Gholz works primarily at the intersection of national security and economic policy, on subjects including innovation, defense management, and U.S. grand strategy. He co-wrote a well-known International Security article that coined the term “restraint” as a proposed grand strategy for the United States.

From 2010–2012, he served in the Pentagon as senior advisor to the deputy assistant secretary of defense for manufacturing and industrial base policy. He is the coauthor of two books: Buying Military Transformation: Technological Innovation and the Defense Industry and U.S. Defense Politics: The Origins of Security Policy.

Much of his recent scholarship focuses on energy security. He is vice chair of the international security section of the International Studies Association and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations; he previously held faculty positions at the University of Texas at Austin, Williams College, the University of Kentucky, and George Mason University; and his PhD is from MIT.