Leidos

Leidos is a Fortune 500 company that tackles some of the toughest challenges in defense, intelligence, healthcare, and civil government. In short, they provide the science, engineering, and technology to make the world safer, healthier, and more efficient, from modernizing air traffic control systems to deploying cybersecurity for critical missions. The company's story begins not as Leidos, but as Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), founded in 1969 by Dr. J. Robert "Bob" Beyster. A nuclear physicist, Beyster started the company in La Jolla, California, with a unique vision: an employee-owned firm that would attract top scientific talent to solve complex government problems. This model fueled decades of growth as SAIC became a major contractor, involved in everything from nuclear safety to developing early luggage scanning systems. A pivotal moment came in 2013 when SAIC decided to split into two independent companies. The original company was rebranded as Leidos—a name inspired by the word "kaleidoscope"—to focus on high-end technology, engineering, and national security solutions. The other company retained the SAIC name and focused on government services. This new chapter as Leidos was marked by aggressive growth. A transformational merger with Lockheed Martin's IT and global solutions business in 2016 more than doubled the company's size, making it a dominant force in the federal technology space. Strategic acquisitions of companies like Dynetics in 2019 further expanded its capabilities in areas like defense research and space. Today, Leidos continues to expand its focus on digital modernization, cyber, and AI, tackling critical missions for a wide range of government and commercial customers.