Outside Managers Join US Defense Business

Improbable LLC, a U.S. subsidiary of British technology company Improbable, has appointed Deborah Lee James, the 23rd U.S. Secretary of the Air Force, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Dr. Jim Miller, and former Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence Dr. Michael Vickers to its Board of Managers.

“Improbable enables an integration of modeling, simulation, artificial intelligence/machine learning and analytics to produce the most detailed and realistic synthetic environments ever conceived,” said Dr. Miller, Chair of the Board. “I’m excited to work with my colleagues to advise Improbable on how to provide unique value to the U.S. national security community by applying the revolutionary potential of Improbable’s technology for training, planning and decision support.”

James, Miller and Vickers join Improbable Defence Chief Executive Officer Joe Robinson, Improbable Chief Technology Officer Lincoln Wallen, and Improbable LLC President & General Manager Caitlin Dohrman to form the Improbable LLC Board of Managers.

Secretary James served as the 23rd Secretary of the United States Air Force with responsibility for 660,000 military and civilian personnel and a budget of nearly $140 billion. Secretary James has deep expertise in strategic planning, risk management, public policy, cyber security, logistics and innovation. Secretary James has 15 years of executive experience in private industry. Most recently, she was the President of SAIC’s Technical and Engineering sector, a $2 billion, 8,700-person enterprise. Secretary James currently leads DLJames International LLC, a strategic advisory firm, and is a member of the Board of Directors of Textron Inc., Unisys, Systems and Technology Research, and LocatorX. She is on the Advisory Boards at Massachusetts Institute of Technology – Lincoln Laboratory and LeanIn.Org.

As Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from May 2012 to January 2014, Dr. Miller served as the principal civilian advisor to the Secretary of Defense on strategy, policy, and operations. He served as Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, from April 2009 to May 2012. Dr. Miller previously served as Senior Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security and as Senior Vice President at Hicks and Associates, Inc. Dr. Miller is currently President of Adaptive Strategies, LLC, which provides consulting on strategy development and implementation, international engagement, and technology issues. He is a senior fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, serves on the Board of Advisors for the Center for a New American Security, and is a member of the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Michael Vickers’ federal service has spanned nearly four decades, serving in a variety of positions as a national security decision maker and intelligence community leader. In March 2011, Dr. Vickers assumed the responsibilities as Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence; he was the longest-serving Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence in the department’s history. Previously, he served as the department’s first and only Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity & Interdependent Capabilities from July 2007 to March 2011, and Acting Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence from January 2011 to March 2011. Dr. Vickers serves as a board member for BAE Systems, Fed Data Holdings, Metis Solutions, and Hermetic Solutions Group. He is the Chair of the Advisory Board for SAP National Security Services and an advisory board member of General Atomics & General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Dataminr, Orbis Operations, Beacon Global Strategies, and Predata. Dr. Vickers also serves on Government advisory boards related to national security issues.