Chief Executive Officer, Exiger
AI, Supply Chains, and the Future of National Security with Brandon Daniels
The global supply chain is no longer just an economic issue. It has become a core national security challenge.
In this episode of The Future of GovCon, Jake Frazer sits down with Brandon Daniels, CEO of Exiger, to discuss how AI, supply chain intelligence, and data analytics are reshaping how governments and companies manage risk.
They explore how supply chain vulnerabilities drive inflation, disrupt defense production, and create national security threats. Brandon explains how AI driven analytics are helping governments and companies identify hidden risks and build more resilient systems....
About Brandon Daniels
Brandon Daniels, CEO of Exiger, appeared at the Pennsylvania Defense & Innovation Summit in July 2025 and on The Alex Marlow Show in August 2025. He described Exiger as an advanced AI development company that applies artificial intelligence to supply chain and procurement, particularly for military acquisition and contested logistics. Daniels stated that most companies are not responsible for the vast majority of their production and that AI-powered supply chain mapping is used to identify single-source dependencies and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. During the appearances, Daniels discussed Pennsylvania's role in the defense industrial base, noting that the state hosts Tobyhanna Army Depot and produces 52% of U.S. powdered metals capabilities. He also mentioned that China imposed export controls on antimony, gallium, and germanium in August 2024, and said these minerals can be extracted from spent coal waste and fly ash. Daniels estimated that securing the Strait of Hormuz could yield "a hundred billion dollars."
Transcript (42 segments)
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Brandon Daniels0:00
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.
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Jake Fraser0:26
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.
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Brandon Daniels1:49
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.
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Jake Fraser3:21
AI. That's the brand, that's the product name, right?
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Brandon Daniels3:24
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.
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Jake Fraser3:46
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?
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Brandon Daniels4:29
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.
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Jake Fraser5:06
You sat by the teacher's desk, right?
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Brandon Daniels5:08
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.
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Jake Fraser7:52
Yeah, they love their teams.
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Brandon Daniels7:55
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.
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Jake Fraser8:41
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?
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Brandon Daniels9:08
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.
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Jake Fraser11:06
I can tell you're focused on the mission and the warfighter.
So did you leave Boston and head down to DC for school?
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Brandon Daniels11:16
I went to DC for school and stayed here.
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Jake Fraser11:21
Why would you leave Boston and go to DC?
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Brandon Daniels11:23
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.
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Jake Fraser13:25
Talk about your career path from GW to Exiger. At what point did you figure out what you wanted to be?
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Brandon Daniels13:32
I've had two parts of my career. I'm a risk expert, an operational crisis expert. I started in forensic investigations. I worked on the Towers Perrin data breach, with Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Johnson & Johnson on investigations, and with the Department of Commerce. I learned to learn fast about any topic. Then I got into LexisNexis, where technologists taught me to code and build applications. I brought technology to everything, scaling analysis from hundreds to millions of records. At CPA Global, I was brought on to build a new technology business. In 2008, the financial system collapsed. They fired my bosses, but I was kept because I had sold something. I built a $19 million business in a year, then scaled it. We sold the business for $1.1 billion and $2.4 billion. I learned how to build a technology and services business.
At CPA Global, they had invested $5 million. I had a boss and a boss above that. Then in 2008, the financial system collapsed. They fired everyone around me, but I was kept. I built an enormous business. Within a year, I had built a $19 million business and scaled it each year for three years. We sold it to Intermediate Capital Group and Sinven for $1.1 billion and $2.4 billion. I learned how to build a business, manage customers, and build a P&L.
Then I went to Clutch, which had declined from $23 million to $12 million. The board brought me on to reinvigorate it. I reframed the company from legal outsourcing into a technology company for compliance for big banks. We grew from $12 million to $23 million, then to $45 million, then to $70 million. It's now a $150 million business. We worked with RBS, UBS, Barclays on over 200 investigations. This is where I dove into using AI to manage regulatory challenges. Then Exiger wanted to build a software business. Mike Tretkoff, former CEO of Marsh McLennan and Kroll, brought me on. We've grown Exiger at a 60% CAGR over seven years. We were on the Joint Acquisition Task Force for COVID-19 response, the monitor for HSBC, and found the Huawei rerouting of American equipment into Iran. After those programs, we commercialized and productized our supply chain solutions. Carlyle, JMI, and Insight put $1.2 billion into us in 2023.
