A powerful voice in the Intelligence Community and one of its leading national security professionals, Eric Traupe is the former assistant director of the CIA for the Near East and served on the front lines of U.S. counterterrorism efforts for more than 20 years. He remains a trusted advisor to our nation’s highest-ranking leaders, having advised CIA directors, presidents, cabinet and military officials, and members of Congress, and participated in momentous White House strategic, policy, and resource decisions. Traupe has tackled the full range of U.S. national security issues, and his leadership, acumen, and unmatched ability to cultivate enduring relationships between the U.S. and its foreign partners continues to be heralded in intelligence circles.
Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, Traupe is an inclusive and transformational leader whose “exemplary leadership will reverberate across the CIA for decades,” as noted by the agency’s top officials. He draws from his experiences championing diverse, people-centered cultures to share proven strategies for embracing the principles of servant leadership for more impactful collaboration across organizational and cultural boundaries, and empower teams to innovate, enhance creativity, develop solutions, and succeed in challenging environments. To complement his highly sought-after leadership insights, Traupe is masterfully skilled at engaging audiences with his captivating perspectives on today’s top issues in risk management, national intelligence, and the ever-evolving geopolitical landscape.
In addition to advising U.S. and world leaders, military officials, and private industry executives, as CIA Near East assistant director, Traupe’s work centered on responding to trends impacting the global landscape. This included directing traditional intelligence activities, such as Iran’s nuclear and regional ambitions, the CIA’s foreign partnerships across the Middle East and North Africa, and global competition with China and Russia. He also spearheaded initiatives to develop innovative cyber, technology, and data exploitation solutions to address complex national security issues. Throughout his tenure, he thrived in assignments that required crisis management skills, sound judgement, and an ability to assess internal and external risks. As a member of the CIA’s Expanded Corporate Board, Traupe led thousands of officers from different professional units, developed and executed multi-billion-dollar budgets, and addressed acute intelligence and foreign policy challenges on behalf of the CIA director. He expertly assessed geopolitical and economic trends, forecasted key budgetary investments, evaluated security risks, and weighed the implications of the pandemic’s impact to ensure his workforce maintained cohesion, resiliency, and mission-focus.
Prior to the CIA, Traupe served in the United States Marine Corps for nearly 10 years. He held several command and staff assignments and completed deployments to the Middle East, Africa, the Balkans, Japan, and Europe. Traupe played a key role in managing three separate non-combatant evacuation operations in The Gambia, Albania, and Zaire, during which, a total of 1,500 U.S. citizens were safely rescued.
Since leaving the public sector, Traupe founded Azimuth Global LLC, a consulting firm that provides strategic advisory services to Fortune 500 companies in the technology, national security, and strategic risk sectors. He serves as an operating partner with Lightspeed Venture Partners, sits on the Board of Advisors for Intel Corporation, and serves as an advisor to Anduril Industries Inc. and other emerging technology companies. Traupe is also a senior Advisor at WestExec, on the Board of Advisors for the Center for a New American Security, a Senior Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, and a panel member for the Special Competitive Studies Project focused on geopolitical rivalries associated with China and Russia. Additionally, he is an Ambassador for the Third Option Foundation and the CIA Officers Memorial Foundation. He was previously the President of Capella Federal Inc., a subsidiary of Capella Space Corp.
Consistently recognized as a strategic thinker and collaborative leader, Traupe’s contributions to the Intelligence Community have been recognized with several honors, including the Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal, Clandestine Service Career Award, CIA’s Director Award (twice), George W. Bush Award for Excellence, and the Presidential Rank Award — to name a few. He holds an MBA in international business from American University and a BA in communications from the University of Michigan, where he starred as a linebacker participating in two Rose Bowls and a Gator Bowl.
