Executive Mosaic has elected Young Bang, U.S. Army principal deputy assistant secretary for acquisition, logistics and technology, as one of its first-time winners of the Wash100 Award for 2024. The recognition underscores how his endorsement of artificial intelligence, automation and digital engineering supported the integration of cutting-edge technologies into the Army of 2030 strategy.
Participate in GovCon’s most exciting race — the Wash100 popular vote competition! You can cast your vote for Young Bang as your favorite 2024 Wash100 Award winner at Wash100.com. Voting closes April 30.
“For the past two years, Young has played a vital role in reshaping software acquisition, guiding AI adoption, designing interoperable data architectures and spearheading acquisition improvements for the U.S. Army. His unique combination of military, industry and government experience makes him a well-rounded leader with a deep understanding of the government and government contracting ecosystems. We’re excited to include Young in our Wash100 list for the first time, and we look forward to his continued innovation and leadership as he drives the Army’s acquisition reform forward,” said Jim Garrettson, CEO of Executive Mosaic and founder of the Wash100 Award.
Bang is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. After earning his degree in leadership and systems engineering, he served for five years in the Army and reached the rank of captain.
He shifted his career to the private sector and held product management positions at companies such as software company Ciena and former telecommunications company MCI, now owned by Verizon Communications.
Bang also spent a year at KPMG Consulting as solution architect before joining Booz Allen Hamilton (NYSE: BAH) as partner and senior vice president. He stayed with Booz Allen Hamilton until 2018, then accepted the role of chief growth officer at Atlas Research.
In his current capacity, Bang has been leading the acceleration of the Army’s digitalization initiatives. At a conference held in August in Georgia, he encouraged the government contracting industry to be conscious of the evolving operations of the branch as companies strive to meet its future needs.
“We’re trying to break down the obstacles at the enterprise level to constantly iterate, to get more things out there faster and in smaller increments, but more importantly, get the users’ feedback as we’re doing it,” he remarked. He noted that one of the main purposes of digitalization was to catch up with adversaries such as China and Russia.
At ExecutiveBiz’s Army Acquisition Priorities Forum in November, Bang sought the industry’s help to execute the branch’s ideas for technological reformation, including robotics and automation.
“Innovation is positive disruption. Help us revolutionize those concepts and future concepts. And give us true innovation and solve problems, not incrementally automate the things that we already know how to do,” he told event participants.
He highlighted their top three goals: “reducing our signature, being decentralized and being on the move.” He added that they were looking for incubated products and services that are designed to answer their specific needs and problems.
Bang has also been championing the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence. In June, he revealed that the branch was exploring the idea of an AI bill of materials to be obtained from AI algorithm vendors in an effort to facilitate the early detection of potential cyber vulnerabilities.
“We’re looking at things from a risk perspective,” Bang said at the time. “Just like we’re securing our supply chain — semiconductors, components, subcomponents — we’re also thinking about that from a digital perspective. So we’re looking at software, data and AI.”
From automation to digital engineering, Bang demonstrates his commitment to providing acquisition opportunities for the private sector while gaining necessary capabilities for the Army. In November, he announced the establishment of a digital contracting center of excellence.
“Digital engineering is the process throughout the whole lifecycle spanning more than just acquisition, spanning concepts, requirements, wargaming, modeling and simulations, into the material development to include everything in acquisitions, designs, testing, to the point of soldier feedback, and then going back through the whole cycle of testing and models and simulations,” he commented. “So, the outcome becomes more than a paper-based way of doing things. It becomes a digital instantiation of the concepts that we can take to accelerate.”
Army Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Young Bang is a progressive, forward-thinking acquisition and logistics leader. He fits perfectly with the tenets of the Wash100 Award, which recognizes visionaries uplifting the government contracting sector.
Executive Mosaic congratulates Young Bang and the Army organization for winning the 2024 Wash100 Award. Don’t forget to vote for him at Wash100.com!
