Ricardo Lorenzo on partnerships
From Start Small to Win Big With Parsons Corporation’s Ricardo Lorenzo · · BST Global
“In a services organization, R&D is not everywhere, so you have to take advantage of partners: commercial industry spends a lot on R&D, academic organizations do early research, small businesses innovate, and we also acquire a lot of companies.”
On , Ricardo Lorenzo, Chief Technology Officer at PARSONS CORP, spoke about partnerships during Start Small to Win Big With Parsons Corporation’s Ricardo Lorenzo on BST Global.
About Ricardo Lorenzo
Ricardo Lorenzo, Chief Technology Officer at Parsons Corporation, has discussed the company's approach to innovation and technology adoption in several recent podcast appearances. In an October 2025 episode of The Trailblazers podcast, Lorenzo stated that Parsons has an "AI bench that covers the entire organization," with each business unit having AI-dedicated resources to support their mission. He said that innovation "often happens at the edge where folks who are working on customer problems or specific projects can raise opportunities," and emphasized the importance of providing "guardrails" to limit liabilities and maintain security. Lorenzo also noted that Parsons collaborates with universities, startups, and commercial tech partners, and that the company acquires many companies to obtain innovation. In a November 2024 appearance on the same podcast, Lorenzo discussed AI adoption in the AEC industry, stating that "AI technology is here to stay" and that Parsons has been working with AI for several years, particularly in federal R&D projects with the Department of Defense. He said the company is "actively upskilling our workforce in AI through online training, hands-on tinkering, and annual AI challenges." Lorenzo described his leadership philosophy as "be unafraid: ask questions, take chances, and don't hold yourself back." In a September 2024 interview for Parsons' MILVET RallyPoint series, Lorenzo, a 21-year Air National Guard veteran, said his entire career has been "supporting the Department of Defense as an engineer of some capacity" and that he attributes much of his civilian career accomplishments to his early military service.