Shelby L. Pierson

Shelby Pierson joined TRG after over 25 years in the national security community including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). As a former senior U.S. intelligence executive, Shelby is known for translating strategy into execution across large, matrixed organizations. As Director of Analysis at NGA, she directed a $400M global intelligence production portfolio and led 6,000+ personnel, delivering 24/7 outcomes for joint, interagency, and allied partners. Previously, as Deputy Associate Director of Operations—and later Acting Director of Operations—she integrated analysis, collection, and international affairs for a 7,000-person enterprise. Earlier, as Deputy Director for Source Operations & Management, she oversaw a $500M portfolio and 2,000+ professionals, accelerating adoption of commercial data and automated pipelines that reduced analytic cycle time by ~25%.

At ODNI, Shelby served as National Intelligence Manager for Russia/Europe/Eurasia and as the Election Threats Executive, directing $400M+ in cross-agency investments, briefing Congressional leaders 50+ times, and deepening NATO intelligence coordination and materially improving US global intelligence collection against Russia. She has expertise in intelligence integration, support to policy and acquisition efforts. Across roles, she helped guide a $2B modernization that embedded AI/ML and automation into mission workflows and instituted Power BI–driven business reviews, taxonomy/metadata standards, and governance guardrails for scale. Her CIA service informs board-level judgment on enterprise risk, sensitive-data governance, and international partnerships, complementing her NGA and ODNI leadership.

Shelby’s experience spans crisis management, operations, strategy, enterprise risk, cyber/data governance, AI adoption, international operations, and executive communications. Her leadership has been recognized with two Presidential Rank Awards, the NGA Director’s Medallion and several ODNI awards for intelligence excellence. She holds a B.A. in International Affairs from Lewis & Clark College and executive education in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. Shelby advises CEOs and boards on building tech-forward operating rhythms, aligning investments to value, strengthening oversight to deliver durable performance and direct positive impact on national security outcomes.