All Quiet on the Second Front

Hosted by Second Front

Episodes

Language

EN-US

About the show

If Between Two Ferns and C-SPAN had a child, it would be All Quiet on the Second Front. Blending the very best (and the worst) of government gravitas with technical expertise, Second Front’s Chief Executive Officer, Tyler Sweatt, cuts through the noise and the bureaucratic BS surrounding all things defense tech, national security, and government markets. Be warned: this is not your typical military or government podcast. As host, Tyler has an uncanny ability to get people to talk honestly, making candid conversations that are equally informative and entertaining. All Quiet on the Second Front is the much-needed integrator connecting listeners to experts across fields in an approachable format that offers a fun experience with real conversations, driving real change in the defense tech industry and U.S. national security. Learn more about Second Front at SecondFront.com

Listen to episodes

60 recent

43 min

126. The Mission Shouldn’t Run on Luck with Bill Pessin, SVP of Missionforce at Salesforce

Twenty years ago, a young logistics lieutenant solved an impossible field problem with a Franklin Planner, a satellite phone, and a contact who happened to be at his desk. It worked — but it ran on luck. Bill Pessin has spent his career since making sure the mission never has to. He joins Tyler Sweatt to trace the line from Army logistics to leading Salesforce’s Missionforce, and why acceleration, not just speed, is the point. What's happening on the Second Front: How a satellite phone and a Franklin Planner solved an impossible field problem — and why depending on luck is a system failure Why Salesforce is the “central nervous system” of the mission enterprise, from HUMINT to workflow How Missionforce was born from a single dinner between Marc Benioff and a combatant commander What “acceleration” really means when moving faster through the mission is the goal, not the metric The one piece of government friction he’d fix first if he had a magic wand Bill Pessin is SVP of Missionforce at Salesforce and a U.S. Army veteran who has led the company’s national security business since 2014. Connect with Bill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/billpessin/ Connect with Tyler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylersweatt

46 min

125. Signal, Grit, and the Veteran Transition Trap with Kyle Eberly, Wyatt Frasier, and Max Cormier from Sitreps

Every veteran gets the same advice on the way out: "your service will speak for itself." It won't. In this episode, Tyler Sweatt sits down with Kyle Eberly, Wyatt Frasier, and Max Cormier, the leadership team behind Sitreps — the recruiting firm that's become the go-to clearinghouse for veteran talent in defense tech and private equity — to give it to transitioning service members straight. They cover: Why civilian employers care about value and dependability, not your combat record — and how to lead with that The difference between "signal" and "human capital," and why vets almost always need the former Whether an MBA is still worth it (and why "getting an MBA on YouTube" is a trap) The negotiation and entitlement mistakes that cost people offers at the one-yard line Connect with the Sitreps Team: Wyatt Frasier , CEO Kyle Eberly , Chairman and CTO Max Cormier , COO Connect with Tyler: LinkedIn: Tyler Sweatt

40 min

124. Defense Acquisition Speed and the Cost-Per-Effect Problem with Church Hutton, AV

A foreign partner's payment has sat in a U.S. government account for nearly a year. The order still hasn't shipped. It's stuck in contracting. That kind of friction is exactly what Church Hutton, Chief Growth Officer at AV, has spent his career navigating: from Senate Armed Services and Appropriations staff, to Army Reserve officer, to leading growth at a company that just doubled in size by acquiring Blue Halo. Tyler and Church dig into: Why "cost per effect" is broken — the U.S. is shooting down $20K threats with million-dollar interceptors Why laser weapon systems are finally moving from prototype to production after decades of false starts The historical parallel between the Army's interwar cavalry branch and today's Pentagon modernization fights __________ Church Hutton has spent over two decades moving between Capitol Hill, uniformed service, and defense industry leadership, most recently steering growth at AV through its transformation into a full-spectrum autonomous systems company. Connect with Church LinkedIn: Church Hutton Connect with Tyler LinkedIn: Tyler Sweatt

39 min

123. Fast Planes Fast: Hermeus's CEO Zach Shore on Owning the Outcome

Breaking into aviation as a startup means years of quiet, brutal work with nothing to show for it publicly. Zach Shore calls it startups on hard mode: the pain is real, but the moat is massive. Now Hermeus is the fastest company in history from founding to supersonic flight, and its newly minted CEO sits down with Tyler to explain how a small team out-built a 75-year-old industry. "Own the outcome, not the action" — the whole job of leadership at scale Why adding sales headcount early creates crosscurrents, not coverage 74 days from build stand to weight on wheels, and why building more planes makes you faster Keeping your mouth shut as go-to-market strategy in a zero-sum budget world Zach Shore is the CEO of Hermeus, a former Marine SIGINT officer and Anduril early employee who led the Lattice program before joining Hermeus to build its go-to-market motion from scratch. Connect with Zach LinkedIn: Zach Shore Connect with Tyler LinkedIn: Tyler Sweatt

