Christopher Kirchhoff is one of four partners overseeing the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley office, Defense Innovation Unit X, and its $100 million investment portfolio to harness emerging commercial technology for national security innovation. Previously, he was director for strategic planning at the National Security Council, special assistant to then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey, and senior advisor to presidential counselor John Podesta, under whom he authored the 2014 White House report on big data and privacy. Kirchhoff has been awarded the Secretary of Defense Medal for Outstanding Public Service and the Civilian Service Medal for hazardous duty in Iraq.