Wahid Nawabi is Chairman, President, and CEO of AV, a global defense technology leader redefining the future of unmanned systems across all domains. Under his leadership, AV has transformed into a disruptive force in the industry - focused on innovation, agility, and delivering mission-critical solutions at the speed of relevance.
With more than 30 years of experience spanning engineering, operations, and executive leadership, Wahid brings a rare combination of vision, technical expertise, and human-centered leadership to everything he does. Since joining AV, he has reshaped the company's strategy, launched multiple award-winning breakthrough products, and led a cultural reinvention that has driven eightfold revenue growth, expanded operating margins, and outpaced industry benchmarks.
Born in Afghanistan and arriving in the United States as a legal refugee, Wahid’s journey embodies resilience, reinvention, and relentless drive. From rebuilding his life in a new country to leading a next-generation defense technology company, his story is a testament to the power of perseverance, innovation, and leadership grounded in purpose.
Wahid is a passionate advocate for innovation with impact, frequently speaking on topics ranging from leadership, the future of autonomous systems, and the evolving intersection of technology and national security. As an engineer and businessman, he combines deep technical insight with bold leadership to drive the disruptive innovation that defines AV. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Maryland at College Park.
Today, Wahid continues to lead AV with a singular mission: to advance the technologies that protect our nation, our allies, and our future.
Dr. Robert (Rob) Smith serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, overseeing the AV’s Autonomous Systems (AxS) and Space, Cyber and Directed Energy (SCDE) business units, as well as its global operations and manufacturing footprint. He is responsible for advancing integrated, mission-ready capabilities across domains while driving operational excellence at scale.
Dr. Smith joins AV from Raytheon, an RTX company, where he most recently served as Vice President of Radio Frequency Solutions, leading a multi-billion-dollar radar and electronic warfare business with full P&L responsibility. Previously, as Vice President of Mission Suites, he led the development and delivery of integrated sensor and electronic warfare systems for U.S. and international customers.
Prior to Raytheon, Dr. Smith was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Integrated Defense Solutions at CAES. He also served as President of Government Operations at BWX Technologies (BWXT), where he led all U.S.-based nuclear business lines supporting the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Nuclear Security Administration, NASA, and other government customers.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Smith held multiple executive leadership roles at Lockheed Martin and led Nantero’s Government Business Unit, playing a key role in the company’s acquisition by Lockheed. He also served as a Director at Windermere and as a civil servant within the intelligence community, where he held a range of operational, engineering, and leadership positions.
Dr. Smith holds a bachelor’s degree, cum laude, in chemical engineering from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Auburn University; and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.
Sean Woodward has served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since May 2026. He brings more than 22 years of defense technology finance leadership gained exclusively within publicly traded Aerospace & Defense companies, including Honeywell International, General Dynamics, and AeroVironment.
Prior to his recent promotion, Sean served as Chief Financial Officer of AeroVironment’s Autonomous Systems (AxS) Segment. Over his 15-year tenure at AeroVironment, he has held positions of increasing financial leadership responsibility, building and leading teams across corporate FP&A, business management, pricing and cost estimating, program planning and controls, government accounting compliance, and cost accounting. Sean has led the company’s long-range strategic planning and annual operating planning processes and has participated in every acquisition in AeroVironment’s history.
Sean holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of South Florida and a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Tampa. He has also completed the Chief Financial Officer Executive Education Program at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. Sean holds numerous professional credentials in project management and federal contract management.
Melissa Brown has served as AV’s Executive Vice President, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, and Corporate Secretary since 2025. Since joining the company in 2015 as Corporate Counsel, she has played a pivotal role in guiding AV through significant growth and transformation. In 2016, she was appointed Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, and in 2025, she assumed her current role, where she leads the company’s legal, compliance, and corporate governance functions.
Prior to joining AV, Melissa was an associate attorney at K&L Gates LLP in Los Angeles and Jennings Strouss & Salmon PLC in Phoenix, where she advised clients on a broad range of securities transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance matters.
Melissa holds a Juris Doctor from the Arizona State University College of Law and a Bachelor of Science in Microbiology and Molecular Genetics from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Trace Stevenson has served as the President of Autonomous Systems since May 2025. Previously he served as Sr. Vice President and General Manager of our Uncrewed Systems Product Line which has shipped over 33,000 small uncrewed aircraft to customers worldwide.
He was also served as Deputy General Manager UAS and was responsible for the leadership of our Emerging Business overseeing our HAPS business where he served as a Board Member of HAPSMobile, a Joint Venture with SoftBank. He also was responsible for the integration efforts of any merger or acquisition and for the strategic and tactical execution of the UAS P&L. Trace has held various leadership roles within AV, including leading our International Business Unit where he was responsible for the support of over 40 International customers. He also led and was responsible for the execution of our top strategic initiatives such as the establishment of a Joint Venture in a foreign country.
