SAIC was founded in 1969 by J. Robert Beyster in La Jolla, California. Beyster, a physicist who had worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and General Atomics, founded the company with a vision of a science and technology company owned by its employees. SAIC pioneered the employee-ownership model in the defense contracting industry, with employees owning shares in the company.
SAIC grew steadily through the 1970s and 1980s, winning contracts with the Department of Defense, intelligence agencies, and other government customers. The company's technical expertise in areas including nuclear physics, systems engineering, and information technology made it a trusted partner for complex government programs.
SAIC went public in 2006, ending its long history as a private employee-owned company. J. Robert Beyster retired as CEO in 2003 and passed away in 2014.
In 2013, SAIC underwent a major restructuring. The company split into two separate publicly traded companies: the government IT services business retained the SAIC name, while the larger technical services business was renamed Leidos. The split was motivated by Federal Acquisition Regulation provisions that prevented the combined company from bidding on certain contracts due to organizational conflicts of interest.
Following the 2013 separation, SAIC pursued an acquisition strategy to expand its capabilities:
- **Scitor Holdings** (2015): Acquired for approximately $790 million, expanding SAIC's intelligence community presence.
- **Engility** (2019): Acquired for approximately $2.5 billion, significantly expanding government services capabilities.
- **Unisys Federal** (2020): Acquired for approximately $1.2 billion, strengthening federal IT services.
- **Halfaker and Associates** (2021): Acquired to expand healthcare IT capabilities.
- **SilverEdge Government Solutions** (2022): Expanded AI and data analytics capabilities.
For fiscal year 2025 (ending January 2025), SAIC reported revenue of approximately $7.4 billion.