1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:00,000 2 00:00:14,140 --> 00:00:17,460 Yeah , okay , 3 00:00:18,340 --> 00:00:20,090 we're here at the Billington 4 00:00:20,090 --> 00:00:22,370 cybersecurity conference today . And so 5 00:00:22,370 --> 00:00:24,592 it's a really good chance to talk about 6 00:00:24,592 --> 00:00:26,259 cybersecurity . So where does 7 00:00:26,259 --> 00:00:28,481 cybersecurity fit into your plans ? And 8 00:00:28,481 --> 00:00:30,540 how do you think about using Ai and 9 00:00:30,540 --> 00:00:32,540 machine learning to protect the ODS 10 00:00:32,540 --> 00:00:35,000 massive networks ? Yeah , that's a so 11 00:00:35,010 --> 00:00:37,010 great question . So I think I think 12 00:00:37,010 --> 00:00:39,177 there's a couple of components of this 13 00:00:39,177 --> 00:00:41,399 because the the other side of that coin 14 00:00:41,399 --> 00:00:43,510 is the potential vulnerability of our 15 00:00:43,510 --> 00:00:45,677 AI architecture as well . Right . So I 16 00:00:45,677 --> 00:00:47,899 mean , just given our experience with , 17 00:00:47,899 --> 00:00:49,843 you know , with some of our global 18 00:00:49,843 --> 00:00:49,560 opponents , you know , in the 19 00:00:49,560 --> 00:00:52,650 cyberspace , uh and and uh you know , 20 00:00:52,660 --> 00:00:54,882 everything from , you know , government 21 00:00:54,882 --> 00:00:56,716 sponsored maybe or or criminally 22 00:00:56,716 --> 00:00:59,810 sponsored , who knows ? But clearly uh 23 00:00:59,820 --> 00:01:01,870 our capability is a target and our 24 00:01:01,870 --> 00:01:03,814 civilian capability , our military 25 00:01:03,814 --> 00:01:05,926 capability all of it . And so so that 26 00:01:05,926 --> 00:01:07,814 that's you know , that's a really 27 00:01:07,814 --> 00:01:09,926 important signal flag to us . Right . 28 00:01:09,926 --> 00:01:12,092 So of course we're very cognizant that 29 00:01:12,092 --> 00:01:14,314 artificial intelligence as it grows and 30 00:01:14,314 --> 00:01:16,592 as it matures as it becomes enterprise , 31 00:01:16,592 --> 00:01:18,759 that becomes a target as well . And so 32 00:01:18,759 --> 00:01:18,710 we're very sensitive to that . So I 33 00:01:18,710 --> 00:01:22,210 think the first the first aspect of uh 34 00:01:22,220 --> 00:01:23,776 cyber defense of artificial 35 00:01:23,776 --> 00:01:25,887 intelligence starts with the networks 36 00:01:25,887 --> 00:01:28,053 and you you you mentioned the networks 37 00:01:28,053 --> 00:01:29,998 earlier , the uh the department is 38 00:01:29,998 --> 00:01:32,870 undergoing uh a little bit of a mind 39 00:01:32,870 --> 00:01:35,370 shift on on networks and architecture 40 00:01:35,380 --> 00:01:37,640 are networks are a core piece of our 41 00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:39,862 warfighting architecture . Our networks 42 00:01:39,862 --> 00:01:42,130 are weapons . And so we have to treat 43 00:01:42,130 --> 00:01:44,297 them like weapons ? We have to we have 44 00:01:44,297 --> 00:01:46,519 to plan them , protect them , make them 45 00:01:46,519 --> 00:01:48,741 resilient because everything that we're 46 00:01:48,741 --> 00:01:50,352 going to do in an artificial 47 00:01:50,352 --> 00:01:52,463 intelligence are data driven way will 48 00:01:52,463 --> 00:01:54,241 depend on the security of those 49 00:01:54,241 --> 00:01:56,297 networks . So there's so there's you 50 00:01:56,297 --> 00:01:58,463 know , there's a lot of attention paid 51 00:01:58,463 --> 00:02:00,686 today . I think the department is doing 52 00:02:00,686 --> 00:02:02,574 a really good job of a zero trust 53 00:02:02,574 --> 00:02:04,741 architecture , good cloud security . I 54 00:02:04,741 --> 00:02:06,963 mean all the things that all the things 55 00:02:06,963 --> 00:02:08,963 that you'd expect the department to 56 00:02:08,963 --> 00:02:11,297 shore up its its basic core uh you know , 57 00:02:11,297 --> 00:02:14,710 transport layer stuff and uh switching 58 00:02:14,710 --> 00:02:16,877 and routing and all that kind of stuff 59 00:02:16,877 --> 00:02:18,932 I think is we're doing a pretty good 60 00:02:18,932 --> 00:02:21,000 job of course aI has its own unique 61 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,060 challenges in things like adversarial A 62 00:02:24,060 --> 00:02:27,450 I . And data poisoning and spoofing and 63 00:02:27,450 --> 00:02:31,320 fake uh deepfakes . So like so 64 00:02:31,330 --> 00:02:33,390 so there's a special attention being 65 00:02:33,390 --> 00:02:35,890 paid on A I security as well . Right ? 