Matt Tait, president and CEO of MANTECH, has received the 2026 Wash100 Award from Executive Mosaic, marking his fourth consecutive win and underscoring his sustained leadership in driving growth, innovation and mission impact across the government contracting sector.
Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award, visited Tait at the MANTECH office to personally present the award.
“Matt’s fourth consecutive Wash100 Award is a tremendous testament to the kind of steady, forward-looking leadership he brings to GovCon year after year. In 2025, under his guidance, MANTECH captured major contract wins—including significant work supporting U.S. Southern Command and a landmark cybersecurity award with NOAA—showcasing both mission strength and innovative execution,” said Garrettson.
“Matt has a clear ability to pair strategic growth with real impact for national security customers, and his continued success truly represents the Wash100 standard of influence, excellence and industry leadership,” Garrettson added.
Why Did Matt Tait Win the 2026 Wash100 Award?
Tait earned this year’s recognition for leading MANTECH through a period of strong contract momentum, strategic expansion and technological advancements in artificial intelligence, cloud and cybersecurity capabilities across defense and civilian agencies.
Among the company’s notable achievements is a potential seven-year, $910 million task order from the General Services Administration to provide enterprise-level cyber operations, network architecture and IT infrastructure services supporting the U.S. Southern Command. MANTECH also secured a potential $198.9 million contract to help the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Cyber Security Center enhance its ability to offer security operations center as a service to agency partners.
Under Tait’s leadership, MANTECH has advanced its tech strategy through AI, cloud and data partnerships. The company adopted Google Cloud AI tools, partnered with Oracle on federal IT modernization and expanded access to its services via the AWS Intelligence Community Marketplace. It also worked with Lockheed Martin to integrate AI-driven sustainment systems into combat aircraft, enhancing maintenance and readiness.
In addition, MANTECH strengthened its data science and AI capabilities with the acquisition of Elder Research in December.
“MANTECH has been at the forefront of AI for more than a decade, and we are thrilled to add Elder Research’s world-class team, differentiated data and AI capabilities, 30 years of applied past performance and client-first culture to our own,” said Tait.
Who Is Matt Tait?
Tait, who has been serving as president and CEO of MANTECH since 2022, is responsible for a global workforce of 8,700 employees, tasked with delivering advanced capabilities for homeland and national security missions. He joined the company in 2018 as chief operating officer, where he played a key role in growing its intelligence, defense and civilian agency business lines.
Prior to that, he spent over two decades at Accenture, where he led large-scale IT transformation initiatives. Tait served in the U.S. Navy for nearly 10 years. He champions efforts to end veteran homelessness as vice chairman of the board for the Operation Renewed Hope Foundation.
What Is the Wash100 Award?
Each year, Executive Mosaic presents the Wash100 Award to the top leaders driving transformation in government and government contracting. The award not only recognizes past success, but also highlights those driving meaningful change through innovation and strategic growth. The Wash100 Award represents the gold standard for impact and influence in the public sector.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Matt Tait and the entire MANTECH organization on this milestone achievement.
Vote for Matt Tait in the 2026 Wash100 Popular Vote Competition at Wash100.com.
