Colonel Randy Pugh, USMC (Ret.), joined the Naval Postgraduate School in 2019, where he served as the Marine Corps Senior Service Representative and Military Associate Dean of Research. He became Deputy Director of the Naval Warfare Studies Institute in 2020 and took on the role of Acting Director in 2022. In August 2023, he become the first permanent director of NWSI. In this position, he helps connect NPS to the Fleet Marine Forces and Headquarters Marine Corps and Navy on research topics of the highest priority and helps ensure that NPS’ educational offerings satisfy the Navy's knowledge and skills requirements.

Colonel Pugh has spent the majority of his career as a Signals Intelligence / Electronic Warfare Officer, serving in command and staff billets at 1st Radio Battalion, as the SIGINT/EW Project Lead at Marine Corps Systems Command, as the Operations and Executive Officer at 3d Radio Battalion, and as the Commanding Officer of 2d Radio Battalion.  He has deployed with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), I MEF, II MEF, Special Operations Command Pacific and Special Operations Command Europe to locations including Iraq, Afghanistan, and the southern Philippines.  He recently served as the Commanding Officer of Marine Corps Intelligence Schools.

Colonel Pugh has a Master’s degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, a Master in Military Studies from the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, a Master of Science degree in Computer Science (Software Engineering) from Naval Postgraduate School, and a Bachelor of Science degree from United States Naval Academy. His NPS Master’s thesis explored the use of artificial intelligence as a means to accelerate system integration.

Elad is a seasoned tech entrepreneur with a wealth of experience spanning both corporate giants and innovative startups. He recently embarked on an exciting journey by founding Lasso Security, a startup dedicated to revolutionizing LLM Security.

In 2020 Elad's entrepreneurial journey achieved a significant milestone by successfully selling his previous startup Segasec to the leading cybersecurity corporation Mimecast. Following the acquisition, Elad assumed the role of VP of Brand Protection, where he focused on safeguarding organizations against the ever-evolving threat of phishing attacks aimed at their customers.

As a true serial entrepreneur, Elad's passion for technology and innovation is beyond building and scaling his ventures, he is also deeply committed to paying it forward. Elad actively invests in and mentors early-stage startups, offering invaluable guidance and support to help them flourish into thriving companies to continue to shape the future of digital security and inspire the next generation of tech leaders.

Sean Applegate currently serves as Chief Technology Officer for SwishData, a customer-centric technology and engineering services provider. In this role, Sean leads innovation strategy, solutions, and services. Sean is passionate about delivering life cycle services to ensure clients realize maximum value for technology investments.
 
Sean is life-long student of culture, specifically the creation of innovative, high-velocity organizations that empower employees to experiment, learn quickly, and push themselves to new levels.
 
Prior to joining Swish, Sean spent nine years with Riverbed Technology helping large enterprises understand, optimize and control performance of global IT architectures. He filled several technical leadership roles at Riverbed, including Senior Director of the Portfolio Solutions Group and Public Sector Technology Strategist.
 
Before Riverbed, Sean worked with several OEMs doing business in the Public Sector. He has also worked as a technology consultant, and served as an active duty United States Marine.