Tom Walker is a technology entrepreneur and national security advisor with more than four decades of leadership in aerospace, autonomy, and defense technology.

He is the Founder and Executive Chairman of DroneUp, where he built the world’s largest drone services network, scaling a global ecosystem of more than 55,000 registered drone operators. Under his leadership, DroneUp helped pioneer commercial and medical drone delivery in the United States and became one of the first companies to secure FAA Part 135 Air Carrier Certification (airline-level certification) for drone delivery operations.

Tom’s work has increasingly focused on the safe integration of autonomous aircraft into the National Airspace System (NAS). He regularly engages with senior policymakers across the White House, federal agencies, and Congress on airspace modernization, autonomous aviation integration, and the national security implications of unmanned systems.

 

He has testified before the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee on emerging drone threats and their impact on U.S. airspace security.

Prior to DroneUp, Walker founded and led Web Teks, a digital transformation and enterprise software company serving commercial enterprises and defense organizations. Earlier in his career, he served as a U.S. Navy officer in both nuclear engineering and Special Operations communities.

He holds an active Secret security clearance and previously held Top Secret Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS/SCI) clearance.

Focus Areas

• Airspace sovereignty and security of critical infrastructure

• Regulatory engagement and policy shaping in complex, safety-critical environments

• National security implications of emerging and distributed technologies

• Public-private coordination in large-scale infrastructure and technology deployment

• Scaling operations within regulated markets