While Silicon Valley executives like those from Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI are grabbing headlines for trading their Brunello Cucinelli vests for Army Reserve uniforms, a quieter transformation has been underway in the U.S. Navy.

How? Well, the Navy’s Chief Technology Officer Justin Fanelli says he has spent the last two and a half years focused on cutting through the red tape and protracted procurement cycles that once made working with the military a nightmare for startups. The efforts represent a less visible but potentially more meaningful remaking, one where the government is moving faster and being smarter about where it’s committing dollars.