On September 16, Vannevar Labs, a technology company building AI and advanced systems for national security missions, announced the appointment of Shands Pickett as chief growth officer (CGO). Pickett brings deep experience leading defense technology strategy and mission-driven growth across both U.S. government and venture-backed companies.
Pickett will lead Vannevar’s new business expansion across the federal market, accelerating the deployment of operational AI to improve the U.S. deterrence posture with China. He will focus on driving mission impact, forging strategic partnerships, and scaling new mission areas aligned with the top national security priorities.
“Shands has dedicated his career to building a technological edge for the country,” said Nini Hamrick, president of Vannevar. “He knows how to embed with the operator, understand the challenges of their mission, and turn emerging technology into real-world impact. We’re thrilled to have him drive future growth as we seek to redefine what it means to build for defense.”
Pickett joins from Booz Allen Hamilton, where as SVP of defense technology and strategy he advanced the firm’s mission system integration and modernization business and directed growth and investments aligned to national defense priorities. At Scale AI, he stood up the national security business practice, deploying enterprise wide AI programs and driving federal growth through the Donovan platform. He served on two theater deployments in Afghanistan as part of the U.S. Army Human Terrain System. He joins Vannevar to combine his experience building large strategic programs and successfully operationalizing AI to support the company’s next phase of growth.
“Bringing AI to the fight will require top U.S. technical talent and mission expertise. You need a company that is fast, flexible, and built for the realities of modern conflict. Vannevar is operating at the cutting edge of these principles and capabilities,” said Pickett. “I’m honored to join a team that is mission-first, operator-informed, and moving fast where it matters most.”
The company’s agentic AI tools are capable of highly accurate adversarial modeling, scenario simulations, and course of action recommendations – all powered by hard-to-access foundational data. Its current missions include information operations, physical sensing, counter narcotics, and economic competition – all self-funded, as the company announced profitability in early 2025 as well as its $80M 2024 ACV and $1.5B valuation.
Source: Vannevar
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