Trace has 20 years of experience in the defense industry and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and Economics from the University of Kansas.
Mary Clum has served as President of our Space, Cyber & Directed Energy since October 2025.
Prior to joining AV, Mary was the President of the Product & Space Systems portfolio, overseeing BlueHalo’s operations focused on Product Innovation & Manufacturing. As a key member of the Executive Leadership Team, Mary ensured the BlueHalo Labs sector operated in alignment with the company’s strategic roadmap.
Mary has more than 25 years of operational experience within small businesses, private equity-backed middle market businesses, and large publicly traded companies. Throughout her career, Mary has served in multiple roles–including program management, site leadership, systems analysis, operations, and business development–for customers in the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, and other government agencies and commercial organizations. She is an experienced leader of programs and functions, recognized for her ability to develop and deliver highly technical products.
Prior to joining BlueHalo (previously ATA) in 2018, Mary served as the Senior Manager for the Directed Energy and Mobile Range product areas at Raytheon Company. Mary earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of New Mexico and a Master of Science degree in Project Management from the University of Southern California.
Archana Nirwan is an accomplished HR professional with over two decades of global experience, excelling in talent management, people strategy, and HR transformation across various industries, including financial services and high-tech sectors.
Prior to joining AV in 2024, Archana served as CHRO at Cambium Networks, where she oversaw HR operations across 22 countries. Previously, she served as Vice President of Human Resources at Qualcomm, where she oversaw HR for the global engineering team of 35,000 employees and drove strategic initiatives like M&A, succession planning, employee engagement, and workforce planning. At Fidelity Investments, she was instrumental in scaling operations in India, growing the workforce, driving organization design, leadership development and coaching.
Archana has extensive experience in managing high-growth ecosystems, with deep expertise in value creation and a focus on talent retention. She is a certified coach and holds an MBA in Human Resources and Organizational Behavior from Pune University.
Church Hutton serves as AV’s Sr. Vice President and Chief Growth Officer, a role he assumed in May 2025 to lead the company’s strategic expansion and long-term growth initiatives. Prior to this, he served as Senior Vice President of Government Relations, Marketing and Communications beginning in 2024, where he played a key role in shaping AV’s public profile and strengthening relationships with government stakeholders. Previously, Mr. Hutton led all aspects of Mercury Systems’ government relations program. Before that, he ran legislative affairs for Sierra Nevada Corporation and was head of Washington operations for a venture-backed defense technology company. A retired Army officer and combat veteran, Mr. Hutton spent a decade in senior staff positions on Capitol Hill including on the professional staff of the Senate Appropriations and Senate Armed Services Committees and in the offices of Senators John McCain and Joe Manchin. He holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and George Mason University.
Brian Shackley joined AV in January 2016 and has served as Sr. Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since September 2021. He previously served as the Company’s Vice President and Corporate Controller from December 2017 to September 2021 and the Company’s interim Chief Financial Officer and Chief Accounting Officer from October 2019 to February 2020. Mr. Shackley served as the Company’s and Director of SEC Reporting from January 2016 to December 2017. Mr. Shackley has over 20 years of experience in various accounting and finance roles, including approximately 9 years in public accounting at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP in Los Angeles, California, where he served as an audit senior manager. Mr. Shackley is a Certified Public Accountant and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Corporate Finance from San Diego State University.
Aniket Majumder serves as the Sr. Vice President and Chief Information Officer at AV since November 2025, overseeing the company’s enterprise information systems, IT operations, cybersecurity, and digital transformation initiatives.
Since joining AV in March 2023 as Vice President of Global Enterprise Applications, Aniket has led a companywide digital transformation that modernized AV’s technology landscape through the adoption of cloud-native platforms such as Oracle Fusion, Salesforce, and Workday. His team continues to ensure the security and performance of more than 200 critical business applications across the enterprise.
With over 25 years of experience in technology leadership and consulting, Aniket has held roles with leading organizations including PwC, GE, IBM, and The Wonderful Company, serving clients across industries such as healthcare, retail, technology, financial services, and manufacturing.
Aniket holds a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting along with multiple professional certifications in accounting, program management and information systems. He is deeply committed to leveraging technology to drive innovation, efficiency, and sustainable growth across all areas of the enterprise.
Jeff Rodrian has served as the Sr. Vice President of MacCready Works since May 2025 with a focus on creating a center for market driven innovations by embracing a start-up best practices approach, along with engaging with the vibrant external start-up community to further AV’s strategic pursuits.
