AMIT, the alumni association representing veterans of Unit 81 - the elite technology unit of the IDF Intelligence Corps - has appointed Gali Sheskin as its new chief executive officer. The move marks a leadership transition at an organization that has quietly become one of the connective threads running through Israel's technology sector, linking former intelligence operatives who now found and run companies across cybersecurity, data analytics, and hardware.
Sheskin arrives with a background that spans community building, operations, and project development rather than a traditional military-to-tech pipeline. She most recently served as Community and Customer Success Manager at Venn, following a stint as Project Development Manager at Ignite the Spark and a prior role as Head of Operations at enSights. Outside her professional roles, she has spent years volunteering in renewable energy and climate initiatives, supporting entrepreneurs, both men and women, working in that space on national and international platforms. It's the kind of varied résumé that increasingly defines leadership in Israel's tight-knit alumni networks, where technical pedigree matters less than the ability to organize people and sustain momentum across a sprawling, informal professional web - the same instinct that, on a more consumer-facing level, drives someone abroad to configure a US server for streaming just to access content tied to a specific region. a US server for streaming
A Network Built on Shared Service
Unit 81 alumni have gone on to found or hold senior roles in hundreds of startups and growth-stage companies, including several that have reached unicorn status or exited at substantial valuations. Wiz, Armis, Innoviz, Claroty, Tenzai, and Jazz are among the companies with Unit 81 veterans in leadership. AMIT exists to formalize what would otherwise be an informal old-boys' network of former colleagues: mentorship, business introductions, and a shared identity that extends well beyond active service.
This model is not unique to Israel, but the concentration of technical talent moving from a single military unit into commercial technology at this scale is unusual. The unit's training emphasizes software engineering, signals processing, and systems architecture - skills that translate directly into cybersecurity and infrastructure startups, sectors where Israel has built an outsized global presence relative to its population.
Leadership Transition and What Comes Next
Sheskin succeeds Chen Kamin, who led AMIT for five years, a period during which the association expanded its role as a bridge between veterans and the broader technology ecosystem. In her remarks following the appointment, Sheskin framed her priorities around connection and impact. "I believe that the true strength of a technological community is measured by its ability to connect people, entrepreneurship, and real impact," she said. "AMIT has exceptional human capital, and I am proud to lead the association alongside the board members and the community, to continue developing initiatives, strengthening business and technological connections, and generating significant value for the entire ecosystem."
Her appointment signals continuity rather than disruption - a sign that AMIT intends to deepen existing programs rather than pursue a wholesale strategic reset. For an organization whose relevance depends entirely on the strength of personal and professional ties among its members, that kind of steady, relationship-first leadership may matter more than any single new initiative.
