TRACY GREGORIO

Nine years ago, Tracy Gregorio and two business partners realized the military needed better technology to protect its communications systems from cyberattacks.

G2 Ops was among the first small businesses to apply digital engineering to safeguard military communication systems, Gregorio says. The company plays a pivotal role in helping weapons and ship navigation systems communicate without cyber interference that could cause a missile to miss a target.

That’s a big responsibility, but Gregorio thrives under pressure.

“I have the ability to maintain calm in times of chaos,” she says. “We all want smooth pitches that we can easily hit but, in reality, we get curve balls, knuckle balls and fastballs, and we must make adjustments to hit the ball as it crosses the plate.”

Under Gregorio’s leadership, G2 Ops has increased its revenue from $3 million in 2013 to $23 million in 2021. The company employs 120 people, including 39 women. Before starting the company, she was vice president of information technology and enrollment management at Regent University and a computer scientist at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Suffolk.

Gregorio was often one of few women in the room when she started studying computer science in the 1980s, and that experience hasn’t changed for her. Leading in a male-dominated industry doesn’t intimidate her, and she coaches women on how to exude confidence.

“I was taught I could succeed at anything,” she says. “I never spent a watt of energy thinking about barriers. My goal is to stay sharp and on my game.”