Federal Contractors | Technology 2023: MEHUL P. SANGHANI

A Virginia Tech graduate, Sanghani runs one of the fastest growing federal contractors in Virginia’s tech sector. In December 2022, IBM announced it would purchase Octo from Arlington Capital Partners for an undisclosed sum, and Octo is now a part of IBM Consulting’s U.S. public and federal market arm.

Born in India, Sanghani was raised in Blacksburg, where his family operated a Red Carpet Inn. He graduated from Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering in 1998 and worked for a Silicon Valley startup before returning to Northern Virginia to found Octo. Today, Octo has 1,516 employees, with 662 in Virginia.

The entrepreneur and his wife, Hema, also a Virginia Tech alum, donated $10 million to the university in 2020. Part of the fund supports the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics in Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus in Alexandria,
as well as scholarships for minority students studying AI. Last year, Octo opened oLabs, a $10 million research and development lab focused on artificial intelligence and other projects for federal customers.

Sanghani serves on Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business advisory council and was on the university’s board of visitors for eight years.