When people talk about Sandia National Laboratories, they usually start with nuclear physics, national security, or massive supercomputers. It’s all very "Oppenheimer." But there’s a whole other side to the lab that keeps the lights on and the data moving. That’s where Moises Capetillo fits in. Honestly, his work is the kind of stuff that doesn't get a Hollywood movie but is absolutely essential for a place that handles some of the world's most sensitive information.
Moises Capetillo at Sandia National Laboratories isn't just another IT guy. He’s a Service Manager and an Innovation Engineer. He basically bridges the gap between old-school government bureaucracy and the fast-paced world of tech innovation.
What Moises Capetillo Actually Does
Moises holds a title that's a mouthful: Continual Service Improvement (CSI), Problem Management, and Innovation Engineer Service Manager. Let's break that down into human English. Basically, if a process at Sandia is broken or just "kinda okay," he’s the one who has to figure out how to make it better. He works under National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia (NTESS), which is the Honeywell subsidiary that manages the lab.
His track record is pretty solid. He’s known for strengthening the connective tissue between IT departments and the people who actually use the tech—the scientists and engineers. You've probably experienced a workplace where the IT department feels like a black hole. Moises' job is to stop that from happening. He’s pushing for "revolutionary innovation," which, in the context of a national lab, usually means moving away from legacy systems that were built when floppy disks were still a thing.
The Shift Toward Innovation Engineering
Innovation engineering sounds like a buzzword. I get it. But at Sandia, it’s actually a specific discipline. It's about looking at existing services and asking, "Why do we do it this way?"
Moises has been active in the NLIT (National Laboratories Information Technology) community. For example, he’s presented on things like "presentation remoting" back in 2019. It sounds niche, but think about the security requirements at Sandia. You can't just hop on a Zoom call and share your screen when you're discussing national defense secrets. You need highly secure, low-latency ways to share data across distances. That’s the kind of technical hurdle he tackles.
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Leadership Style: The Battleship Experience
One interesting thing about Moises is how he approaches leadership. He’s not just a "tech guy" who hides in a server room. He actually went through the Academy Leadership "Battleship North Carolina" program. This is a pretty intense leadership development course where professionals learn from military principles.
He’s gone on record saying that this experience helped him take theory and personal history and turn it into something practical. It’s that blend of military-style discipline and tech-sector agility. You need that when you're working at a Department of Energy (DOE) facility.
- He focuses on Problem Management, which isn't just fixing a bug; it's finding out why the bug happened in the first place so it never comes back.
- He pushes Continual Service Improvement. This is the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework in action. It’s the "1% better every day" philosophy.
- He acts as a Relationship Manager. He’s the guy who talks to the "suits" and the "geeks" and makes sure they aren't speaking different languages.
Why This Matters for the Future of Sandia
Sandia is currently undergoing a massive digital transformation. Everything is moving toward cloud-native architectures, AI-driven security, and automated workflows. But you can't just flip a switch on a national lab.
Moises Capetillo is part of the cohort making sure this transition doesn't break the mission. He’s involved in the NLIT Summit—an annual gathering of the best IT minds across the DOE complex. In 2025, he was noted as a speaker and a key player in the conversation about how labs can share tools and strategies rather than reinventing the wheel 17 different times.
Honestly, the "Problem Management" part of his job is arguably the most critical. In a high-consequence environment like Sandia, a "problem" isn't just a slow email server. It could be a systemic vulnerability. Moises’ role in identifying root causes helps build a more resilient infrastructure for the entire U.S. nuclear weapons enterprise.
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What Most People Get Wrong About National Lab IT
People think it’s all cutting-edge, 22nd-century tech. In reality, it’s a mix. You have some of the world’s fastest supercomputers sitting in the same building as software that hasn't been updated since the Bush administration.
The challenge for someone like Moises Capetillo at Sandia National Laboratories is "technical debt." That’s the cost of choosing an easy solution now instead of a better one that takes longer. Moises spends a lot of his time paying off that debt. He’s cleaning up old processes and making room for new ones.
A Culture of Continuous Learning
If you look at his trajectory, there’s a clear theme: he’s a lifelong learner. Whether it’s leadership training or IT certifications, he’s constantly adding tools to his belt. This is the "Service Manager" mindset. You can’t manage a service if you don’t understand the tech, and you can’t improve the tech if you don’t understand the people.
He’s basically a bridge builder.
Actionable Insights for IT Leaders
If you’re looking at Moises’ career and wondering how to apply his approach to your own organization, here are a few takeaways that aren't just corporate fluff:
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1. Prioritize Root Cause Analysis over Quick Fixes
Most IT teams are in "firefighting mode." They put out the fire and move on. Moises’ focus on Problem Management suggests that the real value lies in investigating the "why." If a system fails twice, it’s not an accident; it’s a pattern. Stop the pattern.
2. Invest in Cross-Pollination
Moises doesn't just stay within Sandia. He engages with the NLIT Summit and other national labs (like Oak Ridge or Los Alamos). If you're only looking at your own four walls, you're missing the solution someone else already found.
3. Combine Soft Skills with Hard Tech
The Battleship Leadership training is a great example. You can be the best coder or engineer in the room, but if you can’t manage a team or communicate a vision to stakeholders, your "revolutionary innovation" will die in a slide deck.
4. Embrace the "Service" in IT Service Management
IT is often seen as a cost center. By focusing on Continual Service Improvement, Moises turns IT into a value driver. It’s about making the scientists' lives easier so they can focus on the big-picture research.
Moises Capetillo’s work at Sandia illustrates a shift in how government labs operate. It’s no longer just about having the biggest machines; it’s about having the best systems and the most resilient leadership to manage them. For anyone following the evolution of Sandia National Laboratories, keeping an eye on the IT and innovation leadership is just as important as watching the physics breakthroughs. It's the engine room of the entire operation.