Research-driven. Practically applied.
InnoTECH Research & Consulting connects rigorous analysis with practical leadership to help industry and government make better decisions, adopt emerging technology, and execute strategies that strengthen performance.
The gap is rarely a shortage of ideas.
In our experience, what organizations typically lack is structured analysis, outside perspective, and implementation discipline: the work required to turn a good idea into an operational result. InnoTECH exists to close that gap.
We work at the intersection of research, technology, and strategy. We help clients understand their options, evaluate trade-offs, and build the plans required to move forward.
David “Brew” Brewer
Founder & CEO
Meet David “Brew” Brewer.
David “Brew” Brewer founded InnoTECH Research & Consulting after 29 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a lieutenant colonel. His career ran through tactical intelligence, ISR, and space operations before it reached Pentagon-level strategy.
He served as Deputy Director of the Disruptive Technology Division at Air Force Futures (HAF A5/7), as the Department of Defense representative to NATO for artificial intelligence policy, and as Chief Air National Guard Liaison at Headquarters Air Force. He founded the Kelly Johnson Joint All-Domain Innovation Center and served as Program Director for AIM-HI, designed for the Department of Defense with the University of Michigan as certifying organization.
He previously supported the Michigan National Guard’s Northern Strike planning effort as a Space Operations Strategist, connecting commercial space capabilities with training and operational requirements. He is a Senior Advisor and Industry Mentor to NATO DIANA and teaches two courses at the University of Michigan Center for Entrepreneurship: Innovation for Impact · Defense & Security, and Space Entrepreneurship.
We connect technical evidence with the people, resources, and decisions required for adoption.
Founder’s professional and teaching experience. Figures verified internally, September 2026.
- Senior Advisor & Industry Mentor, NATO DIANA (2026–present)
- Certified Business Consultant, USIDHR (2024)
- Master Innovation Coach, University of Michigan Project Mercury (2022)
The founder’s role in the work.
As Founder and CEO of InnoTECH Research & Consulting, David “Brew” Brewer sets the firm’s strategic direction, shapes its service offerings, and leads the relationships and engagements that drive the business forward. His role connects growth strategy with delivery: understanding client priorities, defining the work, aligning expertise, and maintaining accountability for the quality and relevance of the firm’s recommendations.
InnoTECH works through a fractional senior bench: a chief operating officer, a Washington-based business development and growth lead, and an international partnership lead, assembled around the engagement rather than carried as overhead. Three team members are based outside Michigan, which is how a small firm covers national work.
His executive focus is practical: direct time and resources toward the right priorities, build productive relationships, and connect research and technology decisions to business or mission value. For clients, that means an engagement shaped around the decisions they need to make, the constraints they face, and the actions required to move forward.
How an engagement takes shape.
The order matters. Scope is the last thing we decide, not the first.
We define the problem together
Before anything else, we work with you to state the problem in terms everyone in the room agrees on. This sounds obvious and it is where most of the disagreement surfaces. Different parts of an organization often describe the same situation in ways that imply very different solutions.
We agree what success looks like
An observable outcome, written down, that both of us can point at later. If the outcome names a technology rather than a result, we keep working on it until it describes something you could measure.
The problem and the outcome set the scope
Once we know what has to change and how we will recognize it, the scale of the engagement follows. This is why we do not quote from a service menu. A well-defined problem sometimes needs a two-week assessment and sometimes needs six months of implementation support, and you should not have to guess which before we have talked.
Evidence before recommendation
We examine what the research supports, where the gaps are, and what additional information would change the answer. When the evidence does not support the conclusion you were hoping for, we say so, and we explain what it would take to get a different answer.
Experience That Informs the Decisions Ahead.
Brew’s professional background connects senior-level coordination, operational analysis, innovation program leadership, and entrepreneurship education. These experiences inform how he frames problems, brings stakeholders together, and translates complex information into practical recommendations.
Strategic Coordination Across Complex Organizations
Brew’s military assignments included work with Air Force Futures in its Disruptive Technology Division, National Guard space operations, and service as Chief Air National Guard Liaison at Headquarters Air Force. These roles brought together strategic priorities, operational perspectives, and coordination across organizational boundaries.
Applied impact
That perspective helps clients frame initiatives for different audiences, clarify decision ownership, and connect technical recommendations with leadership priorities.
Innovation Program Leadership
As a founding officer of the Kelly Johnson Joint All-Domain Innovation Center and Program Director of AIM-HI, Brew helped connect operational challenges with innovation activity and emerging capabilities. His work has spanned problem definition, collaboration, and the practical questions involved in moving an idea toward application.
Applied impact
Clients get a structured approach to innovation: define the need, examine assumptions, identify contributors, and establish useful next steps.
