WT 360: The market from all angles
Jun 8, 2026 · 38 min · 10 segments
We have taken a deeper dive into the government market’s private investment landscape in recent weeks by hearing the viewpoints of a banker and then a venture capital specialist. Kirk Konert…
Kirk KonertGuest
Ross WilkersHost
But when you're focused on the national security market, it's also even more important to follow the mission, right? What's happening in a threat environment? What are key leaders within our national security apparatus saying? Where do they need help solving their key issues? follow those priorities, and that's where you can find opportunities to invest in these best companies that can help solve those problems.
So that's what we focus on at AE Industrial is where are those key issues that need to be solved, where there's critical choke points, whether that's in the systems area or within the supply chain, Let's go help solve those problems by investing capital and backing some of these companies that can do that.
You have to understand where the money is going to be flowing, how the different customers are thinking about where they're going to invest procurement dollars, R&D dollars.
and also how capital hill is thinking about that right so we we analyze all that have conversations with the key customers make sure we're plugged in with capital hill and then we make informed investment decisions at the ae industrial level but also with our portfolio companies where should they spend their precious r d dollars and resources so that they are actually solving problems that matter not not problems that don't.
And I think that's critically important when you're thinking about how you will invest in this sector.
No one would say with a straight face that budget and policy documents are user-friendly.
But they are a roadmap for what's important to the customer collective and how they want to go about it.
And you also surround yourself with experts that have done it for their entire careers, because it is not as clear as I think people would like.
Here's what we here's where we're going to spend and how we're going to spend it, as opposed to having to really study it and analyze it.
Thankfully, we do have AI tools now that can also decipher these documents in even a faster way than we could prior.
And that's been another way to understand how key leaders think about where their budget dollars are going, how they're thinking about not just this year, but also subsequent years and where the key programs are that we can actually underwrite and invest behind.
How does one stay focused on the big picture themes that don't change all that much?
But when you're focused on the national security market, it's also even more important to follow the mission, right? What's happening in a threat environment? What are key leaders within our national security apparatus saying? Where do they need help solving their key issues? follow those priorities, and that's where you can find opportunities to invest in these best companies that can help solve those problems.
So that's what we focus on at AE Industrial is where are those key issues that need to be solved, where there's critical choke points, whether that's in the systems area or within the supply chain, Let's go help solve those problems by investing capital and backing some of these companies that can do that.
You have to understand where the money is going to be flowing, how the different customers are thinking about where they're going to invest procurement dollars, R&D dollars.
and also how capital hill is thinking about that right so we we analyze all that have conversations with the key customers make sure we're plugged in with capital hill and then we make informed investment decisions at the ae industrial level but also with our portfolio companies where should they spend their precious r d dollars and resources so that they are actually solving problems that matter not not problems that don't.
And I think that's critically important when you're thinking about how you will invest in this sector.
No one would say with a straight face that budget and policy documents are user-friendly.
But they are a roadmap for what's important to the customer collective and how they want to go about it.
And you also surround yourself with experts that have done it for their entire careers, because it is not as clear as I think people would like.
Here's what we here's where we're going to spend and how we're going to spend it, as opposed to having to really study it and analyze it.
Thankfully, we do have AI tools now that can also decipher these documents in even a faster way than we could prior.
And that's been another way to understand how key leaders think about where their budget dollars are going, how they're thinking about not just this year, but also subsequent years and where the key programs are that we can actually underwrite and invest behind.
How does one stay focused on the big picture themes that don't change all that much?
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