In this edition of our Speaker Spotlight blog series, we speak with Dominic Perez, the Chief Technology Officer of Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, who shares insights on driving innovation across tactical communications, cybersecurity, and edge AI within the defense landscape.
Ahead of the European Aerospace & Defense Summit on June 2–3 in Düsseldorf, Germany, he offers a forward-looking perspective on workforce evolution, mission-driven leadership, and the technologies shaping the future of aerospace and defense.
When I started at PacStar, I was on the software team. But it quickly became evident that we had a gap where the software engineers didn't quite know how to talk to the mechanical engineers, who certainly didn't know how to talk to the network or cybersecurity people. Given my background, I was able to serve as a kind of Rosetta Stone and help the whole team work together more effectively. Through that process, I realized our customers had a similar set of problems — they might be deeply knowledgeable in networking but have little visibility into what modern software or edge computing could do for them. That insight led me to propose a systems engineering and integrated solutions department, which grew into a full division that I ran as VP at the time of the acquisition.
Today, as CTO for Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions, my day-to-day is genuinely varied. I work closely with the PacStar engineering and leadership team at our Portland, Oregon facility, but my scope spans the entire division. I drive technology strategy across our core domains — tactical communications, ruggedized modular compute, cybersecurity, and increasingly, edge AI. I also carry responsibilities in business development and marketing, thought leadership, and I serve on our M&A sourcing and diligence team. And outside of Curtiss-Wright, I'm a board member for the Technology Association of Oregon, I serve on the Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Council, and I'm an Angel and VC investor — so I stay connected to the broader technology ecosystem on many fronts.
I don't think we're facing a workforce shortage so much as a misalignment between the skills the market is producing and the skills modern defense companies actually need. The talent exists. The question is whether our industry can attract it, and whether we're willing to invest in retraining to close the gaps.
One of the biggest challenges we face is perception. Defense is not widely seen as cutting-edge, and I don't think that's accurate. At Curtiss-Wright, we're working on edge AI inference in austere environments, resilient mesh networking, software-defined tactical infrastructure, RADAR processing, flight test data acquisition, and more — these are genuinely hard, interesting problems. But we're competing for top talent with Apple, Amazon, and the rest of Silicon Valley, and that's a difficult pitch if candidates don't understand what we're building.
There's also been a massive gravitational pull toward software engineering over the past decade, often at the expense of mechanical and electrical engineering disciplines, coupled with a multi-decade-long retreat from the skilled trades. Those skills are critical in defense — you can't ship a ruggedized system to a forward operating base without people who understand thermal management, EMI, and MIL-STD qualification, and you can't build or run a factory without electricians, pipefitters, and all of the other skilled trades. Interestingly, I'm seeing early signs that the rise of AI is prompting some engineers to look back toward the physical world — toward hardware, robotics, and systems where their skills aren't as easily replicated by a large language model.
At the senior level, your network — and the network of your team — is hands down the most effective recruiting tool. The best people aren't applying to job boards; they're being referred by colleagues who can vouch for the quality of the work and the culture.
But it's equally important to build a pipeline with people just starting their careers. We work closely with universities — not just through internships, but by getting involved early enough that students know our name before they ever start a job search. We may not be their first destination after graduation. But when they're five or ten years in and looking for something more meaningful, Curtiss-Wright rings a bell. They remember the caliber of engineering we apply to defense, and they come find us.
I'll add that defense companies need to get more comfortable telling their story. The mission matters. The technology is real. If we're not showing up at career fairs and in classrooms and in the same channels that the consumer tech companies dominate, we're ceding the talent pipeline by default.
I can speak to cybersecurity as this is something I'm personally invested in. I'm a member of the State of Oregon Cybersecurity Advisory Council, and through that work, I collaborate closely with the leaders of cybersecurity programs at all of our state universities.
We've done some genuinely innovative things at the undergraduate level. One example is a teaching-hospital model where students actually run a network operations center that provides cybersecurity services to underserved communities across the state. They're not doing hypotheticals in a lab — they're defending real networks, responding to real incidents, and building operational skills that translate directly to the workforce.
