GDIT’s Dr. John Sahlin on why zero trust needs flexibility at the tactical edge

Dr. John Sahlin, Vice President for Cyber Solutions at GDIT, discussed the challenges of implementing zero trust at the tactical edge versus enterprise levels during the 2025 Zero Trust Summit. He emphasized the need for flexibility due to rapidly changing mission conditions and the importance of federated identity, credentialing, and access management (ICAM) for effective data-sharing. Sahlin also highlighted GDIT’s first zero-trust prototype, which enabled real-time data sharing without relying on pre-built infrastructure, using the example of FEMA’s disaster recovery efforts. He advocates for an incremental, modular approach to zero-trust implementation to avoid overwhelming organizations and ensure mission functionality.