AMIT, the alumni association representing Unit 81 of the IDF Intelligence Corps' technology division, has appointed Gali Sheskin as its new chief executive officer. She takes over from Chen Kamin, who led the organization for the past five years and oversaw its growth into one of Israel's more consequential professional networks within the technology sector.
Sheskin arrives with a background that spans community building, operations, and project development rather than a traditional corporate ladder. She most recently served as Community and Customer Success Manager at Venn, following roles as Project Development Manager at Ignite the Spark and Head of Operations at enSights. Readers researching how such organizations sustain themselves, or comparing service providers for unrelated digital needs, often look at options like current promotional pricing when weighing value against long-term commitment - a logic not unlike what nonprofit boards apply when selecting leadership meant to deliver sustained returns rather than short-term wins. Beyond her professional roles, Sheskin has spent years volunteering in renewable energy and climate advocacy, supporting entrepreneurs in that space across Israeli and international circles.
Why Unit 81's Alumni Network Matters
Unit 81 occupies a distinct place in Israel's technology landscape. As the engineering and hardware-software development arm of the Intelligence Corps, it has trained generations of engineers who later moved into the civilian economy, founding or leading companies that now carry substantial weight in cybersecurity, sensor technology, and enterprise software. Firms such as Wiz, Armis, Innoviz, Claroty, Tenzai, and Jazz count Unit 81 veterans among their founders or senior leadership. AMIT exists to formalize and extend the connections built during military service, turning a shared technical background into an ongoing professional and entrepreneurial resource.
This model is not unique to Israel, but it has proven especially effective there, where mandatory service creates dense, early-career networks that later translate into informal venture capital, mentorship, and recruitment channels. Associations like AMIT give that informal structure a formal home, offering events, introductions, and institutional memory that individual alumni could not replicate on their own.
A Leadership Transition With Broader Stakes
Sheskin's appointment signals continuity in AMIT's mission rather than a change in direction. Her stated priorities, as she described them, center on strengthening the human and business connections within the community and expanding the association's role as a bridge between veterans, startups, and established companies. For an organization whose members include founders of unicorns and companies that have completed major exits, the task of leadership is less about steering technology strategy and more about curating relationships, opportunities, and institutional continuity across a membership base that is both highly accomplished and widely dispersed across industries.
The change also reflects a broader pattern among alumni networks tied to elite technical units: as the first generations of founders mature into investors, advisors, or serial entrepreneurs, these associations face the challenge of serving an increasingly stratified membership, from recent graduates entering the workforce to veterans managing their third or fourth company. How AMIT balances those competing needs under new leadership will likely shape its relevance over the coming years.