The Future Of National Security Depends On Commercial Businesses

Qasar Younis is co-founder and CEO of Applied Intuition. Applied Intuition is a vehicle software supplier that accelerates the adoption of safe and intelligent machines worldwide. 

In an interview with Paul Kwan, Younis discusses his journey from Detroit’s auto industry to Silicon Valley, the challenges of enterprise software in defense, and the role of dual-use technology in global competition. He emphasizes the need for speed, adaptability, and strong recruiting in building transformative technology companies that can bridge the gap between innovation and government procurement.

Joe Felter and Steve Blank also provide special remarks. 

Key Takeaways

• The Future of Defense Depends on Commercial Tech

  Unlike the Cold War era, where government labs led innovation, today’s critical technologies (AI, autonomy, cyber) originate in the commercial sector. The U.S. must rapidly integrate these innovations or risk falling behind.

• Dual-Use Companies Are Key to National Security

  Applied Intuition is leveraging its commercial success to support defense applications, offering a scalable and sustainable model for future national security tech.

• Speed and Decision-Making Define Success

  Younis stresses the importance of maintaining agility as a company scales, decentralizing decision-making, and prioritizing execution over bureaucracy—lessons applicable to both startups and large organizations.

• Enterprise Sales to Government is a Complex, Long-Term Game

  Selling to the Department of Defense is significantly harder than traditional B2B enterprise sales. Applied Intuition’s strategy of working with primes rather than against them has been a key factor in navigating this landscape.

• The ‘Brand Train’ vs. The ‘Mission Train’.

  Many founders chase elite brands (Stanford, YC, Google) without a clear purpose. Younis argues that true success comes from understanding personal motivations, long-term trajectories, and having the discipline to build enduring companies that solve real problems.