Inside the Leidos Cyber Accelerator: Innovation Sandbox to Mission Superiority

Cyber adversaries are no longer passive - they are doubling down on AI to increase the scale and sophistication of attacks, move faster, smarter, and with greater precision. At Leidos we see this reality clearly: an AI-enabled adversary demands an AI-enabled offense and defense. That's why our Cyber Accelerator is relentlessly innovating to disrupt attacks, stress-test defenses, and deploy smarter tools and techniques that stay a step ahead of the threat landscape.

Recently we sat down with Bobby Scharmann, director of the Leidos Cyber Accelerator, to talk about how his team is delivering mission-ready solutions while shaping the future of cybersecurity to prepare for whatever comes next.

Q: What exactly is a Cyber Accelerator, and what does it do?

The Leidos Cyber Accelerator is our fast lane for cyber innovation. We're the central hub for cyber-related innovation across the business.

The Cyber Accelerator team is multidisciplinary, so we cover everything from full-spectrum cyber operations such as offensive, defensive, and cyber-physical systems along with emerging areas like agentic AI and quantum technologies. Having access into every part of the business and a multi-disciplinary team helps us identify common capability needs and deliver timely and relevant capability to support the delivery of mission-focused, resilient systems that keep pace with the rapid evolution of today's cyber terrain.

What we do is bridge the gap between emerging technologies and real-world applications. The team starts with questions like:

• What does this technology do?
• How can it be applied to our customer's mission?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages?

Then we combine academic research, customer feedback, internal research and development (R&D), and our expertise to develop novel mission-focused capabilities. For example, many of these capabilities will integrate into repeatable, high-value offerings for the enterprise or even onto high-priority programs such as DARPA's Intelligent Generation of Tools for Security (INGOTS).

Q. What areas of research is the Cyber Accelerator currently working in to prepare for the next cyber trend?

We're investing in research that can transform emerging concepts into mission-ready capabilities that our customers can trust with emphasis on addressing not only today's threats but anticipating what's next. That means building:

• AI-driven decision systems that accelerate threat detection, response, and operational decision-making to outpace adversaries.
• Adaptive and resilient architectures that withstand and recover from attacks, even in contested environments.
• Agentic AI solutions for cyber operations, enabling secure, autonomous agents across enterprise and tactical networks.
• Embedded and operational technology capabilities and frameworks to protect critical infrastructure and mission platforms.
• AI and Agentic AI security guidance, capabilities, and platforms to ensure AI and autonomous agents operate securely and resiliently under adversarial pressure.
• Post-Quantum Security and crypto-agile solutions to ensure sensitive data remains secure well into the future.
• Quantum technologies through advancing quantum sensing, communications, networking, and photonic systems to deliver breakthroughs in secure communications and situational awareness while exploring quantum-enabled cyber offense and defense.

Our goal is to deliver smarter, more resilient systems that help our customers act with speed and confidence, now and in the future.

Q: As the director of the Leidos Cyber Accelerator, what are your top priorities and how do they align with the company's strategy?

My top priority is building capabilities that deliver real-world impact at mission speed. That means moving Beyond Compliance and driving towards secure and resilient outcomes in all we deliver and moving beyond minimum requirements standards and checklists. We want to deliver innovation that's practical, deployable, and trusted - from hardening the foundation of our infrastructure, to bringing autonomy and AI into cyber operations decision-making, to securing operational technologies at the edge.

For me, it's about staying ahead of the threat curve while helping Leidos and its customers move faster and with more confidence. We align tightly with the company's strategy by turning cutting-edge research into differentiated capabilities that scale across the enterprise and mission space. Ultimately, I want the Cyber Accelerator to be known as the team that pushes the boundaries of what's possible and keeps Leidos at the forefront of the intersection of cyber AI and quantum technologies.