Sam Stowers is a former Special Operations Officer and Senior Civilian at the Department of Defense. He is currently the Head of Product Development at Black Cape, a national security startup focused on machine learning and software engineering capabilities. Prior to Black Cape, Mr. Stowers held senior positions at the Department of Defense, primarily building mission technologies and expanding digital services for the US Military. Prior to transitioning to the Civil Service, Mr. Stowers spent over a decade in Special Operations culminating as the Director of Technical Operations at a technical special mission unit. Mr. Stowers has previously served as a Military Fellow assigned to a member of the US House of Representatives’ House Armed Services Committee (HASC). Mr. Stowers graduated as a Distinguished Military Graduate from American University’s School of International Service where he received a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in International Relations.