Gary Butler
Dr. Gary D. Butler is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Camgian Corporation. Since its founding in 2006, he has led Camgian’s evolution into an award-winning and profitable technology company, which provides artificial intelligence (AI) enabled software that aids military operators in minimizing cognitive overload and improving decision making. This includes his guidance of Camgian’s flagship product, Reactor®, which provides cognitive decision aids for air and missile defense and counter-drone systems that enable accelerated kill chain execution with heightened precision and lethality. Camgian has received numerous awards and industry recognition for its innovations, including being named by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the United States and Southeast Region.
Prior to founding Camgian, Dr. Butler served as a division engineer in the D.C. office of Internet pioneer BBN Technologies, now part of RTX Corporation. At BBN, he led advanced research in the application of machine learning to complex signal processing challenges, with a particular focus on leveraging genetic algorithms to optimize neural network classifiers in dynamic operational environments. His work in the field of adaptive AI systems resulted in the award of the U.S. patent: Genetically Adaptive Neural Network Classification Systems and Methods. Additionally, he was the principal investigator for several DARPA-funded initiatives aimed at developing next-generation multi-static radar systems and signal processing technologies for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions. In recognition of his technical leadership, he was elected as a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and selected for BBN’s prestigious Science Development Program, a technical rank reserved for the company’s most exceptional scientists and engineers.
Dr. Butler earned his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of Cambridge, where he was a member of Churchill College and studied dynamics and the application of wavelets to signal analysis. At Cambridge, he collaborated with Professor David Newland, Head of the University’s Engineering Department and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, on the advancement of wavelet theory for improving the spectra analysis of complex transient signals. His research also addressed the application of wavelet algorithms to the problem of time-varying cross-spectra with multi-channel data to characterize transient amplitude and phase changes within nonlinear dynamic systems. Dr. Butler’s doctoral research contributed to publications by Newland in the Proceedings of the Royal Society and American Society of Mechanical Engineers. His academic training also includes a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Vanderbilt University, a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Tulane University, and an executive certificate in strategy and innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management.
Dr. Butler has been a speaker and panelist at numerous national and international conferences. He has provided expert testimony before the U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee and before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Digital Commerce and Consumer Protection. Dr. Butler has been recognized as one of Mississippi’s top CEOs by the Mississippi Business Journal, and he currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Renasant Corporation (NYSE: RNST), a $26B financial institution, where he chairs the board’s Technology Committee. Previously, he served on the advisory board of Brightstar Capital Partners, a New York-based private equity firm. He also remains actively engaged in academic and industry leadership communities, serving as a member of the Aerospace and Defense Alliance of Mississippi Board of Directors, Vanderbilt University School of Engineering Council of Advisors, where he previously held the role of chair, the Tulane University School of Science and Engineering Board of Advisors, and the Young Presidents’ Organization.