BAE Systems Names New FAST Labs Leader

Timothy Grayson has joined BAE Systems as vice president and general manager of FAST Labs, the company’s research and development arm.

The executive announced his appointment in a LinkedIn post Thursday.

“I’m thrilled to be working with an incredibly talented FAST Labs team and contributing my experiences to lead the development of critical next-generation capabilities, delivering cutting-edge technologies that make a difference for our customers,” he wrote.

BAE Appoints New FAST Labs Leader

Grayson brings to the role his extensive experience in the defense industry. Before joining BAE, he served as president of Fortitude Mission Research, which provides architecture analysis, strategy development support consulting services for complex missions.

He also held the role of senior vice president and chief architect for defense systems at Leidos and senior manager for Raytheon PRA, a division of the former Raytheon Space and Aerospace Systems.

Aside from his private sector career, he spent over a decade in various government agencies. From 2022 to 2025, he was the special assistant to the secretary of the Air Force. He also led as director of the Strategic Technology Office at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency from 2018 to 2022.

The executive holds a doctorate degree in physics from the University of Rochester.