As the Potomac Institute celebrates its 30th year, we are revitalizing our brand to meet the challenges of a contested global order. Central to this transformation is the "People Power" that has defined us for three decades, led by our Board of Regents. Welcome to our latest interview series: Regents in Conversation, a masterclass in the bold, unconventional thinking that gives our clients, and our nation, what it needs, not just what it wants.

In this series, CEO Jennifer Buss sits down with a few esteemed members of PIPS’ Board of Regents to discuss their respective work and careers, their experience with The Potomac Institute, and their thoughts on current and future policy topics.

In this episode of Regents in Conversation, Jen Buss speaks with Robie Samanta Roy, a new Potomac Institute board member whose career has spanned the Institute for Defense Analyses, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the Senate Armed Services Committee, large defense industry, venture-backed startups, and private capital. Drawing on that cross-sector experience, the conversation explores how government, industry, academia, and finance must work together to turn science and technology into real national security capability. Roy reflects on the importance of independent, nonpartisan analysis, the challenge of moving innovation from concept to adoption, and the growing role of trusted supply chains, industrial capacity, and economic security in sustaining US advantage.

Key Takeaways:

• Use independent technical analysis early to separate stakeholder agendas from the real policy problem.
• Focus not only on invention, but on adoption, scale, and operational transition across the national security enterprise.
• Align Congress, DoD, industry, academia, and private capital around shared priorities in critical technologies.
• Strengthen policy tools that support trusted supply chains, industrial capacity, and technology transition in sectors like microelectronics.
• Treat economic security, capital formation, and innovation adoption as core elements of national security strategy.
• Design policy with full awareness of second-order effects, especially in emerging technology, industrial policy, and global competition.