Tara Gattis

Tara Gattis has a long and varied work experience. Tara began their career in 2000 as an Analyst at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, where they excelled as an imagery intelligence analyst and team lead, synthesizing multiple sources of information and formulating predictive assessments of behaviors and trends in counter-terrorism and foreign military issues. Tara was handpicked to deliver and develop presentations to senior policymakers, and built an extensive network of colleagues in other agencies to build the most comprehensive reports, including gap assessments. In 2013, they were competitively selected to serve in a one-year rotation as an Executive Advisor to the 3rd ranking intelligence official in the Intelligence Community (IC). In 2014, they were selected to lead a team at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency that needed a complete overhaul in customer outreach and analytic priorities. Tara gathered customer feedback, solicited input from team members, and executed an inclusive plan that incorporated new tools, data, and techniques. Tara also managed a proof-of-concept prototype project using natural language processing to capture observations from imagery, which reduced the task from 600 analyst hours to 16 hours. In 2016, they were a Computer Vision Lead, Analysis and Associate Director, Analytics at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. As a founding team member of the Outpost NGA Valley, they benchmarked and developed strong strategic partnerships with tech industry, academia, and government partners to find new opportunities for NGA to learn or partner on specific tech needs. Tara also liaised regularly with groups like Stanford University’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) lab to influence NGA’s understanding and strategy in AI advancement. Currently, they are the Government Programs Lead at Orbital Sidekick.

Tara Gattis attended Tulane University from 1995 to 1999 and earned a Bachelor's Degree in International Relations and History. From 2010 to 2011, they attended the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center and earned an Associate of Arts in Arabic Language and Literature.