Paul Benda

Paul Benda is a principal and the chief technology officer of Global Security Innovative Strategies (GSIS), where he helps clients integrate new technologies and use risk-based approaches to achieve effective security solutions. He currently coleads the Security Assessment and Business Continuity practice at GSIS and has helped clients examine and optimize internal procedures and practices dealing with executive protection, campus and travel security, employee workplace safety, and operational resiliency. He uses his background in research and development (R&D) to aid clients in their efforts to expand their work with the federal government’s R&D enterprise and help them position their technologies for transition into government and commercial markets. He also leads the SAFETY Act practice at GSIS, where he has successfully helped clients gain approval of their SAFETY Act applications. Earlier in his career, Mr. Benda served as director of the Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency (HSARPA), where he was the de facto head of R&D for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the senior executive in charge of the design and installation of all security systems on the Pentagon Reservation, and a program manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He started his career as an active duty U.S. Air Force officer working at the Air Force Research Laboratory in Rome, NY, and transitioned from military life to the private sector, where he worked as a consultant for Booz Allen for five years before returing to government service. He holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from Purdue University.