30 Best CEOs of the Year 2020 30 Best CEOs of the Year 2020 | Page 65

evaporate overnight is real. To
address this, we have developed
an agile approach to business
development – we work hard
to identify potential risk factors
–many of which are completely
out of our control–and
respective mitigation strategies.
What are your
three biggest
accomplishments?
•
•
•
Becoming a parent at a
young age and seeing
my son grow up to be a
successful and respectful
young man.
Innovating identity
programs within the USG.
Over the last 20+ years,
I have had the incredible
opportunity to help shape
and drive some huge
projects that touch all
Americans in some way and
function as the backbone of
our collective concept about
identity
Transitioning from the
government to industry; my
work as a government civil
servant provided me with
a wealth of experiences
to make a real and lasting
impact on our nation.
What do you think is
the most memorable
moment in your
career?
Sept 11, 2001, and the weeks
that followed; following the
harrowing events of that
sunny morning in September,
I accepted the opportunity to
support the FBI’s daunting
challenge of identifying victims
at the morgue in NYC. This was
truly humbling as we sifted
through incredible amounts
of human remains, many just
fragments. One day, I identified
the hand of a missing victim.
Later that same day, I witnessed
a call from the victim’s family
asking for news about their
father and husband. Helping
that family to find answers and
some sense of closure still lives
with me.
If not a business
leader/CEO, what else
you want to be?
A Politician –As much as our
politics are overly polarized
these days, I spend much
of my day as a politician,
listening, and responding to
various constituents. My goal
continues to be to maintain
the integrity and a sense of
vision so that I can continue to
advocate for the greater good.
This often means disagreeing
with constituents, but I have
learned to do that with integrity
and an appropriate amount of
empathy – trying to understand
others’ needs, experiences,
and perceptions without losing
sight of my goal. Whenever
possible, I try to create win-win
outcomes, but when that’s not
possible, I work to preserve the
constituent’s respect through
open communication.
SR
“We aim to protect the world from known and
suspected terrorists, wanted criminals, and persons of
interest by being the trusted leader in detecting threats
immediately and verifying identity indisputably.”
Scott Swann
CEO & President
Scott Swann: A Charismatic
Leader
Scott is the IDEMIA NSS President
and CEO , leading the identity service
offerings for federal government agencies
and drawing from his executive experience
at MorphoTrak and his 18-year tenure at
the FBI. Scott has extensive experience
working across all government domains
including the FBI, DHS, DoD, and many
state and local law enforcement and civil
agencies. As an FBI Unit Chief, he played
a central role in the FBI’s Next Generation
Identification Program, responsible for
research, development, test, and evaluation
of biometrics technologies and services.
Scott served as Special Assistant to the
FBI’s Executive Director of the Science and
Technology Branch as well as the Identity
Intelligence Lead for the Intelligence
Community, supporting the Director of
National Intelligence. He holds a Bachelor’s
Degree in business management from
Salem-Teikyo University and a Master’s
Degree in software engineering from West
Virginia University.