PITTSBURGH – November 02, 2026 -- Carnegie Mellon University has named Jason M. Brown director and chief executive officer of the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), the Department of War-sponsored federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) it operates. Brown joins the university on Nov. 16.
Brown moves from Applied Intuition's government business to lead the SEI
Brown is general manager, government, at Applied Intuition, where he leads development and deployment of software and autonomous technologies for government and defense customers. Before that, he led Google's professional services business for defense.
His Air Force record centers on emerging technology. As director of the Chief of Staff of the Air Force Strategic Studies Group, he developed and implemented the service's emerging-technology strategy. He also founded the U.S. Air Force Artificial Intelligence Accelerator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Brown was a founding member of the Department of Defense's Joint Artificial Intelligence Center. He is an adjunct assistant professor at Georgetown University, where he teaches artificial intelligence and national security.
New CEO will set strategy and represent the SEI to federal sponsors
Brown will set the SEI's strategic direction and oversee its research, engineering and technology-transition activities. He will also act as the institute's principal representative to federal sponsors and partners, and will work with researchers across Carnegie Mellon to match university strengths to emerging national security needs.
Theresa Mayer, CMU's vice president for research, said Brown combines a military leader's view of national-security missions with industry experience in developing and deploying emerging technologies. Brown said the institute can create more connections between researchers, military professionals and industry partners to turn ideas into mission capabilities.
Paul Nielsen exits after 22 years as SEI director and CEO
Brown succeeds Paul Nielsen, who joined the SEI in 2004 and became its director and CEO later that year. Nielsen will stay engaged through the leadership transition. Carnegie Mellon will hold a reception in early 2027 to mark his service.
John Gilligan, chair of the SEI Board of Visitors, thanked Nielsen for guiding the institute for the past 22 years.
SEI work has shaped DoW software acquisition and defense industrial base security
The SEI has operated for more than four decades. According to the announcement, its work has influenced how the Department of War develops and acquires software, protects the defense industrial base, responds to cybersecurity threats and moves AI from experimental models into dependable systems.
The institute enters the leadership change with a renewed federal mandate. Its stated focus is keeping software, cybersecurity, AI and autonomous systems that support critical missions secure, reliable and ready to perform.