Stephen Ryan is director and chief systems engineer in Northrop Grumman's Space Systems sector. He is a senior technical leader and manager bridging business development, strategy, engineering, and technology to execute next-generation space system development and production programs and also serves as the company's leading expert on activity-based intelligence (ABI). He previously served as a senior portfolio manager for autonomy and artificial intelligence technologies for air programs and as a mission engineering manager and chief architect in NG Mission Systems's ISR and cyber & intelligence businesses.

Prior to joining Northrop Grumman, Ryan was a decorated intelligence analyst with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), where he specialized in terrorism analysis focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan. He spent a year deployed to Afghanistan during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, is the two-time recipient of the Joint Civilian Service Commendation Award and has also received the NATO Medal, the Secretary of Defense Medal for the Global War on Terror, and the National Intelligence Meritorious Unit Citation. In 2013, he helped create the Intelligence Community (IC)'s first formal training course in activity-based intelligence, dubbed "ABI 101." He is the co-author of the best-selling textbook, "Activity-Based Intelligence: Principles and Applications" (2016), which explores analysis methods for spatio-temporal data sets, developed for and used by the IC and U.S. military to target and disrupt terrorist networks.

He received an M.S. in Systems Engineering, with honors, from The Johns Hopkins University; an M.A. in Security Studies, with honors, from the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University; and a B.A., summa cum laude, in International Affairs from The George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduated with university and departmental honors.