On the upskilling side, Oregon's universities have stood up non-degreed certificate programs in cybersecurity and related fields like AI and data science. We've even worked with a local community college to offer a first-ever bachelor's degree in cybersecurity at the community college level. That makes the field far more accessible to people who don't have the means to attend a traditional four-year university, or who are looking for a mid-career transition. Breaking down those barriers is critical — the demand for cybersecurity professionals isn't slowing down, and the traditional pipeline alone can't fill it.
The first step is making sure everyone in your organization truly understands the mission — not just what we're building, but who we're building it for and why it matters. In defense, that means connecting every engineer, every program manager, every manufacturing technician to the warfighter at the end of the chain.
Once you've made that connection, it's almost like a cheat code. I've never met anyone in this industry who, once they truly understand that their work keeps someone safe downrange, doesn't want to push a little harder, hold themselves to a higher standard, and take more pride in getting the details right. That sense of purpose is a retention tool, a quality driver, and a competitive advantage all at once.
The flip side is that mission-driven leadership carries a real obligation. If you invoke the warfighter mission, you'd better mean it. That means making tough calls when cost or schedule pressure conflicts with quality. It means being transparent about constraints rather than overpromising. The mission only motivates if your team trusts that leadership is just as committed to it as they are.
Resilience starts with intellectual curiosity and a culture that rewards lifelong learning. The technology landscape is shifting fast enough that today's skills and processes will almost certainly be outdated in 5 years. What doesn't change is the ability to learn, adapt, and apply new concepts quickly.
Practically, that means investing in continuous professional development — not just annual training checkboxes, but real access to emerging tools, technologies, and operating paradigms. It means cross-training across job roles and disciplines, so your network engineers understand enough about cybersecurity to spot a problem, and your software developers understand enough about the physical constraints of deployed hardware to design for them.
As much as the landscape has changed over the last three or four years, my answer to this question hasn't fundamentally shifted. The single most important capability is the ability to learn — to absorb new technologies, new operating paradigms, and constant change. If anything, AI has amplified this. You can no longer just learn about technology as a static body of knowledge. The state of the art is changing on a daily basis, and professionals need to be comfortable functioning in that kind of rapidly evolving environment.
Beyond that, there are some defense-specific skills that will be in peak demand. Model-based systems engineering and digital twin creation are becoming foundational to how programs are designed, tested, and sustained. The DoD is pushing hard toward digital engineering workflows, and the workforce needs to be ready.
Edge AI and machine learning deployment in tactical environments is another area with enormous growth potential. The ability to run inference at the point of need — on constrained hardware, in denied or degraded network conditions, with strict power and thermal budgets — is a different discipline than training models in a data center. That intersection of AI, embedded systems, and operational reality is where a lot of the next decade's innovation will happen, and I expect Silicon Valley's newfound interest in physical AI will have more overlap with defense than the current datacenter obsession.
And then there are the perennial soft skills — communication, leadership, the ability to work in teams, and translate between engineers, program managers, and operators. I think it's going to be a long time before AI masters the intricacies of human interaction and collaboration. Those skills remain a durable competitive advantage.
This will be my first European Aerospace and Defense Summit, so I'm genuinely looking forward to meeting new faces and building new relationships. But what I find most valuable about events like this is the opportunity to interact with peers who focus on very different aspects of aerospace and defense than I do.
My world tends to revolve around tactical communications, edge computing, AI, and cybersecurity — but many attendees here focus on platforms, sustainment, advanced manufacturing, and keeping aircraft in the air. There's tremendous value in getting outside your own domain and learning from people who are solving equally hard problems from a completely different angle. Some of the best ideas come from those cross-disciplinary conversations.
Our sincerest thanks to Dominic Perez for taking the time to share your perspectives and experiences with us. Your insights into talent alignment, mission-driven leadership, and the evolving role of technologies such as edge AI and cybersecurity offer a compelling look at where the aerospace and defense industry is headed—and how organizations can position themselves for long-term success.
We truly appreciate your contribution to this blog series and your continued thought leadership as Chief Technology Officer at Curtiss-Wright.
For those interested in exploring these topics further and hearing directly from industry leaders, we look forward to welcoming you to the European Aerospace & Defense Summit, taking place on June 2–3 in Düsseldorf, Germany. This is a unique opportunity to connect with senior executives, gain deeper insights, and engage in the kind of cross-disciplinary conversations that drive real innovation across the sector.