About Carey Smith
Carey Smith, president, CEO and chairwoman of Parsons, said in a December 2024 interview that the company’s portfolio is “well aligned with the Trump administration.” She described Parsons’ federal business as a “purpose-built national security company” focused on cyber, electronic warfare, space and missile defense. Smith said the Department of Government Efficiency’s objectives of reducing cost, eliminating unnecessary regulations and improving government efficiency represent an opportunity for the company. She stated that removing regulations would allow Parsons to “move very fast” and get technology to market more quickly, and that the company could propose cost-reduction ideas such as using different business models “as a service.” Smith also discussed the company’s counter-unmanned air systems work, including capabilities to detect, identify, track and defeat drones, and noted that Parsons has been doing business in the Middle East for six decades, including a 50-50 joint venture partnership in Saudi Arabia.
In a 2018 appearance, Smith argued that digital transformation requires integrating people, processes and technologies to deliver a secure environment, and that organizations that do not embrace digital technology risk being left behind. She said the federal government should adopt commercial business models such as licensing and subscriptions, and use shared services so agencies pay only for what they use. Smith also predicted that autonomous vehicles would significantly change infrastructure and services within a decade.
Source: AI-verified profile updated from Carey Smith's recent appearances.
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Transcript (6 segments)
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Host0:05
Welcome back to Overtime. Defense contractor and infrastructure contractor Parsons has been an under-the-radar winner, up 53% this year. Those gains came to a halt after Donald Trump's election, dragging the stock down 30% since November. Joining us is Parsons CEO Carey Smith. It is great to have you on. Welcome. With the intro, I'll add context. We have seen all the defense contractor stocks and government IT and services stocks come under pressure since the election because there is this anticipation that the burden of government efficiency is going to be in compression of margins. How do you see it with a Trump administration coming in?
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Carey Smith0:54
I'm happy to be here today. I would say our portfolio is well aligned with the Trump administration. If you look at our federal business, we have a purpose-built national security company, which does cyber, electronic warfare, space and missile defense work. If you look at our infrastructure business, we are very well positioned with the DOGE bill, which was a bipartisan bill. Basically on the federal side, what is key is the National Defense Strategy, and that really has not changed since Trump won for Trump 2.0, focused on pure threats. As far as the Department of Government Efficiency, they have three objectives, which we are well aligned with. The first is how do you reduce cost? The second is how do you get rid of unnecessary regulations? The third is how do you improve government efficiency? We view this as an opportunity for our company. First, if you get rid of unnecessary regulations, a company like us can move very fast. We are innovative, we are agile and we can get technology more quickly to the marketplace. As you look at reducing cost, we can come up with ideas like how you might advertise areas or how you might use different business models as a service. I think all those other things are well aligned.
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Host2:00
Interesting. Certainly does seem like anything involving defense technology or efficiency, as the title of the entity would suggest, it's going to be in focus. You are also very big in the infrastructure business. From the defense side, we're critical, the DOGE said I want to get your thoughts on what we are seeing with the drones in New Jersey.
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Carey Smith2:19
From a different perspective, we are very heavy in that and also protection of critical infrastructure. If you look at critical infrastructure, our portfolio is very unique because we provide cyber capabilities and we understand the domain knowledge. For example, how a transportation system works, how an airport might work. We are also very equipped to protect it. From an unmanned air system perspective, we provide counter-unmanned air systems. We are basically looking at how do we secure and ensure the safety of personnel, facilities and assets. We are providing support for both the Department of Defense as well as the Department of State. We provide capabilities, including how do you detect, identify, track, and defeat an unmanned air system. I would say one follow-on to that is we have electronic warfare effectors. We can stop an adversary from causing harm with their weapon systems.
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Host3:18
What are the biggest infrastructure opportunities you see outside of the U.S.?
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Carey Smith3:24
Definitely the Middle East. If you look at our portfolio, we don't have within North America, we have within the Middle East on the infrastructure side of the house. We have been doing business in the Middle East for six decades. We have been in Saudi Arabia for five decades. We have a Saudi Arabia 50-50 joint venture partnership. We are involved in almost every major project going on there today, including the building that will be as tall as long.
