From F-16s to Founders: Raj Shah on Building the Future of Defense

In this episode, Adam chats with Raj Shah about his diverse journey in aviation and beyond. They discuss Raj's transition from the Ivy League to the Air National Guard, his early military tech experiences, and his shift to entrepreneurship in cybersecurity. The conversation covers the founding of the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and its role in linking Silicon Valley with the Pentagon. They also touch on military budget strategies, balancing legacy systems with new tech, and future cost reductions. Raj wraps up by sharing insights on returning to flying and his venture with Shield Capital, offering advice on finding purpose after military service.

You can listen to From F-16s to Founders: Raj Shah on Building the Future of Defense online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

From F-16s to Founders: Raj Shah on Building the Future of Defense is an episode from The Pilot Network Podcast by The Pilot Network.

This episode is 00:38:21 long.

This episode was published on Jul 23, 2025.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Pilot Network Podcast when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.