Johnny Beverton
In this episode, Jeremy Wimble, Defence Program Manager at Tech UK, joins Empiric Director Andrew Manion to discuss the defence innovation valley of death, how SMEs can access MOD opportunities and why a skills-first mindset is reshaping how the sector attracts technical talent.
Jeremy leads Tech UK's defence programme, working at the intersection of over 1,100 member companies and the Ministry of Defence to align industry capabilities with military priorities. His role sits across early market engagement, procurement reform and emerging technology adoption. If your organisation is building or scaling a defence technology capability, Jeremy's perspective on where the sector is heading and how to access it should be on your radar.
Watch the full episode and read the full recap below.
TLDR: Key Takeaways from the Conversation
- The defence innovation “valley of death” persists because the Ministry of Defence has struggled to align its support for innovation and research with the immediate needs of those on the frontline, and crucially with funded programmes of record.
- Defence is still catching up on cloud computing while the rest of industry moves toward edge, and budgets are being pulled toward autonomous systems, counter-drone and quantum navigation.
- The new Defence Office for Small Business Growth is opening access for SMEs, while primes are creating partnership pathways that challenge the old SME-versus-prime dichotomy.
- Defence buyers need to frame needs as problem statements rather than requirements lists - the HMGCC (His Majesty’s Government Communications Centre) example of finding a battery solution through a frozen food manufacturer proves the model works.
- A skills-first approach to defence talent means lowering barriers like security clearances and hiring for capability rather than sector background - one Tech UK member is building drone clusters with FinTech coders.
- The Defence Investment Plan must commit to emerging technologies rather than over-indexing on traditional platforms if the armed forces are to be future-proofed for the coming decades.
Why Do So Many Defence Innovations Stall Before Reaching the Front Line?
Most defence companies fail to cross the valley of death because they misread whether their customer is a commander or a prime contractor.
The valley of death is a familiar concept across technology sectors, but in defence the gap between a funded prototype and a deployed capability stays particularly wide. Jeremy puts it in concrete terms, "You put investment in a fantastic idea, but actually you can get it so far to the point of development, but then not be able to find an end user in order to deploy, in order to pull it through to the man or woman on the front line."
Success depends on companies understanding where they sit in the wider defence ecosystem, "Are you a scale-up company? Are you a company that's developing a product with a clear customer and you want to get in front of that customer? Or actually, are you part of the supply chain... a company that's developing a piece of the puzzle that will deliver a wider capability?"
That self-awareness determines who a business should be speaking to, "Is it the commander or actually is it one of the primes? Is it a prime leading a major programme of record that you can fit into?"
Where Are Defence Technology Budgets Being Directed?
Autonomous systems and counter-drone capabilities are the headline priorities, but defence is still resolving foundational challenges around cloud adoption and data security.
With the Strategic Defence Review and Defence Industrial Strategy now published and the Defence Investment Plan still to come, expectations around emerging technology spending need a dose of realism. Jeremy is candid, "For all the talk about technology transforming defence, the reality is that defence is still trying to get to grips with a lot of what most sectors now take for granted, such as cloud computing... at the same time that the rest of industry is now talking about things like edge."
Autonomous systems are a clear priority area, "Artificial intelligence meeting robotics is clearly a huge priority for all militaries, both in performing functions that were previously completed by traditional platforms as well as supplementing traditional platforms." The Royal Navy and the RAF are both exploring autonomous platforms operating alongside next-generation frigates and fighter jets, while counter-drone capabilities and quantum navigation are gaining traction across the MOD.
Jeremy stresses that foundational work around data protection, network security and post-quantum encryption cannot sit on the back burner as the sector pursues more visible capabilities.
How Are SMEs Gaining Better Access to MOD Procurement Opportunities?
A new government body for small business growth and a shift in prime contractor attitudes are making defence procurement more accessible than it has been in years.
