Co-creator of The Flow System™, Amazon International Best-Selling co-author, co-host and producer of the No Way Out podcast

Intro to Boyd and Concepts

Captain (Ret.) Brian “Ponch” Rivera is a distinguished leader, innovator, and consultant whose career seamlessly bridges high-stakes military operations with cutting-edge business agility practices. Renowned for his expertise in complex adaptive systems, high-reliability organizations, and human performance, Ponch brings a unique blend of strategic thinking, resilience, and adaptive leadership to inspire innovation.

Ponch’s 28-year U.S. Navy career is marked by exceptional leadership and operational expertise. He completed two combat tours in the F-14 Tomcat and later served as an instructor and member of the prestigious F-14 Demonstration Team, exemplifying precision and teamwork in high-pressure aerial displays. In 2006, he graduated in-residence from the Air Command and Staff College (ACSC), earning an MA concurrently with an MBA. Following ACSC, Ponch became the first full-time active-duty U.S. Navy Master Air Attack Plan (MAAP) Chief and Deputy Combat Division Chief in the 603d Air Operations Center (AOC). Hand-selected as a Foreign Area Officer, he served at U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) in Stuttgart, Germany, where he developed operational plans, led international project teams, and advanced security assistance and regional cooperation efforts.

After transitioning to the Navy Reserve, Ponch founded AGLX Consulting, LLC, where he serves as CEO, helping organizations build agility, resilience, and safety in complex environments. In response to the U.S. Navy’s 2017 mishaps at sea, he was recalled to active duty to develop programs that improved culture, enhanced safety, cultivated leadership, and strengthened weak signal detection. His final military assignment was with the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), where he advanced defense technologies.

As a private-sector innovator, Ponch co-created The Flow System™, a groundbreaking system of understanding integrating Complexity Thinking, Distributed Leadership, and Team Science to optimize performance in uncertain environments. A founding member of The Flow Consortium and co-founder/co-owner of AGLX Holdings, he has worked with global clients such as Chevron, Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, VMware, Schlumberger, and Humana to drive innovation and operational excellence.

Ponch is an Amazon International Best-Selling co-author of Strength and Gratitude and co-author of The Flow System: The Evolution of Agile and Lean Thinking in an Age of Complexity. As co-host and producer of the acclaimed No Way Out podcast, Ponch explores the work of Col. John R. Boyd, including the OODA loop, applying military strategy to modern business challenges. In a notable collaboration, he led the OODA-Cynefin Exploratory with Dave Snowden, creator of the Cynefin framework, integrating Boyd’s OODA loop with Snowden’s complexity framework to enhance decision-making in complex environments.

As a veteran, Ponch is a passionate advocate for psychedelic-assisted therapies to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the veteran community. He has featured experts on No Way Out discussing the potential of psychedelics like ibogaine for trauma recovery and contributes to documentaries and public discussions to raise awareness, emphasizing holistic approaches to mental health and well-being.

Residing in Virginia Beach, Virginia, with his wife, Allison, and their two daughters, Ponch enjoys options trading in his spare time. His passion for empowering teams to thrive amid complexity continues to inspire innovation across sectors, positioning him as a pivotal voice in bridging military precision with contemporary organizational transformation.