Federal Tech Talk

A creative approach to improving software for the Air Force

This week on Federal Tech Talk, Nicholas Chaillan, The Air Force's Chief Software Officer, joins host John Gilroy to discuss Platform One and Cloud One, and why...

September 21, 2020 6:05 pm

1 min read

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This week on Federal Tech Talk, host John Gilroy speaks with Nicholas Chaillan, chief software officer of the Air Force. Chaillan’s story begins at the age of 15 in France. He started a managed services company and has been a serial entrepreneur ever since.

He has spent the last twenty years starting and selling high technology companies, and has decided to use this background to help the Air Force make a transition to a modern way to developing code. One of his primary goals is to give easier access to secure software.

Head shot of Nicolas Chaillan — Nicolas Chaillan, chief software officer, US Air Force

The two focal points of the interview are Platform One and Cloud One. Platform One allows for baked in security. The goal in today’s software development community is continuous delivery. Platform One allows developers to accomplish this goal. Cloud One provides cloud infrastructure at various classification levels for that code.

When it comes to innovation, the Air Force has “software factories” with intriguing names. In Boston, one is called the Kessel Run. There are twenty others across the country helping develop solutions for the Air Force. One of the objectives is to optimize for releasable software that complies with security guidelines from the Air Force.

Chaillan ends the interview by looking at Cloud Access Native Points and the impact of Zero Trust in software development. He provides a truly creative and original approach at improving software for the Air Force.