Experienced intelligence and special operations executive Mario Contreras has been named chief data officer at analytics and artificial intelligence software provider Exovera.
As CDO at this subsidiary company of defense contractor SOSi, Contreras will prioritize acquisition, governance and management as aspects of Exovera’s data initiatives, the Vienna, Virginia-based organization said Tuesday.
“Mario brings exceptional insight into the importance and use of data by the defense and national security agencies,” remarked Exovera CEO Bob Sogegian.
Sogegian went on to say that he predicts Contreras will play a vital role in influencing the direction of the company’s offerings and thus its growth efforts.
Contreras began his career in the U.S. Army, retiring as a chief warrant officer in 2010 after two decades of service. His work with the service branch was primarily intelligence-focused in multiple special operations units and he was deployed in combat in a range of theaters.
After his Army retirement, Contreras continued in the military as a civilian, leading the development and administration of the Special Operations Forces Digital Ecosystem of Publicly Available Information. He also created what is the most expansive open-source intelligence exploitation program in the Joint Special Operations Command.
In his most recent role before Exovera, Contrera was the operations lead for the Chief of Digital and Artificial Intelligence at the U.S. Special Operations Command, presiding as its chief data officer for nearly two years.
The executive shared his eagerness to join a company that is offering new data-focused technologies and said that his career has demonstrated the “importance of open-source data to critical operations.”
“[I] look forward to delivering solutions that inform and empower our customers’ missions,” Contreras added.