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Jake Fraser21:36
Look, COVID made everybody realize how important supply chain is. People took supply chain for granted before COVID.
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Brandon Daniels21:45
That's right. COVID ripped back the veil on our dependencies. China could stop the vast majority of our antibiotics, PPE, and key materials with a click. It was a huge wake-up call. We found the same vulnerabilities in weapon systems, critical infrastructure, data centers. Supply chain fragility led to major issues in readiness, national security gaps, inflationary pressure, and was at the core of efforts to modernize manufacturing and reshore production. When people realized that, whether you need GPUs for AI, robotics to compete, or quantum computing, you need sturdy supply chains. It's not just planning or forecasting; it's mission-critical design, build, and execute.
So much focus is put on the end item, not on the integrity of the supply chain. In 2026, we had tariffs, conflict in the Middle East causing disruptions. You must be able to see the future because everybody's talking about supply chains now.
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Jake Fraser24:37
Exiger's got to be in the catbird seat. What you built took years and is based on hard lessons learned and a fundamental understanding of risk and technology. What are the things in 2026 that Exiger's focused on?
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Brandon Daniels25:00
We're focused on three things internally. First, making sure our entire product development lifecycle is automated and run on AI, using frontier models and our own AI. That gives us a 10x to 100x multiplier. Second, building strong moats by translating our deep knowledge of military supply chains into our AI classification tools. Third, strengthening our data moat. We have the world's largest supply chain knowledge asset and we re-index all of GitHub every day. We're also one of the biggest data buyers. Externally, we're helping people prioritize risk. Supply chains are not pyramids but diamonds. We're moving people from risk management to resilience and cost management with courses of action. Every risk comes with a COA that suggests alternative vendors, TDP ownership, additive manufacturing, or alternative materials. We help deliver those COAs and advise on execution.
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Jake Fraser30:14
Yeah, because risk is everywhere.
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Brandon Daniels30:18
We deliver completely contextualized risk. If there's an 805 compliance issue or a part with a magnesium casting from a facility that burned down, I need to know that. But I don't need noise. We help people see the diamond structure of supply chains and focus on the critical points that reduce readiness.
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Jake Fraser34:10
So really extending this from 'here are the widgets' to 'here's how much we returned to AUKUS, how much working capital we saved, readiness increased.' That's the evolution over the last two years.
Supply chains have become the headliner. Where do you see government supply chains three years from now, in 2029?
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Brandon Daniels35:33
I hope people recognize that supply chains should be part of the weapon system design process. When you bid, you bid with your supply chain built out. I want a defense industrial base by design that's resilient. Second, we need the right public-private partnerships on non-economic parts of the industrial base, like lithium salt processing. We need targeted investments, not just buying stuff for warehouses. If we do this right, in three years it'll be burgeoning, in ten years bustling. We'll see a renaissance of American manufacturing because labor arbitrage is gone. With AI and robotics, we can bring great jobs back. It's an incredible opportunity.
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Jake Fraser39:03
How much do you see reshoring taking root in three years?
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Brandon Daniels39:15
If we do this right, in three years it'll be burgeoning, in ten years bustling. We'll see a true renaissance of American manufacturing. Labor arbitrage is gone. With AI and robotics, we can bring great jobs back. It's an incredible opportunity.
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Jake Fraser43:42
I want one word from you to summarize your gut feeling about the future of government supply chains.
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Brandon Daniels43:57
Explosive. If we keep moving at this pace, the scale to which AI can create is incredible. If we harness American innovation and individualism, there's no one in the world that can stop us. The next three years will be explosive.
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Jake Fraser46:42
That's awesome. Your energy is palpable and contagious. We're lucky to have you on our side. The work you guys are doing is amazing. Nothing is holding you back, and American conditions are ripe for your innovation. I'm super excited about what you'll do over the next few years.
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Brandon Daniels47:09
We're ready to go, Jake. Looking forward to it.
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Jake Fraser47:12
We'll have to have you back for a longer podcast. There's so much to cover, like the weaponization of the periodic table. Everybody, I hope you enjoyed the show with Brandon. Check out his content on social media. He was at WEF this year. Thanks for showing up, and remember the future of GovCon is happening today. See you next week.