Joining AeroVironment in 2010 as a Product Manager, Jeff was responsible for the development and market entry of our Wasp AE UAS. He also led the development of a wide range of novel large hybrid electric UAS for commercial and defense applications. As the General Manager of AV’s Commercial Information Solutions (CIS) business, he led the creation of a purely commercial focused business with a drone and big data process ecosystem product offering.
Prior to joining AV, Jeff spent several years at start-ups focused on aerospace innovation for unmanned systems and commercial aircraft. Jeff earned an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a Bachelor and Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University.
Scott Bowman has served as our Chief Technology Officer & Senior Vice President of Global Engineering since 2025.
Scott Bowman is a seasoned defense industry professional with over 18 years of experience in technical leadership and engineering management. His expertise spans robotics, controls, RF systems, networking, and software development.
Scott joined AeroVironment (AV) in 2023 through the acquisition of Tomahawk Robotics, where he played a pivotal role in unifying AV’s Ground Control Station (GCS) vision as Product Line Manager. His leadership resulted in the development of an open architecture common control solution that delivers a seamless user experience across AV’s uncrewed systems and enables third-party integration.
Prior to AV, Scott was a founding team member of Tomahawk Robotics and served as Vice President of Engineering. He built and led a high-performing technical team responsible for developing the industry-leading Tomahawk GCS. Earlier in his career, Scott held several technical leadership roles at Harris Corporation, where he focused on complex, system-level challenges.
Scott holds both a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering—with a concentration in control systems—from the University of Florida. During his academic tenure, he conducted research in the university’s Micro Air Vehicle Laboratory. He is the inventor on 19 patents and has authored multiple technical publications.
Formerly Vice President of Advanced RF Systems for BlueHalo in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Michael has led the development of multiple platforms, including next-generation digital beamformed phased arrays for the U.S. warfighter. His focus is on delivering innovative, multi-mission solutions, leveraging both AV Innovations and commercially available technology to address the most complex challenges in national security. Michael’s experience includes serving as the Portfolio Chief Engineer for Raytheon Mobile Range, overseeing a team of over 80 engineering professionals across multiple disciplines. Michael began his career at Ktech Corporation in 2009, where he was part of a small team that later grew into the Mobile Range group following its acquisition by Raytheon in 2011. Under his leadership, the team expanded to over 70 engineers and technicians. With 8+ U.S. patents, Michael is recognized for his contributions to leadership, engineering and innovation, earning honors such as the RMS President’s Award and Vice President’s Award. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering with a minor in History from the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering with an emphasis in Applied Electromagnetics.
Colone (Ret.) James H. Jenkins III (Jimmy) has served as our Senior Vice President of Precision Strike and Defense Systems since May 2025. A retired U.S. Army Colonel, he brings nearly three decades of military leadership and over a decade of defense industry experience to AV.
Before joining AV, Jimmy held senior leadership roles at BlueHalo, Dynetics, and Northrop Grumman. He led major programs across hypersonics, high-energy lasers, integrated air and missile defense, and space systems, including work on the U.S. Army’s IBCS and JTAGS programs. He also supported international defense initiatives, including modernization efforts for the Royal Saudi Air Defense Forces.
Jimmy retired from the Army in 2014 after 28 years of service. His final role was Deputy Commander for Operations at the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, overseeing homeland missile defense and satellite communications units. Earlier commands included the 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and the 3-2 ADA Battalion, where he led innovation in counter-rocket and mortar defense systems.
A West Point graduate, Jimmy holds degrees in Electrical Engineering, Operations Research, and Strategic Art. His awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, and multiple airborne and proficiency badges from U.S. and allied militaries.
Johnathan Jones has served as our Senior Vice President of the Cyber and Mission Solutions (CMS) Group since September 2025, with a focus on collaboration, empowering his teams, and delivering asymmetric advantages to AV’s customers and their missions.
Prior to this role, Johnathan led the Defense and Interagency Services Business Unit (DISBU) for AV, where he oversaw program delivery and business operations across a diverse customer base. He has been with AV and its legacy organizations since 2007.
Johnathan began his career as an officer in the United States Air Force, supporting a variety of space missions and separating at the rank of Captain. He earned his commission from Tuskegee University, the same institution that produced the legendary Tuskegee Airmen—a connection that has guided his career and inspired his pursuit of excellence in the face of challenge. In his current role, his is committed to guiding CMS toward continued growth and innovation while fostering a culture of excellence and trust.
Johnathan holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace science engineering (Summa Cum Laude) from Tuskegee University and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Phoenix. He serves on the board of directors for the Chamber Foundation – Huntsville/Madison Chamber and the Boys and Girls Club of North Alabama and is a graduate of Leadership Greater Huntsville’s flagship program, Class 34.