Pete “Shadow” Ford serves as the Director of National Security for Dell Federal, bringing more than three decades of leadership experience across the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, Department of Energy, and the defense technology industry. A highly respected executive strategist and advanced technology leader, Pete has built a distinguished career solving some of the nation’s most complex national security challenges through innovation, operational integration, and strategic collaboration.
Prior to joining Dell Federal, Pete served as Senior Vice President of Federal Operations for QuSecure, where he led federal growth initiatives and advanced cybersecurity strategies supporting critical national security missions. Throughout his career, he has held senior executive and leadership positions with industry and government leaders including Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), earning a reputation for delivering transformative capabilities across highly sensitive and technically demanding environments.
Pete specializes in advanced aviation and space integration, communication protocols, weapons of mass destruction (WMD) counterproliferation, and emerging threat development. His expertise spans the intersection of operational strategy, advanced engineering, and national defense technology, where he has successfully guided multi-year programs under complex PPBE and earned-value management frameworks while aligning mission requirements with scalable technical solutions.
Known for his ability to bridge strategic vision with technical execution, Pete has consistently transformed customer requirements into profitable, mission-driven capabilities that create both immediate and long-term operational impact. He is widely recognized for his leadership within “green door” environments and his ability to unify government, defense, and technology communities across multiple domains to address the nation’s hardest problem sets.
An accomplished keynote speaker and collaborative innovator, Pete excels at orchestrating senior strategists, technical experts, and mission stakeholders to drive structured innovation and defense-centric design. His leadership style combines operational experience, technical depth, and strategic foresight, making him a trusted advisor across federal and national security sectors.
With more than 33 years of dynamic leadership experience, Pete continues to shape the future of national security through advanced analysis, technical production, interagency collaboration, and next-generation defense solutions.