30 min

122. Timing the AI Wave with Brian Raymond | All Quiet on the Second Front Podcast

Getting AI out of the POC and into production has been the defining challenge of the last three years. Brian Raymond has lived it from the inside — building infrastructure, mistiming bets, and figuring out in real time what "enterprise-ready" actually requires. This episode covers: What it takes to get AI out of the demo and into production at scale Why senior engineering judgment matters more than headcount in the AI era How Unstructured crossed the Valley of Death without forking their stack — same core code base on Game Warden and in financial services What a decade at CIA taught Brian about paranoia as a leadership practice Why the dam may have finally broken on enterprise AI adoption Brian Raymond is CEO and co-founder of unstructured.io, an AI data infrastructure company with $65M raised, 70M open source downloads, and customers spanning financial services, defense, and enterprise SaaS. Connect with Brian: LinkedIn: Brian Raymond Connect with Tyler: LinkedIn: Tyler Sweatt

32 min

121. Scaling Defense Tech: Hacking Bureaucracy for National Security with Meagan Metzger (Dcode)

High-level policy decrees and exciting national security headlines don't win wars. Execution does. This week, Meagan Metzger (Founder & CEO of Dcode) joins Tyler Sweatt to pull back the curtain on the unsexy, high-stakes reality of defense acquisition reform. While leadership pushes for rapid commercial tech adoption, the "fingers-on-keyboards" workforce is left managing legacy constraints, budget shifts, and an inherent fear of administrative risk. What’s happening on the second front: The critical execution gap between strategic mandates and tactical reality. Re-engineering the internal operating models of DoW programs to maximize authorities. Why commercial founders must understand the defense ecosystem better than their buyers. Transitioning from line-item product procurement to budgeting for mission outcomes. Realigning the incentives within federal labs and research communities toward true mission impact. Connect with Meagan LinkedIn: Meagan Metzger Connect with Tyler LinkedIn: Tyler Sweatt

42 min

120. What Gets Funded in Defense Tech with Paige Craig (Managing Founder & Partner at Outlander VC)

At some point, every founder runs into reality. Not just the pitch or the vision. But the part where it breaks, gets hard, and no one is coming to fix it for you. This is where most companies are decided. Paige Craig (Managing Founder & Partner at Outlander VC) joins guest host Sam Gray to break down how he evaluates founders in defense tech: how conviction is earned, what stands out early, and what separates the teams worth betting on. What’s happening on the Second Front: What earns a first check (and what doesn’t) Insight, obsession, and character—and why they matter more than experience How strong teams handle setbacks vs. hide from them The reality of founder dynamics as companies grow Where defense tech is going—and who’s going to build it? Connect with Paige LinkedIn: Paige Craig Connect with Sam LinkedIn: Sam Gray

24 min

119. Building a Cyber Force That Can Keep Up with Katherine Sutton (Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber Policy, DoW)

Cyber isn’t just a compliance problem anymore. It’s operational. It’s persistent. And it’s moving faster than the systems built to manage it. Katherine Sutton (Assistant Secretary of War for Cyber Policy and the Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of War) joins Tyler Sweatt to talk about keeping pace across policy, technology, training, experimentation, and most importantly - the people. What’s happening on the Second Front: Why cyber can’t be treated as a compliance exercise anymore The real bottleneck to adopting new technology (and it’s not the tech) How to get capability into operators’ hands faster Rethinking talent, training, and career paths in the cyber force Why incremental change won’t keep up—and what transformation actually requires Connect with Katherine Sutton LinkedIn: Katherine Sutton Connect with Tyler LinkedIn: Tyler Sweatt

30 min

118. Understanding Government Demand with John Price, Founder and CEO of Highground

John Price, Founder and CEO of Highground, has worked across special operations, the Senate, and private markets. Now, he’s focused on helping investors and builders understand what the government actually wants and how it buys. He joins Tyler Sweatt to break down how demand shows up, where teams misread it, and how to identify where real programs—and real money—actually sit. What’s happening on the Second Front How government demand actually shows up, and why it’s often misread What separates real opportunities from noise in defense markets How investors and operators evaluate where to place bets Where founders lose time (and how to move earlier in the process) Making the system more predictable instead of relying on luck Connect with John LinkedIn: John Price Connect with Tyler LinkedIn: Tyler Sweatt

38 min

117. Infrastructure at the Edge of Everywhere with Armada, Microsoft, and DISA

Today, Armada is opening its first Galleon Experience Center in Washington, DC. A live environment showcasing what it actually takes to run AI at the edge—bringing together ruggedized infrastructure, cloud, and secure software deployment. With 2F Frontier as part of the stack, extending DevSecOps to disconnected, real-world environments. And with Offset 2026 right around the corner, it felt like the right time to revisit a timely conversation from last year. On the Offset stage, Tyler Sweatt, Pradeep Nair (Armada), Leigh Madden (Microsoft), and Korie Seville (DISA) got into: The gap between data and decision at the edge What breaks between connectivity, compute, and deployment Why speed to mission still comes down to authorization And if you want to be part of where this is going next, register for Offset 2026 . ______ From oil platforms to special‑ops posts, cloud infrastructures are now being deployed in environments they weren’t initially designed for. This panel explores how customized edge architectures and commercial integrations orchestrate distributed services and securely manage intermittent connectivity. All while addressing ongoing challenges in latency, interoperability, and standardization to deliver resilient, mission‑critical private clouds. Connect with the speakers: Tyler Sweatt Pradeep Nair Leigh Madden Korie Seville

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