E54 – Pryzm: AI to understand the Pentagon

E54 – Pryzm: AI to understand the Pentagon

From The Merge by The Merge

December 14, 2025 · 56 min

About this episode

Mike interviews Matt Hawkins and Nick LaRovere about Pryzm's AI-driven approach to understanding Pentagon operations and budgets.

Mike sits down with Matt Hawkins and Nick LaRovere,co-founders of Pryzm. Pryzm is building an Operating System for defense innovation—software that uses AI to generate capture intel to make sense of Pentagon budgets, Congressional legislation, program offices, and much more. It’s AI to understand the Pentagon. They help connect the dots between missions, markets, andpeople to power the future of national security. Links • Sign up for the newsletter⁠ ! • Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ ! • Pryzm homepage https://pryzm.io ---- Follow us on... • LinkedIn • Instagram⁠ • ⁠X⁠ • ⁠Facebook⁠ • ⁠Website⁠ ---- 00:00 01:43 intro 02:30 origin story 05:57 disclosure 07:07 2 PMs 08:47 Air Force tanker program 21:47 Golden Dome 28:12 sales vs business development 33:04 proactive vs reactive 34:59 intel to flip the script 37:56 a bubble? 41:18 flat toplines 43:05 requested vs executed 46:38 fundraise 48:27 DIU project 50:58 2026 outlook 55:29 outro

People in this episode

Host: Mike

Guests: Matt Hawkins, Nick LaRovere

Topics covered

  • AI in defense
  • Pentagon budgets
  • national security
  • defense innovation
  • software development

Keywords

  • Pryzm
  • AI
  • Pentagon
  • defense
  • national security
  • software
  • innovation
  • Congress
  • intelligence

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pryzm, Pentagon, Congressional, Air Force, DIU

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