Commercial Space and Operational Integration
In his work supporting the Michigan National Guard’s Northern Strike planning effort, Brew helped connect commercial space capabilities with training and operational requirements. His contributions included imagery integration planning, processes for requesting and delivering information, and coordination between capability providers and operational teams.
Applied impact
This experience supports technology assessments and implementation plans that account for users, workflows, information delivery, and the conditions required for adoption.
Research, Teaching, and Technology Translation
At the University of Michigan’s Center for Entrepreneurship, Brew teaches Innovation for Impact: Defense & Security and Space Entrepreneurship. His teaching connects problem discovery, research, customer understanding, and the development of practical applications for emerging capabilities.
Applied impact
Clients benefit from clear explanations of complex topics and a disciplined connection between technical potential, customer needs, and implementation decisions.
Connecting Executive Priorities With Practical Work.
InnoTECH’s consulting work brings this perspective into commercial and government-facing engagements. The following examples describe areas of support while protecting client identities and confidential information.
Market Positioning & Commercialization
Work with an industrial business has included market research, customer prioritization, value proposition development, and sales-process recommendations. The focus is to connect technical strengths with a clearer commercial direction and a more disciplined approach to pursuing opportunities.
Research & Technology Transition
Work with an emerging building-technology company has included technical evidence synthesis, assessment of operational relevance, and planning for potential government transition pathways. The focus is to clarify what the research supports, where additional evidence is needed, and how to structure the next engagement.
Government Opportunity & Proposal Support
Work with an emerging technology company has included proposal refinement and coordination of prospective government customer, end-user, and technical engagement. The focus is to strengthen the connection between the proposed capability, the operational need, and the pursuit strategy.
Client names withheld. Named references available on request for a specific requirement.
Where Industry, Government, and Academia Intersect.
InnoTECH operates at the intersection of three communities that rarely speak the same language: industry, government, and academia. Our work draws on relationships and experience across all three, helping clients find the connections that create value and avoid the misalignments that waste time.
Whether the challenge involves technology transition, market positioning, or capability development, we bring a perspective shaped by experience on multiple sides of the table.
Built for Organizations Facing Complex Decisions.
Business Leaders & Growth-Stage Companies
We support leadership teams evaluating market opportunities, technology adoption decisions, and operational priorities, providing the research and advisory support needed to move forward with a clear basis for the decision.
Explore Growth & Strategy ServicesGovernment & Defense Organizations
We support government clients with operations research, capability assessments, and technology transition planning, connecting mission requirements with practical implementation strategies.
View Government CapabilitiesInvestors & Portfolio Companies
We provide due diligence support, market analysis, and strategic advisory for investors evaluating technology companies and portfolio companies working through growth decisions.
Explore Investor ServicesVenture-Stage Companies
We support founders between first customer and Series A with market prioritization, commercialization pathways, and the evidence an investor’s diligence process will look for.
Explore venture-stage advisoryWhat we deliver, and who we bring with us
A recommendation you cannot act on is only half finished.
InnoTECH is a research and advisory firm. Our work produces the analysis, the plan, and the evidence behind a decision. We are deliberate about that focus because analysis done well takes real time, and firms that try to both recommend and build tend to recommend what they happen to build.
Carrying a recommendation into execution often calls for capabilities outside that focus: hardware engineering, production software, security assessment, systems integration, specialized data work. We identify those needs while we are scoping the engagement, not after we deliver, and we bring in partners whose work we know and whose methods we can evaluate. You end up with one recommendation and a practical route to execute it.
Where another firm is genuinely better positioned to lead the work, we will tell you that early. It costs us a proposal and saves you a quarter.
When the Next Decision Needs More Than an Internal Discussion.
Engage InnoTECH when a consequential priority requires additional research, an outside perspective, or focused support to turn a decision into coordinated action.
You Need to Choose Where to Invest
Evaluate opportunities, compare alternatives, and clarify which initiatives deserve time, funding, and leadership attention.
Your Technology Needs a Clearer Application
Connect technical capabilities with customer problems, operational requirements, and a practical path toward adoption.
Your Strategy Needs an Execution Plan
Translate priorities into defined work, responsibilities, milestones, and measures that help leaders assess progress.
Your Team Needs Additional Perspective and Capacity
Bring focused research, advisory support, and collaborative problem-solving into an initiative that requires expertise beyond what’s immediately available.
The starting point is a focused conversation about your objectives, constraints, and desired outcomes. From there, InnoTECH defines an appropriate scope, relevant deliverables, and a practical working relationship.
$250 · 90 minutes · credited against any engagement that follows.
Connected Expertise
InnoTECH’s established partner relationships complement our advisory approach with additional perspectives, technologies, and specialized capabilities. Explore the organizations that broaden the options available to address client priorities.
Explore Specialist Capabilities & Teaming