Government Contractors | Technology 2025: LING, CANDICE

Since taking over Microsoft’s federal arm in 2023, Ling has focused on forging partnerships and advancing artificial intelligence, cloud computing and emerging technologies for federal customers. She previously served as Microsoft’s civilian federal sector vice president and as a government industry leader in Asia. She also spent 19 years with Canadian consulting firm CGI.

Microsoft competes with Amazon Web Services, Google and Oracle for tech and digital modernization task orders under the Department of Defense’s $9 billion Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract. DOD has spent about $1 billion on the program; it’s not clear how that money has been divvied up.

In 2025, Microsoft handed over the reins to its U.S. Army Integrated Visual Augmentation System headset contract, valued at up to $22 billion, to Anduril Industries. Microsoft had been the prime contractor on the critical Army project, but soldiers complained of problems with the goggles.

Ling received a bachelor’s degree from Western Michigan University and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. She landed for the second time in 2025 on Executive Mosaic’s annual Wash100 list of top government contracting executives. She also serves on the Northern Virginia Technology Council’s board.