Emerging Tech Horizons · 2026-07-22 · 38 min
The Department of Defense (DoD) has spent decades building programs to attract innovative small businesses and accelerate emerging technology into the defense market . Yet according to former Department of Defense (DoD) Office of Small Business Programs Director Farooq Mitha, the department was still losing 3 to 5 percent of its small business Defense Industrial Base each year. The challenge facing defense innovation is no longer simply finding promising technologies. It's creating pathways that allow innovative companies to grow, compete, and remain part of the Defense Industrial Base. In this episode, host Dr. Arun Seraphin sits down with Mitha, now CEO of the Imbue Group, to discuss the evolving role of small businesses in Department of Defense (DoD) acquisition, emerging technology , and innovation. Drawing on more than a decade of experience inside the Pentagon, Mitha reflects on efforts to expand small business participation, modernize programs such as Mentor-Protégé, and strengthen pathways for emerging companies to compete in the defense market while supporting the Defense Industrial Base.
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