Meet Brian

Brian Green is a leader in Booz Allen’s cyber business, supporting U.S. Cyber Command and other national security clients. His primary areas of expertise are cybersecurity, cyber capability development, and the security of next-generation network architectures such as zero-trust networks and 5G mobile networks.  

Brian rejoined Booz Allen after a time as president of Ponte Technologies, a cybersecurity services business where he led corporate strategy, contract management, and business development. Prior to his time at Ponte, Brian spent 15 years at Booz Allen. His earlier roles at the firm included leading our penetration testing and advanced persistent threat detection capabilities, and leading client delivery efforts in security product testing, advanced persistent threat hunting, wireless security, information assurance architecture, systems security engineering, and vulnerability analysis.  

Early in his career, Brian served in a U.S. Air Force tactical communications unit as a communications engineer. He has also served as a technical surveillance countermeasures and wireless security researcher for the National Security Agency.  

Brian is a certified information systems security professional, a certified project management professional, and a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy with a B.S. in electrical engineering. 

What do you do at Booz Allen? In the firm’s cyber business, I provide leadership to our National Security Agency market, our U.S. Cyber Command business, and our cyber work across the different military services.

What’s the most pressing need in your industry right now? Talent, talent, and talent. Number one, it really is the people. Our industry requires security clearances, which further limits the talent pool. We need talented engineers and software developers who are cleared in the intel community. These people can be difficult to find. There’s tremendous competition from the commercial sector. Our challenge is in telling the story of our purpose, our why. When you consider the importance of the national security problems facing the nation today, you will see the importance of applying the best minds to solving the hardest problems. If we are going to address this pressing need in our industry, we need to attract and retain the top talent, To do that, we need to be clear about our “why.” It’s really a combination of exciting technical work paired with a passion for helping to support and defend the country.

What’s scaring your clients? The rate of change in technology is a major source of concern, particularly from the perspective of maintaining secure and resilient networks as new technologies are integrated into client systems.  For some of our clients, their primary mission is the defense of the Department of Defense’s (DOD) networks. For other clients, their primary mission involves another activity, and the defense of their network is a secondary priority. Our clients are constantly looking at ways to innovate by leveraging the latest technologies, but often their biggest fear is that some new technology will introduce a vulnerability in their system that could put their data or the entire mission at risk. 

How do you help your clients deal with those challenges? That’s something we look at every day to make sure we are doing as much as we possibly can. Our teams make sure we stay abreast of the latest technologies. We send our talent to the leading industry conferences, and we invest in Cooperative Research and Development Agreements to research rapidly changing technologies such as software-defined networking, network function virtualization, and blockchain. We also encourage our talent to explore their own new ideas and technical innovations, and we provide informed recommendations to our clients regarding how to leverage new technologies while mitigating risks. From the people perspective, we help our clients by providing industry-leading talent: ”rock stars“ who are the best in the world at what they do. I engage in recruiting activities, acting as an ambassador for the advanced technical problems we are working on. I’m also a passionate advocate for the importance of supporting and defending the nation and the networks in the intelligence community and DOD.

What motivates you every day? I care deeply about the country and national defense. That’s always been a driver for me. Booz Allen provides a platform for me to live that purpose, securing the nation’s information. Above all, I have found that I get the most enjoyment out of my day when I’m helping somebody else succeed—to achieve their goals. If somebody comes to me with an investment idea or with a personal challenge, to be able to mentor them, or to help eliminate roadblocks, or to just listen to them—to me that’s where I get the most enjoyment.

What is the most influential book you’ve ever read? The Bible. My faith is tremendously important to me. This is a book you can read 1,000+ times and learn something new every time.

What’s your most prized possession? Over the past several years I’ve gone through this thought process, where I’ve realized that possessions are far less valuable to me than experiences. Experiences and possessions are far less meaningful than relationships with the people I love. My kids, my wife, my family, and my friends—those relationships are the most important to me. 

What advice would you give to a younger you? Back to my faith—I would encourage a younger me to spend more time considering the rationale and potential consequences of my life choices. Explore. Try new things. Take chances…while thoughtfully considering the reasons why I’m making the choices I’m making, and the longer term implications of those choices.