The 4×24 Executive Leadership Series is the premier forum for senior-level executives in the GovCon industry and is home to many recipients of the prestigious Wash100 Award. This distinguished recognition honors chief executive officers, chief information officers, chief technology officers and other influential leaders from both industry and government whose decisions shape national security, drive technological innovation and enhance public sector performance.
What sets the Wash100 Award apart is its future-focused perspective—recognizing individuals not only for their current achievements, but for their anticipated impact in the year ahead. Founded in 2014 by Executive Mosaic CEO Jim Garrettson, the Wash100 Award celebrates those who exemplify excellence in leadership, strategic innovation and delivering transformative solutions in support of the nation’s most critical missions.
As such, the 4×24 Executive Leadership Series is a natural community for these forward-looking leaders. Are you a senior-level executive of consequence? Would you like to establish and maintain key executive connections with government thought leaders and peers at leading GovCon firms like Parsons and Iridium? Learn more about how the 4×24 Executive Leadership Series can boost your profile and career at our website.
This is the second part of an ongoing series. Continue reading to learn more about another collection of 4×24 members who have won Wash100 Awards.
Chris Smith
Red Hat
2025
Smith made his Wash100 Award debut for his pivotal role in driving open-source innovation and secure cloud adoption across federal agencies. At Red Hat, he’s championed scalable, flexible and secure IT solutions such as cloud-native application platforms.
Smith also led a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement, or CRADA, with the U.S. Army to enhance open-source application programming interfaces to modernize the service’s software infrastructure by allowing scalability and interoperability. This had a goal of allowing for better and more efficient system integration and data sharing across military networks.
Jeff Bohling
Empower AI
2024, 2025
Bohling has won two Wash100 Awards for his leadership in driving federal IT modernization through advanced AI solutions. Under Bohling’s stewardship, Empower AI has secured contracts with major federal agencies, demonstrating his commitment to modernizing government technology across the board.
One of these contracts, from the Defense Logistics Agency’s Acquisition Modernization Technology Research program management office, integrates machine learning to improve warfighter readiness. Notably, Empower AI also landed a $45 million task order from the U.S. Army to deploy secure wireless and local-area networks for the Defense Health Agency—a move aimed at reducing legacy system burdens and improving services for military personnel.
Bill Webner
Allocore
2024, 2025
Webner has earned two consecutive Wash100 Awards for his leadership in transforming federal lending and grants operations through AI and cloud innovation. He guided Summit Technology Group’s public sector division’s expansion in cloud and AI services before overseeing the company’s rebranding to Allocore.
Under Webner’s tutelage, Allocore secured Amazon Web Services Premier Tier Services Partner status and rolled out a cloud‑based, AI‑driven platform that enhanced efficiency, fraud detection and security in federal loan and grant programs.
Webner played a key role in a 5G initiative supported by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the DOD. Webner has emphasized the transformative impact of 5G connectivity, especially in tactical-edge Internet of Things applications, and outlined strategies for network resilience, energy optimization, device interoperability and scalability.
The 4×24 Leadership Series is the most exclusive of programs offered by Executive Mosaic, the mid-Atlantic’s top GovCon media and networking company. 4×24 gathers industry titans in specific GovCon fields—AI, cloud, 5G and others—to mingle and share ideas at closed-door, Chatham House rule dinners. 4×24 is more than just a company-backed perk, it’s a career-long relationship-builder. Visit the 4×24 website to discover more about how 4×24 can work for you.
Mark Serway
Hitachi Vantara Federal
2024
Serway joined the prestigious ranks of Wash100 Award winners for his leadership in delivering mission-centric data platforms to federal agencies. After joining Hitachi Vantara Federal as chief financial officer in 2017, Serway drove operational and profit improvements. He also led business transformation initiatives and created a squad that oversaw customer support, business operations, and financial planning, among other responsibilities.
Serway’s team successfully implemented key data offerings that expanded the company’s public sector influence and forged deeper relationships with government clients. Under his direction, Hitachi Vantara Federal joined the U.S. Artificial Intelligence Safety Institute Consortium, collaborating with the National Institute of Standards and Technology to establish trustworthy AI standards.
