Working with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), we developed and deployed Thunderdome, the nation’s largest zero-trust program and one of the most advanced cybersecurity efforts in the federal government. Our teams strengthened commercial tech—software-defined networking, conditional access, and AI—to meet the Department of Defense’s (DOD) strict security standards. Thunderdome cleared 152 out of 152 of the DOD’s zero trust capability benchmarks, meeting the Pentagon’s highest standard for cyber readiness well ahead of the department’s 2027 deadline for full zero trust implementation.