Access to MOD opportunities has long frustrated smaller businesses, and Jeremy points to two recent shifts. The first is the new Defence Office for Small Business Growth, "A body that is there to provide smaller businesses and the businesses not in the defence space already much clearer visibility to the opportunities as well as providing them with guidance around regulation, legislation, security clearance requirements and all those things that just create a bureaucratic barrier to someone thinking that defence is the market for them."
Tech UK wants this body to change the MOD internally too, "Really starting to challenge some of the assumptions... some of the dogma that gets baked into procurement processes around the idea that, you know, while you are an SME, so that's a greater risk."
The second shift is coming from prime contractors. More primes are creating pathways for SME partnerships, and Jeremy relays a sentiment he heard recently, "SMEs offer too much advantage, but primes offer too much resource... for them not to be working together." The old binary of SMEs versus primes, he argues, is becoming a forced dichotomy that no longer reflects how the sector operates.
Why Should Defence Frame Procurement Needs as Problem Statements?
Problem statements rather than requirements lists open defence procurement to adjacent industries that would not recognise their solution in a traditional specification.
Jeremy is emphatic that the onus of recognising dual-use technology belongs with the buyer, not the supplier. Developers already understand the markets they build for - the shift needed is in how defence frames its needs, "The challenge now is for defence to go to industry with the use of problem statements. The problem we are trying to solve is X... rather than the traditional approach of here are a list of requirements, largely driven by our experience of what the previous solution looked like."
He cites HMGCC as a working example: when seeking batteries capable of operating in extremely low temperatures, they framed the challenge without specifying the end application and found the solution with a frozen food manufacturer. "It's about allowing other companies in other sectors to recognise their solution within the defence space."
How Can Defence Address Its Technology Talent Shortage?
Rethinking security clearance requirements and defining roles by skill rather than sector background would open defence technology to professionals from FinTech, healthcare and beyond.
Talent shortages recur across defence technology, and Jeremy frames the answer around eroding the outdated perception that the defence industry sits apart from the wider tech sector, "It's actually about adjusting and in some cases, lowering the barriers of entry... in terms of things like security clearances, where it's possible to enable those working in tech to move much more fluidly around the wider technology sector."
He offers a concrete example, "Talking to a company just the other week, developing drone clusters, using teams of coders from the FinTech sector." Defence should define its needs in terms of skill requirements rather than sector experience and ensure that people can move between defence, national security and commercial tech "on a skills basis rather than a purely sector-focused basis."
For hiring managers and technology professionals adjacent to the defence sector, Jeremy adds that having team members who understand the battlespace remains enormously valuable, but the problems defence is trying to solve run parallel to other industries, "Defence is trying to tackle so many problems other sectors such as healthcare, transport, manufacturing are trying to tackle. It's really about seeing it from a skills-first perspective."
How Does Tech UK Bridge the Gap Between Sectors?
Tech UK bridges defence and adjacent sectors by surfacing capabilities being built in healthcare, cloud and AI that are directly applicable to military needs.
Tech UK's position as a cross-sector trade association - not a purely defence body - gives it a distinct advantage in connecting capability to need, "We have companies working right across healthcare, blue light services, smart infrastructures, policing, central government, in cloud, in AI, in autonomy." When Tech UK hosts industry days with MOD commercial teams, the message to member companies is direct, "You don't think you work in defence, but actually defence needs the capabilities that you are developing." For technology professionals and hiring managers already working in adjacent sectors, that line captures the opportunity precisely.
The waiting game for the Defence Investment Plan looms large. Jeremy flags a concern that the plan may over-index on traditional platforms - helicopters, planes, ships - at the expense of emerging technologies, "What we need to see there is real commitment in terms of new technologies, emerging technologies, be they quantum, be they AI, the sort of things that are going to future-proof the armed forces for the next few decades."
Moving Forward
Our dedicated defence recruitment team connects organisations with professionals who can drive your strategy forward. If you are looking to build out your team, hire defence technology leaders or are a technology professional seeking your next role, get in touch with our team today - we'd be happy to assist.
Be sure to connect with Andrew and Jeremy on LinkedIn to continue the conversation and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and sign up to our newsletter to stay in the loop on what's next.
