Serving Those Who Serve Our Country: How JARVISS Protects the U.S. Military
They are veterans, active military, data geeks, and geography buffs. The people who work on Everbridge’s JARVISS (Joint Analytical Real-Time Information Sharing Solution), are as varied as they come, but they share a common mission: keep those who protect our country safe. Below, Jeffrey Kahler (Senior Account Executive), Leah Habron (Senior GIS Analyst), Vick Vaishnavi (Senior VP and General Manager), and Clarence Buffalo (Senior Director of the JARVISS Solutions Team) describe the challenges of working on a product that must meet rigorous Department of Defense standards and the satisfaction of knowing that their efforts serve a greater purpose.
What is the JARVISS product used for?
Vick: JARVISS is a critical event management system for the U.S. Department of Defense; it stands for “Joint Analytical Real-Time Information Sharing Solution.” It makes users aware of situations in their area that might affect them — anything from hurricanes and other weather events to man-made threats like active shooters.
Jeff: The system was developed after the Fort Hood and Chattanooga shootings. The DOD realized they didn’t have an effective way to establish a common operating picture during an event like that, so it charged the Army to find a solution. Originally, JARVISS was part of a company called PlanetRisk, which Everbridge acquired in 2018. It’s very similar to the Everbridge platform, so it was a natural fit.
What is each of you doing day to day?
Jeff: I’m a program manager and sales lead. Essentially, I’m the face of JARVISS to our customers, and it’s my job to make sure the program not only succeeds but grows. We partner primarily with the Army right now, but we work in some scenarios where all the branches of the DOD collaborate. We’re also expanding into pilot programs and contracts with the Navy and Air Force. Day to day, I work a lot with my counterpart at the Pentagon on developing new features and functions. We’re constantly working to improve the platform.
Leah: I’m a geographic information systems — or GIS — analyst, which means I take data from a variety of sources and visualize it in JARVISS. We have information from a range of purchased, open-source, and government resources — the Army, the Census, weather and emergency management, schools, utilities. You name it, and I’ve probably mapped it. I’ve also done tech support, working directly with JARVISS users, and I’ve had the opportunity to travel for on-site trainings, too. I did six last year, including one in Honolulu. That was a neat experience.
“The work ethic here is similar to the military, and people here have a similar desire to make a difference.” — Jeff
Clarence: I’m Senior Director of the JARVISS Solutions team, so I’m responsible for working with product management on our roadmap and overall strategy, working with Jeff and the Sales team, along with our developers, to set priorities. Our users and team members give us valuable feedback about what’s working for our current customers within the DOD and what new features they’d like to see. And we’re always thinking about ways to grow the business while expanding the use cases JARVISS can help solve.
My background is in risk intel data. When there’s a new request for data, I lean on my years of experience in the field to identify and work with vendors who provide the necessary data and leverage. Leah and her team bring it into the JARVISS system.
Vick: I’m SVP and general manager for two of Everbridge’s lines of business. One is enterprise risk, and that includes JARVISS. When the PlanetRisk team came on board, I was the executive sponsor — it was my job to make sure the integration went smoothly. Day to day, it’s my responsibility to make sure DOD is getting value out of the platform, and to grow the business. I oversee our product management, go-to-market, marketing, and sales enablement functions, as well as our Global Intelligence Operations Center, which tracks critical events and feeds them into JARVISS.
“We’re always thinking of ways to grow the business while expanding the use cases JARVISS can solve.” — Clarence
Tell us about your backgrounds and what brought you to Everbridge.
Jeff: I started my career as a submarine officer in the Navy. When I got out, I went into telecom and IT sales. After 9/11, I wanted to get back in uniform, but I was too old — so I started working for companies where I was selling to the DOD. I joined Everbridge almost two years ago, and it felt like the perfect fit for me. The team here shares a lot of the characteristics you find in the military. Service members aren’t just our customers. Many of us are veterans ourselves, and several people continue to serve in the reserves and National Guard. The work ethic here is similar to the military, and people here have a similar desire to make a difference.
My son recently began his Navy career as an ensign at the Navy’s Nuclear Power School, and my daughter is in the ROTC with hopes of flying for the Navy in the future. Being able to offer a product that can help protect them is very meaningful to me.
