Jeff Karrels, Senior Vice President of Cyber Systems at Two Six Technologies, was named a Top Cyber Exec to Watch in 2026. Full article below:
Jeff Karrels’ biggest recent achievement was transitioning a small research initiative into a program of record valued at hundreds of millions, delivering real-world impact at scale. His diversity of background spanning the Army, a think tank, a large integrator, venture capital, a small business and now a private equity-backed firm, allowed him to better understand the full solution space and drive that transition effectively.
Along the way, Karrels built and scaled teams of over 200 people, split and regrew them, served as principal investigator on nearly 10 advanced research efforts, and led a large program of record that helped enable this outcome.
“Jeff Karrels has an exceptional ability to translate vision into real mission impact,” said Joe Logue, CEO of Two Six Technologies. “His leadership in advancing cyber technologies and building strong teams has driven our growth and enhanced our customers’ operations in a complex national security environment. He brings a rare combination of technical depth and mission focus that consistently delivers for our customers.”
In terms of aligning with the current administration’s cybersecurity priorities, Two Six tightly integrated its field operations team with its developers to ensure they are solving the problems customers and operators actually face. The company is also more disciplined about feasibility and correctness, maintaining its expertise where most useful. Two Six also aligned its development and business teams so mission focus translates into a viable business.
“When we succeed, our customers succeed,” Karrels said.
Why Watch
In 2026, Karrels and his team are focused on closing that gap by continuing to bring in the right technology while re-focusing on people, particularly investing earlier in their careers to grow the talent needed for a rapidly evolving tech landscape. Success will depend on how effectively they build, scale, motivate and incentivize this next generation of mission-driven experts.
“Focus on where we need to be, not what is holding us back from being there,” Karrels said. “We were wasting too much energy on distractions and perceived roadblocks rather than taking steps to move things forward.”
Fun fact: Karrels and his wife are avid pilots. He built his own plane — an RV-10 — from the ground up, took it through certification and has logged hundreds of hours flying it with his family, calling it one of the most rewarding challenges he’s taken on outside of work.
The full list can be found here: https://washingtonexec.com/2026/04/top-cyber-execs-to-watch-in-2026-two-six-technologies-jeff-karrels/
