Robert Cardillo Joins Planet Federal as Chairman of the Board and Chief Strategist

It’s with great pleasure that we announce Robert Cardillo has joined Planet Federal as Chief Strategist and Chairman of the Board. Robert will be responsible for supporting strategic decision-making for future products and services that align with mission needs of the U.S. Government, driving meaningful partnerships, and increasing the utility of commercial innovations for global government agencies. 

“As our world becomes less tethered to facts, a daily snapshot of our planet creates a framework for more civil discourse. This information provides more informed conversations around our common challenges – international order, threats to privacy, oppression of minorities and infringement of civil liberties,” said Cardillo. “We have an exciting opportunity to provide a more transparent planet by contributing to the global scientific baseline and shining a bright light on bad actors. I believe there’s an argument to be made that Planet’s comprehensive daily view can help return America to its role as a beacon for truth and a partner for global prosperity.” 

Robert has a distinguished career as former Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) from 2014-2019, where he successfully transformed the Agency’s future value proposition through innovative partnerships with the growing commercial geospatial marketplace. Prior to NGA, Robert served in leadership positions with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. From 2010 to 2014, Robert managed, edited, and delivered the President’s Daily Brief to President Obama and Vice President Biden — over 1400 editions — while also serving on the Deputies Committee of the National Security Council.

Planet Federal, a wholly owned subsidiary of Planet Labs Inc., was created in 2018 to advance Planet’s products in support of the U.S. government as they increasingly look to leverage commercial products and services that are scalable, cost-effective, and reliable. Robert’s role at Planet Federal is a natural fit to further ensure Planet’s solutions continue to support the public sector in increasing planetary awareness and global security. Governments are key to the health, safety, and security of people across the world and at Planet we believe our datasets can provide unique insights to enable mission objectives. 

We’re looking forward to having Robert onboard to deepen this work with all Departments and Agencies of the U.S. government to better support our national security by understanding our environment, strengthening international alliances and monitoring change as it occurs globally. 

Welcome, Robert!