Management Team

Mandy Long was appointed Chief Executive Officer of BigBear.ai in October 2022. She previously served as Vice President, IBM IT Automation and Vice President, IBM Integration & Application Platform. Prior to that, she served as General Manager, IBM Watson Health Provider Analytics, as well as Chief Product and Strategy Officer, Artificial Intelligence for IBM Watson. She also previously held Vice President of Product Management positions at Modernizing Medicine and Experian Health. Mandy has received multiple awards and recognition for her accomplishments in the fields of Healthcare IT, including as one of the Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT from Health Data Management in 2017. She earned a B.A. in Economics from Connecticut College.

Carolyn Blankenship provides strategic input to drive BigBear.ai's growth and long-term success. Carolyn has over 30 years' experience advising companies on achieving business objectives in an emerging technology environment. She joined BigBear.ai from Thomson Reuters, where she worked since 2001 and was mostly recently General Counsel, Product & Innovation. Carolyn's practice has focused on various legal aspects of artificial intelligence, and she has lectured on this subject at Princeton, Penn Law and the Practicing Law Institute, among others. She is also an Observer to the Intellectual Property Subcommittee of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI). Carolyn earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard College and her J.D. from the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

Eric Conway is the SVP of Technology at BigBear.ai, where he defines strategy and directs the investment, research, and development of advanced AI-powered analytics and cyber solutions for clients including the U.S. Department of Defense, Intelligence Community, and Federal Civilian agencies. Before joining BigBear.ai, Eric was the Director of Technology for Jacobs Cyber and Intelligence business unit, where he identified new markets and growth vectors to establish the company’s presence in the cybersecurity and intelligence industry. Eric is a recognized subject matter expert in cyber network operations (CNO) and cybersecurity with over 25 years of experience as a technical leader in cyber software systems engineering and offensive/defensive cyberspace operations. He is also a published author on the art and science of interpreting environmental satellite imagery.

André Hentz is the Chief Transformation Officer at BigBear.ai where he drives organizational improvements and operational efficiency. He also serves as a member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA) Homeland Security Committee where he helps develop new ideas regarding challenges and capabilities that impact government, industry, and academia.

Previously, he was the Chief Administrative Officer at BigBear.ai where he oversaw risk management, facilities, and integration efforts. Before that, he was the Chief Operating Officer at NuWave Solutions, Deputy Under Secretary (Acting) for Science and Technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Chief Scientist at S&T, and Senior Leader and Science Advisor to the Under Secretary.

Norm Laudermilch joins BigBear.ai with more than 30 years of technical and executive-level experience, and has served in a number of roles including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Chief Information Security Officer. Prior to joining BigBear.ai, Laudermilch was most recently with LookingGlass Cyber Solutions, and has experience in both startup and Fortune 50 environments, across federal and commercial markets.

Ryan Legge is currently the President of the Analytics Sector at BigBear.ai. In this role he is responsible for managing all aspects of daily operations and Profit/Loss for the Sector. Mr. Legge has over 20 years of experience designing and leading Data and Advanced Analytics projects for the Intelligence and Department of Defense communities. 

Prior to joining BigBear.ai, Mr. Legge served in a management role at KPMG in their Federal Business Performance Services Practice specializing in Business Intelligence, Program Management, and Performance Management. He was the lead Army account manager supporting the DoD partner in the development of the US Army account including key projects with Army G-3/5/7 and Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Comptroller (OUSD(C)).

Mr. Legge’s other defense experience includes senior operations positions at Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems. While at Northrop Grumman, he worked as an Operations Manager and Material Program Manager for projects such as the F/A-22 4th Generation Radar and the first Multi-role Electronically Scanned Array (MESA) radar antenna for Australia’s Wedgetail airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system.

Mr. Legge holds a B.A. in Business Administration from McDaniel College and a Master of Business Administration degree in Information Systems Management from Johns Hopkins University. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) through the Project Management Institute.

Julie Peffer previously served as the Chief Financial Officer for MedeAnalytics, a healthcare analytics company, since January 2021. Prior to joining MedeAnalytics, she served as Vice President, Finance at Amazon for Amazon Web Services, where she built and led global finance operations in support of all customer-facing teams (Sales, Marketing, and Customer Support). Ms. Peffer held various financial executive leadership positions across multiple industries (Defense, Aerospace, Industrial Manufacturing, Software, Multi-Industry companies) with global strategic and operational expertise. She has successfully implemented strategies, initiatives, systems and solutions that drive and support employee development, organizational change, performance excellence and revenue growth including expertise in Six Sigma DMAIC and Lean. Prior to Amazon, Ms. Peffer was VP, Finance at Flowserve within the Flow Control Division with manufacturing operations in 25 countries, and previous to that she was at Raytheon Space & Airborne Systems, where she worked as CFO for the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance business which included operations in the US, Germany and the UK. She has also held senior leadership positions at ITT, Lennox International, Textron, Sterling Software and Texas Instruments. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Finance and Management from Texas Tech University and her MBA from Baker University.

Sean Ricker is the Chief Accounting Officer at BigBear.ai.  In this role, he leads the organization's accounting, finance, and systems functions. Sean brings extensive experience partnering with executive management to develop and deploy financial strategies that strengthen BigBear.ai’s financial position, improve performance, and expand into new areas. Prior to joining BigBear.ai, he served in accounting and reporting roles at Lockheed Martin Corporation and is a certified public accountant.

Greg Goldwater has over 19 years of information technology, data science, analytics, AI, business development and project management experience, previously delivering automation for clients and leading cross functional teams at Accenture/Accenture Federal Services. Goldwater will oversee Growth of BigBear’s Commercial and Federal segments as well as Strategic Partnerships, and continue to develop strategies to identify new market opportunities that align with our capabilities and our core mission to delivery clarity for the world’s most complex decisions.