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Breaking Into Defense Tech: How to Build a Career Defending Democracy in the Age of Great Power Competition

November 3, 2025•16 min read•By Defender of the West BTH

For Those Who Want to Make a Difference:

The 2027 Taiwan crisis is approaching. Russia threatens Europe. China challenges the international order. If you have technical skills and want to defend democracy, the defense technology sector offers the most impactful career path of our generation. Here's how to break in.

The New Defense Revolution

Defense technology is undergoing its most dramatic transformation since the Manhattan Project. And unlike previous eras where defense innovation happened inside classified government labs and slow-moving traditional contractors, today's revolution is being led by startup companies you can actually join.

Anduril. Founded in 2017, now valued at $14 billion. Building autonomous systems, counter-drone technology, and AI-powered defense platforms.

Palantir. The data analytics and AI company that helped find Osama bin Laden, now powering Ukraine's battlefield intelligence and worth $80 billion.

Shield AI. Creating AI pilots for fighter jets and drones, backed by $500+ million in funding.

Scale AI. Training AI models for defense applications, valued at $14 billion.

SpaceX. Building Starlink for military communications and Starship for rapid global logistics.

These companies didn't exist 15 years ago. Now they're critical to American national security. And they're hiring aggressively because the 2027 Taiwan deadline is real, and the technology gap must be closed fast.

If you're a software engineer, AI researcher, robotics expert, or technical operator—defense tech companies will pay you well to work on the most consequential problems of our time.

Why Defense Tech Is Different (And Better) Than Big Tech

I know what you're thinking: "Defense sounds boring, bureaucratic, and slow. I want to work on cutting-edge technology."

That's the old defense industry. The new one is different.

1. You Work on Harder, More Interesting Problems

At Meta or Google, you're optimizing ad clicks and engagement metrics. Important for business. Not exactly inspiring.

At Anduril, you're building AI that autonomously detects and neutralizes hostile drones threatening military bases. Your code determines whether a threat is real or a false alarm. Lives depend on your accuracy.

At Palantir, you're building data pipelines that process satellite imagery, signals intelligence, and battlefield reports in real-time to help commanders make life-or-death decisions.

At Shield AI, you're training neural networks to pilot F-16 fighters autonomously—technology that will determine whether the United States maintains air superiority over China.

These are hard problems. Multi-modal AI. Real-time processing under adversarial conditions. Systems that must work the first time because there's no "beta testing" in combat.

If you want technical challenges that push the boundaries of computer science, robotics, and AI—defense tech has them.

2. Your Work Has Geopolitical Impact

In 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Palantir engineers deployed to Poland and Ukraine within days. The data platforms they built helped Ukrainian forces identify Russian troop concentrations, coordinate artillery strikes, and manage logistics under fire.

Ukrainian commanders credit Palantir's systems with enabling their successful defense of Kyiv and counteroffensives in Kharkiv and Kherson. Thousands of Ukrainian lives saved. Russian territorial gains reversed.

That's the work Palantir engineers did. Software they wrote changed the outcome of a war.

When China positions forces for a Taiwan invasion in 2027, the autonomous drones Anduril engineers are building right now will be defending Taiwanese airspace. The AI pilots Shield AI is training will fly combat missions. The intelligence platforms Scale AI is developing will detect the invasion before it happens.

Your code won't just affect quarterly earnings. It will affect whether democracies survive the 21st century.

3. The Compensation Is Excellent (And Getting Better)

Defense tech companies compete with FAANG for talent, so they pay accordingly:

These are startup equity packages. Anduril engineers who joined in 2019-2021 are now sitting on equity worth $500K-$2M+ after recent funding rounds. Palantir engineers who joined pre-IPO are millionaires.

And unlike Big Tech, where mass layoffs happen every economic downturn, defense tech has government contracts providing revenue stability. Anduril, Palantir, and Shield AI are all profitable or approaching profitability with multi-billion dollar contract backlogs.

4. You're Not Helping Authoritarian Regimes

Google built a censored search engine for China (Project Dragonfly). Apple removes apps at the Chinese government's request and hands over iCloud data. Meta sells ads for Chinese propaganda.

Big Tech companies will tell you they're "neutral platforms." But when you help authoritarian governments control information and surveil dissidents, you're not neutral. You're complicit.

Defense tech companies don't face this moral compromise. You're explicitly working to counter authoritarian regimes, not enable them.

If you care about your work aligning with your values, that matters.

The Companies Leading the Revolution

Let me break down the major players, what they do, and what roles they're hiring for.

Anduril Industries

Founded: 2017 by Palmer Luckey (Oculus VR founder)
Valuation: $14 billion
Employees: ~3,000
Mission: Transforming defense with autonomous systems and AI

What they build:

Roles they hire:

Culture: Fast-moving, Silicon Valley energy, but with a mission focus. Palmer Luckey is outspoken about the moral imperative to defend democracies. Employees report high autonomy and impact.

Palantir Technologies

Founded: 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and others
Market Cap: $80+ billion (public, NYSE: PLTR)
Employees: ~4,000
Mission: Building software that helps organizations integrate, analyze, and act on data

What they build:

What makes them unique: Palantir doesn't just build software and hand it off. They deploy "Forward Deployed Engineers" who embed with military units, intelligence analysts, and commanders to customize software for specific missions.

In Ukraine, Palantir engineers are in Ukraine working alongside Ukrainian forces. That's not typical for software companies.

Roles they hire:

Culture: Intellectually intense. CEO Alex Karp gives philosophical lectures about technology and civilization. Employees describe it as mission-driven but demanding. Very high bar for hiring.

