# Ian Kalin

> Ian Kalin is the CEO and co-founder of TurbineOne, a San Francisco defense-technology company building the Frontline Perception System - machine learning that runs on the sensor at the tactical edge, without the cloud, so warfighters can spot threats in real time. A Georgetown-trained politics major turned Navy nuclear engineer and counter-terrorism officer, Kalin later became the first Chief Data Officer of the U.S. Department of Commerce and a Presidential Innovation Fellow before building the product he says he wishes he'd had while serving. TurbineOne has raised more than $55M, holds 20+ Department of Defense contracts, and works across the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps in the Indo-Pacific.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at TurbineOne
- **Organizations:** TurbineOne, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Navy, Socrata, Google, PowerAdvocate, Presidential Innovation Fellows, The General Partnership
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** BS in International Politics (School of Foreign Service), Georgetown University, MA/MEM in Engineering Management, Old Dominion University
- **Known for:** First-ever Chief Data Officer of the U.S. Department of Commerce (2015), overseeing data across all 12 bureaus, Presidential Innovation Fellow (2012), leading the U.S. Energy Data Initiative, Co-founded TurbineOne and grew it to 20+ awarded Department of Defense contracts

## Career timeline

- **2002** — Graduates Georgetown University with a BS in International Politics
- **2002-2007** — Serves in the U.S. Navy as a counter-terrorism officer and nuclear engineer aboard the USS Ronald Reagan
- **2012** — Named a Presidential Innovation Fellow; leads the U.S. Energy Data Initiative at the Department of Energy under U.S. CTO Todd Park
- **2013-2015** — Director of Open Data at Socrata; earlier private-sector work at PowerAdvocate and Google
- **2015** — Becomes the first Chief Data Officer of the U.S. Department of Commerce
- **2020** — Co-founds TurbineOne with Matt Amacker after meeting at The General Partnership
- **2025** — TurbineOne raises $36M Series B at a reported $300M valuation; expands toward the U.S. intelligence community

## Achievements

- First-ever Chief Data Officer of the U.S. Department of Commerce (2015), overseeing data across all 12 bureaus
- Presidential Innovation Fellow (2012), leading the U.S. Energy Data Initiative
- Co-founded TurbineOne and grew it to 20+ awarded Department of Defense contracts
- Raised more than $55M in venture funding, including a $36M Series B in 2025
- Built the Frontline Perception System to Technology Readiness Level 9 (TRL-9)
- Deployed AI with the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps in the Indo-Pacific

## Latest updates

- **2025-05** — TurbineOne raised a $36M Series B led by The General Partnership at a reported $300M valuation, with plans to expand into the intelligence community and build an overseas footprint.

## Links

- Website: https://turbineone.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/iankalin
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/turbineonetech

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ian-kalin
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-01