Government Contractors | Technology | Aerospace 2025: MAHFUZ AHMED 

In the mid-1990s, Ahmed founded what’s now Dexian as a side venture while working as a consultant for Northrop Grumman and a senior technical manager for Mobil Oil. Today, the McLean-based provider of staffing, IT and workforce solutions employs about 12,000 workers across 70 locations worldwide.

Originally known as Digital Intelligence Systems (DISYS), the company rebranded as Dexian in 2023 following its 2021 acquisition of Florida-based IT staffing firm Signature Consultants. The company topped the list of Washington Business Journal’s 60 largest companies owned by people of color in the Washington, D.C., region in April, with $1.15 billion in revenue in 2024.

Ahmed is a graduate of George Mason University and Harvard Business School. In 2023, after serving as president and chief operating officer,

Ahmed’s brother, Maruf, was promoted to CEO, the role Mahfuz Ahmed previously held.

The Ahmeds were honored by George Mason in 2023 after donating $250,000 to the school’s College of Engineering and Computing to fund the Dean’s Technology Innovation Fund. The Bangladesh-born brothers asked that a trash can near the library be dedicated in their honor to reflect their humble beginnings.