We Are Cortex | Paul Luker

Paul Luker calls it a deluge of ones and zeroes. As senior director at GDIT, part of his job is helping large-scale businesses and organizations face down the never-ending threat from cybercriminals while helping them interpret, store, secure and leverage all the data they receive day in and day out.

“It's becoming more and more complicated for enterprises to understand it,” said Luker, who works with customers from his Cortex-based location for the global company. The key is making all the data actionable while keeping it safe. “Companies can get lost in the data deluge. Each organization struggles a little bit. GDIT is their partner that helps make heads or tails of what that data can do for them.”

In St. Louis, and specifically in Cortex, GDIT is heavily focused on supporting organizations within the geospatial technology industry. Indeed, it has won multimillion-dollar contracts to support the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in St. Louis. Much of that work is focused on providing software development services.

And though that’s a heavy focus for GDIT’s Cortex operations, it’s not the only one. Luker notes that his location in Cortex has helped to streamline collaboration, business development, and hiring great talent.

“We love it here. The ecosystem has been great,” Luker said. “I've been here for quite some time now and have been able to share a lot of success stories. We have been able to make a lot of serendipitous collisions that happen as part of the ecosystem here at Cortex.”

Luker raves about the central location and the proximity to “other industry partners and other industry trendsetters.” That proximity allows GDIT to collide with organizations involved in groundbreaking technology at NGA, neuroscience research at WashU, food science at AB Mauri, and on and on. 

Even the many social and community-building events around the District makes it a hotbed for innovation, collaboration and recruiting.

“Whether it's the food trucks or just like the gatherings,” he said. “I personally haven't participated in yoga, but I hear it's great! Being able to go out to the Cortex Commons for happy hour or other the social events—we have several other corporate locations throughout the country, but this one is truly unique.”

Join us on Wednesday, November 4th for #WeAreCortex — a community celebration of the thinkers, builders, creators, and doers who are shaping the future of St. Louis and beyond. Free coffee and light breakfast will be provided – register to attend today!