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Leadership Team

Guided by national security and technology luminaries, Avathon’s government and defense organization is led by a hyper-focused team of experienced defense industry and military leaders committed to adapting and applying private-sector innovation to accelerate decision-making and unlocking data insights for the United States Armed Forces and its global allies.

Pervinder Johar

Chief Executive Officer

Art Sellers

President and General Manager,
Avathon Government

Gen'l John R. Allen (Ret.)

Board Member

Nagesh Saldi

Board Member

Pervinder Johar

CEO AND BOARD MEMBER

Pervinder Johar is the CEO of Avathon. Bringing over three decades of expertise in AI, machine learning, SaaS, robotics process automation, manufacturing, and supply chain management, he has proven himself a distinguished leader in the technology sector. Previously, Pervinder was the CEO of Blume Global, part of WiseTech Global, where he revolutionized logistics by integrating a networked ecosystem that optimally balanced visibility with execution. He has also held senior executive positions at Hewlett Packard, EdgeVerve, Steelwedge Software, CCC Information Services, and Manhattan Associates. Pervinder currently serves as the Chair, Board of Advisors, of 25m Supply Chain, and is a member of the Forbes Technology Council.

Art Sellers

PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, AVATHON GOVERNMENT

Art Sellers is the Interim President & General Manager and is the VP of Operations for Avathon Government. Art recently retired from the US Army after serving over 27 years as a career infantry officer. He spent his entire career in operational assignments, with over 12 years in the special operations community, 10 years in command billets at every level, and 5 years in combat deployments.

Originally from Keokuk, Iowa, Art graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1995, the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, in 2006 as well as from the Naval War College in Newport, RI in 2018. He not only brings his leadership and warfighting reputation to SGS, but Art also provides relevant perspective from recent operational experiences, including Iraq, Afghanistan, and in response to the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Additionally, he collaborated with private industry, Department of Defense entities, and the interagency to incorporate A.I. and machine learning into large scale operations and exercises.
Art and his wife, Susan, have been married for 26 years and have two sons, ages 21 and 19, as well as a 17-year-old daughter and reside near Fort Bragg, NC.

General John R. Allen (Ret)

Board Member

 

General John R. Allen is a retired four-star Marine Corps General and former commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, leading a 150,000-strong coalition force at the height of the war. He was the first Marine to command a theater of war. Following his military service, General Allen served as Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Defense on Middle East Security and later as Special Presidential Envoy to the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, where he helped grow the international coalition to 65 member nations.

A career shaped by global complexity and high-stakes diplomacy, Allen’s combat and operational tours span the Caribbean, Balkans, Iraq, and Afghanistan. In Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, he played a pivotal role in supporting the Sunni Awakening that contributed to the defeat of Al Qaeda.

Allen also served as Deputy Commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), where he helped oversee strategic security across the Middle East and Central Asia. Earlier, as the principal director of Asia-Pacific policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense, he helped shape U.S. regional policy, including involvement in the Six-Party Talks on North Korea.

He is currently a Strategic Advisor to Microsoft and a member of its Advisory Council, a Senior Fellow at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He previously served as President of the Brookings Institution (2017–2022).

A published author and thought leader in emerging technology and global security, General Allen co-authored Turning Point: Policymaking in the Era of Artificial Intelligence and Future War and the Defence of Europe. He is also a co-inventor of several AI-related patents and advises technology startups. 

Nagesh Saldi

BOARD MEMBER

Nagesh Saldi is a technology executive and strategic leader with over 30 years of global experience driving innovation, operational transformation, and rapid scaling. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for Avathon Government, Inc., he currently advises U.S. Department of War leadership on technology and strategy through the BOND program. He also serves as a board director, advisor, and investor for several emerging technology startups, providing strategic guidance on product innovation, engineering execution, and operational governance for next-generation industry leaders.

Nagesh is widely recognized for his 12-year tenure at Tesla, where he served as the company’s final Chief Information Officer, reporting directly to Elon Musk. In this role, he spearheaded the creation of the Tesla Operating System – a fully integrated, proprietary platform designed from first principles to replace commercial enterprise software. This unified system drove Tesla’s vertically integrated model, spanning Design, Engineering, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Delivery, Service, and Insurance globally.

Crucial to his role at Tesla, Nagesh oversaw the development of the company’s global technology infrastructure, including its worldwide data centers, AI computing environments, and Gigafactory systems. His enterprise transformation leadership is featured in the Stanford Graduate School of Business case study: “Tesla in 2023: Building a Radically Innovative Operating System”.

Before his time at Tesla, Nagesh held senior technology and operational leadership roles at Hewlett-Packard, Palm, and Infosys. He holds an MBA from Saint Mary’s College of California and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Bangalore University. Furthermore, he holds advanced industry designations as a Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), Certified in Planning and Inventory Management (CPIM), and Certified in Integrated Resource Management (CIRM).