When Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth takes the National War College stage to talk about proposed acquisition reforms on Friday, he will have the full attention of many companies aiming to boost their sales to the Pentagon. The list includes both newer and more established defense contractors, as well as notable consumer tech companies like Facebook parent company Meta and consumer AI company Anthropic.

At least some of Hegseth’s proposed changes are laid out in a six-page draft memo to senior Pentagon leaders, combatant commanders, and defense agency directors. Defense One obtained a copy of the draft memo, which has been circulating in the runup to his Nov. 7 speech. Six of the company invitees, under condition of anonymity, did tell Defense One that they plan to attend the event. An

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