66 00:02:35,890 --> 00:02:38,001 So we want to make sure that yes , we 67 00:02:38,001 --> 00:02:39,612 depend absolutely on network 68 00:02:39,612 --> 00:02:41,834 architecture and that security , but we 69 00:02:41,834 --> 00:02:43,946 want to make sure that our ai is also 70 00:02:43,946 --> 00:02:45,890 secure . So we do a lot of work uh 71 00:02:45,890 --> 00:02:48,112 testing vulnerabilities of algorithms , 72 00:02:48,112 --> 00:02:50,334 you know , to , you know , kind of open 73 00:02:50,334 --> 00:02:52,446 source derived , you know , spoofs or 74 00:02:52,446 --> 00:02:55,450 or uh interruptions or poisoning . So , 75 00:02:55,450 --> 00:02:57,672 so so you know , we're aware of those , 76 00:02:57,672 --> 00:02:59,830 we track those very carefully and we 77 00:02:59,830 --> 00:03:02,350 work to make our AI architecture 78 00:03:02,350 --> 00:03:05,050 resilient to that stuff . Um uh then 79 00:03:05,050 --> 00:03:07,217 there's a there's a third component of 80 00:03:07,217 --> 00:03:09,328 that and that's um third component of 81 00:03:09,328 --> 00:03:11,110 that is uh a i as a solution in 82 00:03:11,110 --> 00:03:13,880 cybersecurity uh you know clearly uh to 83 00:03:13,880 --> 00:03:17,070 handle massive data flows at speed 84 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,050 uh and at war fighting tempo well you 85 00:03:20,060 --> 00:03:22,004 you have that has to be secure and 86 00:03:22,004 --> 00:03:24,060 that's way beyond the ability of any 87 00:03:24,060 --> 00:03:26,004 single uh you know , human network 88 00:03:26,004 --> 00:03:28,171 architecture , network monitor . So so 89 00:03:28,171 --> 00:03:30,580 so we're eager to help build a 90 00:03:30,580 --> 00:03:33,840 resilient architecture by detecting 91 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:36,630 traffic on on our networks , detecting 92 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,250 uh you know , you know uh 93 00:03:42,140 --> 00:03:45,710 oh , so so we're 94 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,460 eager to to to figure out how do we 95 00:03:48,460 --> 00:03:51,520 detect uh threat actors on our networks ? 96 00:03:51,530 --> 00:03:53,810 How do we identify anomalous activity ? 97 00:03:53,820 --> 00:03:55,880 How do we tee that up for cyber 98 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:57,713 defenders , defenders across the 99 00:03:57,713 --> 00:03:59,824 environment so that they can actually 100 00:03:59,824 --> 00:04:01,936 respond then and be better prepared . 101 00:04:01,936 --> 00:04:04,102 So we have a number of initiatives and 102 00:04:04,102 --> 00:04:05,991 we worked very closely with cyber 103 00:04:05,991 --> 00:04:07,991 command and others , especially our 104 00:04:07,991 --> 00:04:10,158 network managers to employ a I to make 105 00:04:10,158 --> 00:04:12,324 our networks more secure and that that 106 00:04:12,324 --> 00:04:14,436 is something that will grow I think I 107 00:04:14,436 --> 00:04:16,324 think significantly over the next 108 00:04:16,324 --> 00:04:18,658 couple of years it's really interesting . 