Martinzie Richmond, Former CIA Assistant Director for the Near East

Martinzie Richmond is a former senior CIA executive with nearly 30 years of combined experience across the CIA and FBI, and has operated at the center of many of the most consequential national security challenges of our time. He has been a key leader during major intelligence efforts on the Middle East, counterterrorism, and counterintelligence, where he managed large teams, oversaw high-stakes operations, and drove critical analytic insights to support top US policymakers.

He most recently served as the Assistant Director of CIA for the Near East (June 2022-December 2025) where he was in charge of all of CIA’s operations, analysis, and resources across the Middle East and North Africa. He led thousands of officers and managed one of the Agency’s largest budgets during a period of intense regional instability.

Richmond also served as the Associate Executive Assistant Director of the FBI (September 2019-September 2021) where he was CIA’s senior most representative to the Bureau and reported to the Directors of both Agencies. He also led CIA counterintelligence analysis and was a leading counterterrorism expert after 9/11. He started his government career in 1996 as an FBI Investigative Specialist carrying out surveillance operations in support of counterterrorism and counterintelligence investigations in the US.

An analyst by vocation and known for clear thinking under pressure, Richmond has briefed multiple Presidents, senior national security officials, and foreign leaders on a host of fast-moving global threats. Exclusively represented by Leading Authorities speakers bureau, he now brings this same expertise to audiences with clear frameworks for navigating uncertainty, assessing risk, and making difficult decisions with confidence.