Shield AI

Founded: 2015 by former Navy SEALs
Valuation: $2.8 billion
Employees: ~800
Mission: Creating AI pilots for aircraft to enable autonomous flight in GPS-denied, communications-denied environments

What they build:

The big vision: Shield AI is training AI to dogfight. In 2023, their Hivemind AI defeated human pilots in simulated combat. The goal: AI wingmen that fly alongside human pilots, dramatically increasing combat effectiveness.

This is critical for the Taiwan scenario. China is investing heavily in AI-controlled drones and autonomous fighters. The U.S. needs AI pilots that can operate in contested electromagnetic environments where GPS is jammed and communications are disrupted.

Roles they hire:

Culture: Founded by Navy SEALs, so there's a strong operator mindset. Technology must work in the field under harsh conditions. Move fast, but with extreme reliability standards.

Scale AI

Founded: 2016
Valuation: $14 billion
Employees: ~800
Mission: Building data infrastructure to train AI models, especially for defense applications

What they do: Scale AI provides the labeled training data that powers AI models. For defense applications, this means:

Why this matters: AI models are only as good as their training data. Scale AI has massive government contracts (including $250M+ from the Department of Defense) to provide the data infrastructure for military AI systems.

Roles they hire:

How to Break In: A Practical Roadmap

Let's say you're convinced. You want to work in defense tech. How do you actually get hired?

1. Build Technical Depth in a Relevant Domain

Defense tech companies hire specialists, not generalists. Pick a domain and go deep:

Computer Vision:

Robotics/Autonomy:

AI/ML:

Systems/Embedded:

2. Demonstrate You Care About National Security

Defense companies don't just hire for technical skills. They hire people who are motivated by the mission.

How to demonstrate this:

When you apply, your resume shouldn't just show technical skills. It should show you've been thinking about these problems for months or years.

3. Get the Security Clearance (Or Be Clearable)

Many defense tech roles require or prefer a security clearance. Here's what you need to know:

Types of clearances:

To be clearable, you must:

Good news: Many companies (Anduril, Shield AI, Scale AI) will hire you before you have a clearance and sponsor you through the process. You work on unclassified projects while your clearance is pending, then move to classified work once approved.

If you already have a clearance (military veterans, former government employees), you're extremely valuable. Many companies will hire you primarily because you have an active clearance.

4. Network Strategically

Defense tech is a small world. Getting a referral dramatically increases your chances.

Where to network:

5. Nail the Interview

Defense tech interviews are similar to FAANG but with different emphasis:

Technical interviews:

Mission/culture fit:

Practical problem-solving:

What If You're Not an Engineer?

Defense tech companies don't just hire engineers. They also need:

If you have expertise in any of these areas and you're motivated by the mission, there's a path in.

The Moral Case for Defense Tech

Some people are uncomfortable with defense work. "I don't want to build weapons." "Isn't this just the military-industrial complex?"

These are fair concerns. Let me address them directly.

First: Defense technology is not inherently immoral. It depends on who uses it and for what purpose.

A counter-drone system that protects a military base from hostile attack is defensive. An autonomous underwater vehicle that detects enemy submarines prevents wars by maintaining deterrence. An AI pilot that can fly combat missions reduces the need for human pilots to risk their lives.

These technologies make democracies safer. That's a moral good.

Second: Refusing to work on defense technology doesn't prevent wars. It just ensures authoritarian regimes have better technology than democracies.

China is investing hundreds of billions in military AI, autonomous weapons, and cyber capabilities. If America's best engineers refuse to work on defense, we cede technological superiority to adversaries who have no moral qualms about how they use it.

The choice isn't "build defense tech or don't build weapons." The choice is "build defense tech for democracies or let authoritarian regimes dominate."

Third: The new defense tech companies are building systems designed to reduce civilian casualties and prevent escalation.

Anduril's counter-drone systems protect bases from attack without requiring lethal responses. Palantir's intelligence platforms help identify legitimate military targets and avoid hitting civilians. Shield AI's autonomous pilots can make split-second decisions in ways that reduce fratricide and collateral damage.

This is more ethical than the alternative: human pilots under stress making irreversible decisions in seconds, artillery barrages hitting grid squares instead of precision targets, wars dragging on for years because neither side can achieve decisive advantage.

Advanced defense technology makes war less likely (deterrence) and less bloody when it happens (precision).

The 2027 Deadline Makes This Urgent

Everything I've described isn't theoretical future planning. It's preparation for a potential crisis that's less than two years away.

If China invades Taiwan in 2027, the U.S. military will need:

These systems are being built right now. By engineers at Anduril, Palantir, Shield AI, and others.

If you join one of these companies in 2025, the technology you develop in the next 18 months could be deployed to defend Taiwan. Your work could be the difference between deterrence succeeding or failing.

That's not hyperbole. That's the reality of great power competition in the 2020s.

Conclusion: Where to Start

If you've read this far, you're at least curious about defense tech as a career path.

Here's what to do next:

This week:

This month:

This quarter:

The demand for defense tech talent is higher than it's ever been. Companies are hiring aggressively. The work is technically challenging, geopolitically important, and well-compensated.

If you have technical skills and want to work on problems that matter—defending democracies in the age of great power competition—this is your opportunity.

The 2027 Taiwan crisis is approaching. The technology gap must be closed. And that requires talented people choosing to work on hard problems for the right reasons.

Your career can make a difference. Not in an abstract "changing the world" sense. In a concrete "helping prevent World War III" sense.

That's the opportunity. What will you do with it?

About TheWestsWord

I analyze the threats facing democratic societies and the technology we need to defend them. From geopolitical analysis to defense innovation, my mission is to inform and equip those who will defend the West.

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