Clarence: I came on board in 2018 as part of the PlanetRisk acquisition. I joined that company 19 years ago, back when it was called iMap Data. I’d studied political science, economics, and public administration in college, and had every intention of working in the federal government. But then I saw the cross-border studies iMap was doing — at the time, it was commercial work, studying consumer trends — and it seemed like the perfect marriage of my interests. Eventually, we started working with federal agencies and in 2016 we launched the pilot that led to JARVISS.
Leah: My story is similar to Clarence’s. We went to the same university and I joined Everbridge from PlanetRisk, as well. Maps have always been a passion of mine, so in college, I majored in geographic science. My first job was working on flight simulator databases for the Air National Guard. Then I moved to a company extracting and building 3D models of cities. I joined iMap Data in 2006, which became PlanetRisk, and the rest is history!
Vick: I’ve been in enterprise software for close to 30 years. When our CEO, Jaime, asked me to join Everbridge about three years ago, the company was just starting to expand beyond emergency communications and to build the enterprise risk side of the business. As a former founder and CEO myself, that was appealing to me. I have a lot of ownership, but I also have the resources of a well-established, successful company. It’s the best of both worlds.
Fundamentally, though, what attracted me to Everbridge was the mission. I wanted to be part of a company that did more than build cool software.
“We’re meeting very high DOD standards, and we can’t allow vulnerabilities in the system at any time.” — Vick
What expertise do you look for in new JARVISS team members?
Vick: It depends somewhat on the role. As Jeff mentioned, a lot of our implementations folks served in the military. That’s valuable experience for anyone working with the DOD, and it certainly makes it easier to train and work with customers. For product managers, I think it’s important to have a fundamental understanding of data sources, so they can understand what information to prioritize and where we can automate. To create actionable intelligence, we need to combine the raw data with our own experience in managing critical events.
It’s also extremely important that we understand user experience. There are hundreds of thousands of people on the JARVISS platform, across every rank of the Army, so it needs to be quick to implement and easy to use.
What kinds of challenges does your team face?
Vick: I think the hardest part is balancing speed and accuracy. You want to detect and report events quickly but you have to get it right. Being off a few degrees in latitude or longitude could make all the difference in keeping someone safe. It can also be difficult to determine exactly how important something is, and not under- or over-emphasize it.
There are also interesting technical challenges from a security standpoint because we may be working with classified information. We’re meeting very high DOD standards, and we can’t allow vulnerabilities in the system at any time.
Clarence: A lot of the challenges are the same ones you’d face with any government agency. It can take a long time to get data we’ve requested. We have users around the world, in every time zone, so they need help around the clock. And working with the DOD, the size of the program creates its own hurdles. But at the same time, it’s pretty neat to be building something of this magnitude.
What’s the best part of your job?
Clarence: For me, it’s the people we’re serving. Helping keep service members safe is very rewarding. It’s also the great team at Everbridge. I don’t think there’s a single person on the JARVISS team who wouldn’t work around the clock to make sure a product or feature is delivered on time. The level of dedication here is above and beyond.
“Call me a geek, but I really like playing with data. Especially when it helps facilitate the information flow for analyzing incidents and saving lives.” — Leah
Jeff: For me, it’s been a great experience to represent Everbridge at the Pentagon, and to travel to different installations to train and brief the commanding generals. And as Vick mentioned, it’s the best of both worlds. We’re a large public company with the resources to meet the requirements of the entire DOD. But we still have the agility to evolve and grow.
Leah: To echo what others have said, the best part is the impact. It’s really cool to know I’m working on something that has the potential to save lives. And as Clarence mentioned, everybody here has your back. We’re a very tight-knit group. A little over a year ago, I landed in the hospital with appendicitis, and my GIS teammates jumped right in to help out while I was recovering. It’s almost like a family.
Plus, call me a geek, but I just really like playing with data. I like taking all this raw information, visualizing it, and making it pretty — so it helps facilitate the information flow for analyzing incidents, choosing actions, and saving lives.
Vick: JARVISS is near and dear to me. I’ve never served in the military, but I have a lot of friends and colleagues who have and I’m a big advocate for the armed services. So it’s very satisfying to know we are making a difference for them. I think a lot of us see this not just as a job, but as part of our civic duty. These people risk their lives to keep this country safe, and we get to help keep them safe. What could be better than that? It’s an honor.
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