CSET Events

Building the Tech Coalition

CSET hosted a half-day conference on August 29, 2024 featuring distinguished speakers who discussed the military’s application of AI and software. The conference covered the results of a joint project with the Army’s 18th Airborne Corps, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, and CSET. Additionally, we presented the resulting paper: "Building the Tech Coalition: How Project Maven and the U.S. 18th Airborne Corps Operationalized Software and Artificial Intelligence for the Department of Defense."

This event is generously sponsored by Domino Data Lab.

There are frequent discussions about how the military should draw from the nation’s commercial innovation base to gain an advantage for the U.S., especially regarding the application of artificial intelligence. Too often, the conversations lament missed opportunities, valleys of death, and painful contracting or other DOD processes. But positive stories are starting to emerge, and the case of the 18th Airborne’s Scarlet Dragon Exercise and the Maven Smart System (MSS) is an instance where frontline Army leaders and a coalition of technology companies—enabled by Pentagon leadership and policies—pursued and developed a new technology that is having a meaningful impact on operations. 

The Center for Security and Emerging Technology hosted an event on Thursday, August 29, 2024, discussing how technology companies and the operating forces came together to prototype and build a substantial new capability for the U.S. Army. The event also explored how MSS and Scarlet Dragon served as a case study in prototyping to accelerate government adoption of AI.

Panel on Scaling Software and AI for the Department of Defense
Panel on Scaling Software and AI for the Department of Defense

Recording

Panelists

Keynote
VADM Brad Cooper

VADM Brad Cooper
Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command

Panel on Developing Software and AI for the Department of Defense

Jason Brown
General Manager, Government at Applied Intuition Defense

Aki Jain
Chief Technology Officer, Palantir

Joe Larson
SVP and Chief of Staff, Anduril

Colonel Joe O’Callaghan, USA

Colonel Joe O’Callaghan, USA
AI Fires Officer, 18th Airborne Corps

Moderated By:
Emelia Probasco

Emelia Probasco
Senior Fellow, Center for Security and Emerging Technology

Panel on Scaling Software and AI for the Department of Defense
Doug Beck

Doug Beck
Director, Defense Innovation Unit

Margie Palmieri

Margie Palmieri
Deputy Director, Chief Digital and AI Office

VADM Frank Whitworth, USN
Director, National Geospatial Agency

Bob Work

The Honorable Bob Work
Former Deputy Secretary of Defense

Moderated By:

The Honorable Christine Fox
Senior Fellow, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory

Agenda

  • 1:00         Welcome
  • 1:15         Keynote with VADM Brad Cooper, Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command
  • 2:00         Developing Software and AI for DOD applications panel
  • 3:00         Scaling Software and AI for DOD applications
  • 4:00         Reception

Space is limited. Register to attend in person here. 

RSVP to view online here. A recording of the session will be made available on CSET’s website following the event. Please RSVP to receive a follow-up note with links. 

We hope you will join us! 

This event will have live closed captioning. For all other accommodation requests, please email cset@georgetown.edu. A good-faith effort will be made to fulfill requests. Please note that this event has been designed to comply with House and Senate ethics rules.