As was widely reported at that time, the three letter agencies were among the largest customers of NeXTStep, the software that forms the basis of the profession

As was widely reported at that time, the three letter agencies were among the largest customers of NeXTStep, the software that forms the basis of the professional operating system that Apple later acquired to replace the original unorthodox (and barely functioning) software that Jobs hobbled together with a motley crew of hackers while running Apple during the DOS era. Enterprises of all kinds that had the flexibility (or pressure) to think outside of the box went with NeXTStep because it allowed totally custom applications to be developed in record time (using things like Interface Builder, today part of the visual layout in Xcode). It is totally unsurprising that they would turn to their long time partner Steve Jobs for help with a mobile solution and that he would do it for free to eventually sell of more technology to those long time customers from before he sold NeXT to Apple and became its iCEO.