John Heneghan
ECS
2022–2025
Heneghan has earned a monumental four Wash100 Awards for his leadership in advancing federal cybersecurity, AI and digital modernization across government missions. Under his direction, ECS has secured multiple major contracts, including a key data services award to support the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program.
Another key contract win was having ECS selected as one of two companies on a potential five-year, $1.1 billion blanket purchase agreement by the National Institutes of Health to provide IT support services for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Additionally, ECS enhanced its cybersecurity operations through partnerships, including integrating Cyware for cyber fusion and managed security services. Heneghan also guided ECS to a key teaming arrangement with C3 AI to fulfill a task order from the Army’s Program Manager for Intelligence Systems and Analytics.
Kim Lynch
Oracle Government Defense and Intelligence
2024, 2025
Lynch has tallied a pair of Wash100 Awards for spearheading cloud and AI innovation to drive mission-critical transformation in both government and commercial sectors. She has orchestrated high-impact projects such as overhauling the U.S. Army’s personnel and pay system, expanding electronic health record platforms with the Department of Veterans Affairs and deploying next-gen electronic health records services widely among federal agencies.
Lynch guided Oracle to a major cloud services contract with the U.S. Courts. Under her leadership, Oracle has committed over $1 billion to establishing a new cloud region in Spain and an additional $1.2 billion to Malaysia, aimed at accelerating enterprise cloud adoption and AI development globally.
Jon Rucker
Ultra Intelligence & Communications
2024, 2025
Rucker has earned two consecutive Wash100 Awards for bolstering Ultra I&C’s GovCon influence and securing key defense contracts. One of these awards was a contract with the Air Force to support the Joint Air Defense Systems Integrator, or ADSI, program, which serves as a command and control gateway for the U.S. and allies.
Another key DOD contract was with the Marine Corps for its Common Aviation Command and Control System, or CAC2S. As part of this contract, Ultra I&C provides its ADSI service to provide interoperability with CAC2S to enhance the system’s mission functionality.
A third impressive contract was receiving a $32 million other transaction authority award from the Air Force to provide rekey and remote management system updates to the service’s fielded communications security devices. The company developed an encryptor that could create secure network distribution of keys and commands to a variety of communication security devices while integrating critical management infrastructure security requirements and protocols.
Josh Jackson
SAIC
2024, 2025
Jackson has landed two Wash100 Awards for his visionary leadership driving defense-focused IT modernization and mission-centric innovation. Under his guidance, SAIC secured a substantial $232 million task order to modernize military IT systems—enhancing signals intelligence and electronic warfare systems.
Jackson also guided the company to win a prime position on DOD’s potential $1.8 billion Personnel and Readiness Infrastructure Support Management, or PRISM, contract. Here it will support the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness by providing analytics support and data integration to improve operational workflows and strategic decision-making.
Under Jackson’s leadership, SAIC expanded key partnerships with Wind River to accelerate cloud‑based digital engineering, DevSecOps, digital twins and Linux solutions tailored to Army modernization. Additionally, Jackson oversaw collaboration with Cubic Defense in the Hardware‑in‑the‑Loop program, deploying advanced data terminals for military communication systems.
James Gordon
Cognosante
2022
Gordon joined the hallowed halls of Wash100 Award winners for his leadership in health IT and customer experience strategy within the federal sector. Under his guidance, Cognosante secured a task order valued at $545 million to deliver DevSecOps support for the Supply Chain Management Product Line of the Department of Veterans Affairs. This was shortly after the company revealed a $110 million task order aimed at implementing an Enterprise Cloud Fax service throughout the VA organization.
Gordon launched the CognoConnected initiative, which improved service delivery through tools like tailored casework processes, optimized customer experience and enhanced access to information, engagement, automation and analytics. CognoConnected later was part of an important $200 million contract from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This Enrollment Resolution and Reconciliation and Form 1095-A Data Reporting award was to help address enrollment in the federally-run health insurance marketplace. Accenture Federal Services acquired Cognosante in April 2024.
