main reason was weather. I'm not a big cold weather fan. I wanted to come south. My dad had flown off to Singapore, so it was just me and my mom, and she wanted to go to DC too. I applied to colleges down here, got in, and decided to come.
