Karen Roth

Karen Roth is an experienced Department of Defense leader specializing in cyber, artificial intelligence, and digital engineering. She most recently served as the Deputy Director of AFWERX, the Air Force’s rapid innovation arm, where she oversaw the acceleration of high-impact technologies for national defense via the Air Force’s SBIR/STTR program. Previously, as Chief Engineer for the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Information Directorate, she ensured technical excellence across a $1.5 billion portfolio in Command, control, communications, computing, and intelligence (C4I) and Cyber sciences and spearheaded the creation of the Innovare Alliance, a global community of scientists and entrepreneurs focused on open innovation.

Prior to her leadership roles within the Air Force, Ms. Roth served as a Lead Technologist at Booz Allen Hamilton and a Project Technical Lead for system security at Sikorsky Aircraft. Throughout her career, she has been a dedicated advocate for women in STEM including serving as the FY25 Society President of the Society of Women Engineers, a 50,000+ member international organization.

Ms. Roth holds an Executive MBA from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, a Master’s degree in Systems Engineering from Cornell University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology.