About this episode
With great honor, Mr. Emil Michael, the Under Secretary of War for Research & Engineering (USW(R&E)) and Chief Technology Officer for the Department of War (DoW), joins Sourcery in front of a F117 at the Reagan National Defense Forum 2025 to dispel common misconceptions about the DoW, modern defense technology, & the role of companies like Palantir, SpaceX, & Anduril. Drawing on his unique path from hyperscaling Uber into a global technology company to now overseeing the DoW’s research, development, & prototyping enterprise, he breaks down how the system actually works behind the scenes.He also outlines the DoW’s 6 Critical Technology Areas — Applied AI, Scaled Hypersonics, Scaled Directed Energy, Biomanufacturing, Contested Logistics, & Battlefield Information Dominance — and explains how these priorities reflect the realities of modern warfare rather than the myths often portrayed around the sector.Bonus: Newer companies Emil Michael highlights as emerging leaders in defense innovation include Planet Labs for commercial satellite imagery, Neros as a next-generation drone company, Hadrian for AI-driven advanced manufacturing, and a broader group of frontier AI companies now engaging with the Department of War.Emil Michael: https://x.com/emilmichaelMolly O’Shea: ??https://x.com/MollySOShea?Sourcery: ?https://x.com/sourceryvc??????? ?????YouTube: https://youtu.be/6Lfst-RXX9k????????• Brex—The modern finance platform, combining the world’s smartest corporate card with integrated expense management, banking, bill pay, & travel. https://brex.com/sourcery• Turing—Turing delivers top-tier talent, data, and tools to help AI labs improve model performance—and enables enterprises to turn those models into powerful, production-ready systems.https://turing.com/sourcery• Carta—Carta connects founders, investors, and limited partners through software purpose-built for private capital. Trusted by 65,000+ companies in 160+ countries, Carta’s platform of software & services lays the groundwork so you can build, invest, and scale with confidence.https://carta.com/data/sourcery/• Public–Investing platform Public just launched Generated Assets, which lets you turn any idea into an investable index with AI
