Quantum Cyber N.V. has appointed Peter M. O'Rourke Sr., the former Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, as an independent member of its board of directors, effective May 14, 2026. The move pairs a defense-focused autonomous weapons platform company with a government official known for his ties to procurement and defense policy circles.
O'Rourke served as Acting VA Secretary in 2018 under the Trump administration, leading more than 380,000 employees and overseeing a federal healthcare system with an annual budget exceeding $180 billion. Before that role, he served as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Secretary, where he championed the bipartisan VA Mission Act and helped establish the VA Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection. CEO David Lazar called O'Rourke's appointment "a defining moment for Quantum Cyber," stating his "network, his DoD experience, and his understanding of the intersection between government procurement and capital markets are precisely what we need at this stage of our platform build." O'Rourke said autonomous defense systems are "rapidly becoming foundational to the future of national security."
O'Rourke brings experience across both government and the public markets. He served as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Air Force from 1998 to 2006 and as an Enlisted Airman in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln from 1990 to 1994. He holds a Master of Science degree from the Air Force Institute of Technology and maintains an inactive Department of Defense Top Secret security clearance. Beyond government, he has served as Chairman of Northview Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: NVAC) and Lead Independent Director of ProFusa (Nasdaq: PFSA). O'Rourke is also the Founder and Managing Partner of TCI Partners LLC, a consulting firm focused on defense, healthcare, and government engagement, and President and Founder of the National Association for Veterans Rights.
Quantum Cyber, headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida and trading on Nasdaq under the ticker QUCY, describes itself as assembling an AI-powered System-of-Systems autonomous defense platform spanning drone warfare, counter-UAS capabilities, autonomous demining, and command-and-control applications. The company acquires, licenses, and develops combat-proven autonomous technologies and deploys them as a coordinated, multi-domain portfolio across air, land, and sea. The appointment follows Quantum Cyber's recent IP License Agreement and Commercial Supply Agreement with BP United Inc. for autonomous drone technology. The company combines Israeli battlefield-proven technology with U.S. capital markets access and government procurement relationships.
The appointment signals Quantum Cyber's explicit pivot toward defense procurement and federal contracting. The company has recently rebranded from Mainz Biomed N.V. and appointed Robert P. Liscouski, former Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection at the Department of Homeland Security, as board chairman. By placing O'Rourke on the board, Quantum Cyber is assembling veterans of Washington defense and procurement policy at a moment when defense budgets for autonomous systems are expanding. The appointment fits the company's stated strategy of positioning itself to capture federal dollars in an era of increased military focus on unmanned platforms and AI-accelerated defense systems.
