234: How BAE Systems is Accelerating Defense Innovation Episode Length

What happens when innovation is shaping your life in ways you never see? That is the question at the heart of this conversation with Portia Lane Child, Director of Innovation and Strategy Services at BAE Systems.

While most of us recognize the consumer brands that dominate our daily world, far fewer realize how deeply companies like BAE Systems influence the systems that keep us connected, protected, and moving. Portia’s work lives in that fascinating space, where advanced engineering meets national mission, and where the innovations you never hear about are often the ones shaping your future.

During our discussion, Portia shares how she helps steer innovation inside one of the world’s most complex aerospace and defense organizations. She talks about the human side of innovating within a massive enterprise, the challenge of moving ideas across technical and organizational silos, and the lessons she learned growing up as a lobster fisherman’s daughter that still guide how she builds teams and champions new ideas.

Her story about creating an internal accelerator that changed how the business nurtures ideas is a powerful reminder that innovation only takes root when people feel supported to experiment, communicate, and stretch beyond familiar boundaries.

We also explore the shifting incentives shaping today’s innovators, from the pressure of short-term financial cycles to the growing importance of longer horizons in the age of AI. Portia opens up about what it really takes to move from idea to impact inside a mission-driven organization, why customer conversations matter more than ever, and how modern innovators can develop the resilience and curiosity needed to operate in fast-moving technical environments.

My guest also shares inspiring reflections on the inventions that shaped her, the role models who sparked her imagination, and the breakthroughs she believes the world needs most.