Data analytics and software company founded in 2003 by Peter Thiel, Alex Karp, and Joe Lonsdale, originally built on PayPal fraud detection techniques applied to counterterrorism. Publicly traded since 2020. Widely studied for its forward-deployed engineer model — embedding engineers directly with customers to solve their hardest problems — and as a case study in how unfashionable positioning (government, defense) can be the moat itself.