Randy Fields
Vice President & CTO, Ultra I&C
Randy Fields’ biggest recent achievement has been leading the launch of a new Edge Compute product line, the Knox-10 MFP, and standing up a deliberate AI/ML product strategy that positions Ultra I&C’s core capabilities to integrate naturally into emerging AI workflows.
This has been a complete team effort to experiment, pathfind and set a direction for how Ultra I&C delivers mission-relevant technology at the edge, Fields said.
“Watching those products move from literal napkin concepts to customers has been one of the most rewarding chapters of my career,” he added.
In terms of aligning with the current administration’s priorities to reduce cost, streamline operations and improve government efficiency, Fields said Ultra I&C has taken Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s message about the urgency of the moment seriously and built it directly into the company’s technology strategy.
Ultra I&C is aligning with government reference architectures, investing in scaling commercial hardware production and continuous ATO software delivery, all while delivering capabilities with highly favorable data rights so that the government owns what it pays for.
“Randy’s leadership has helped sharpen how we turn technical vision into real capability,” said Mladen Brkic, president of Ultra I&C Mission Solutions. “He delivers real solutions under pressure, communicates them clearly across technical and non-technical audiences, and does all of it with a positive attitude that makes him a pleasure to work with. His ability to connect emerging technologies, mission needs, and product strategy continues to push our innovation forward in meaningful ways.”
Why Watch
In 2026, Fields and his team are heavily focused on delivering defense-grade AI and edge compute capabilities at commercial speed and scale, working to close the gap between what the mission needs tonight and what industry can actually put in the field.
They are investing in production scalability, building a cleaner path into GSA and government catalogs, and making sure Ultra I&C’s products carry the data rights posture government customers deserve. The goal is straightforward: be the partner that shows up ready, priced fairly and fight-tonight capable.
“A vision without an implementation plan is a hallucination,” Fields said. “The best ideas I’ve seen succeed weren’t the flashiest ones in the room, they were the ones with someone deliberately building the bridge between the whiteboard and the warfighter.”
Fun fact: Outside the day job, Fields is energized by one thing above all: sitting down with someone to stress-test their strategy. Whether it’s a scrappy startup or a large corporate transformation, he’s drawn to poking at the risks, spotting the opportunities, and figuring out who in his network can help them move faster or go further. Connecting the right people around a good idea is, by his own account, what gives him the most energy.