DARPA

The US Secret Agency

Perhaps nowhere is DARPA's paradoxical nature more evident than in its relationship with time. The agency was built on the premise that transformative innovation requires patient capital and long-term thinking—the willingness to invest in research that may not yield practical applications for decades.

This philosophy produced the internet, GPS, and countless other technologies that took years or even decades to mature into world-changing capabilities.

Yet DARPA now operates in an environment where innovation cycles are compressing dramatically. Advances in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and quantum computing unfold in months rather than years. Start-ups can scale from concept to global impact in timeframes not klnown before.