109 00:04:18,658 --> 00:04:20,769 So data is such a critical ingredient 110 00:04:20,769 --> 00:04:22,769 in building modern machine learning 111 00:04:22,769 --> 00:04:25,820 based ai solutions and I wonder if you 112 00:04:25,820 --> 00:04:27,653 could tell me a little bit about 113 00:04:27,653 --> 00:04:29,820 initiatives like a d A that are really 114 00:04:29,820 --> 00:04:32,290 helping to unleash the power of data 115 00:04:32,410 --> 00:04:36,380 for diodes ai solutions . So 116 00:04:36,380 --> 00:04:38,602 and also maybe you could share a little 117 00:04:38,602 --> 00:04:40,380 of your thoughts about how that 118 00:04:40,380 --> 00:04:42,324 initiative relates to your broader 119 00:04:42,324 --> 00:04:44,491 vision for programs and uh initiatives 120 00:04:44,491 --> 00:04:46,713 like Jazz C two ? Yeah . Ok , great . I 121 00:04:46,713 --> 00:04:49,000 will . So so so Ada the A I . And data 122 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,310 accelerator um with a with a shout out 123 00:04:52,310 --> 00:04:54,532 to Ada Lovelace of course , uh you know 124 00:04:54,532 --> 00:04:58,360 the first programmer we were using a 125 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:01,710 to now as an opportunity to illuminate 126 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,810 to discover and then to build so so 127 00:05:04,810 --> 00:05:06,921 when I say illuminate , so one of the 128 00:05:06,921 --> 00:05:08,960 things that that that we struggle 129 00:05:08,960 --> 00:05:11,190 within the department is building the 130 00:05:11,190 --> 00:05:13,190 mindset for artificial intelligence 131 00:05:13,190 --> 00:05:15,301 integration . You have to think about 132 00:05:15,301 --> 00:05:17,523 your problems differently and when when 133 00:05:17,523 --> 00:05:19,634 you think about how you will let data 134 00:05:19,634 --> 00:05:21,912 drive your decision , making your help , 135 00:05:21,912 --> 00:05:24,134 you make better decisions , you have to 136 00:05:24,134 --> 00:05:23,810 construct the model kind of in a 137 00:05:23,810 --> 00:05:26,310 different way . And so um that's not 138 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:29,170 necessarily natural to hierarchical 139 00:05:29,180 --> 00:05:31,560 organization that has its you know , 140 00:05:31,560 --> 00:05:34,040 has very well defined processes . Right ? 141 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,207 And so , you know , so there's nothing 142 00:05:36,207 --> 00:05:38,262 new under the sun . Right . So so so 143 00:05:38,262 --> 00:05:40,262 but this is new and it represents a 144 00:05:40,262 --> 00:05:42,151 whole new operating model for the 145 00:05:42,151 --> 00:05:44,318 department , you know , all of the all 146 00:05:44,318 --> 00:05:46,540 of the things the Department of Defense 147 00:05:46,540 --> 00:05:48,762 does . Our mission doesn't change . But 148 00:05:48,762 --> 00:05:50,984 the but the way we execute that mission 149 00:05:50,984 --> 00:05:53,151 has to change right ? It has to become 150 00:05:53,151 --> 00:05:55,262 data driven and it has to become much 151 00:05:55,262 --> 00:05:55,210 more integrated uh you know , as a 152 00:05:55,210 --> 00:05:56,766 whole across our across our 153 00:05:56,766 --> 00:05:58,877 architecture . So when we think about 154 00:05:58,877 --> 00:06:01,980 ADa ADa ADa is built to do those things 155 00:06:01,990 --> 00:06:05,110 illuminate by working with Combatant 156 00:06:05,110 --> 00:06:08,170 commands we will help illuminate the 157 00:06:08,180 --> 00:06:10,760 opportunities for ai integration . We 158 00:06:10,760 --> 00:06:12,990 will identify use cases and we will 159 00:06:12,990 --> 00:06:15,020 help combatant commanders and their 160 00:06:15,020 --> 00:06:17,450 staffs look at their processes and 161 00:06:17,450 --> 00:06:19,420 their workflows and start to think 162 00:06:19,420 --> 00:06:21,720 through Where , you know , where could 163 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:23,442 we actually use data much more 164 00:06:23,442 --> 00:06:25,630 effectively were how could we have 165 00:06:25,630 --> 00:06:27,686 better processes ? How could we gain 166 00:06:27,686 --> 00:06:29,820 tempo or gain situational awareness 167 00:06:29,820 --> 00:06:32,060 without manual integration ? Like on a 168 00:06:32,060 --> 00:06:34,430 power point slide or you know , uh you 169 00:06:34,430 --> 00:06:36,660 know by by multiple text chat rooms , 170 00:06:36,660 --> 00:06:38,549 right ? Like like it's you know , 171 00:06:38,549 --> 00:06:40,771 that's we have to move on beyond that , 172 00:06:40,771 --> 00:06:42,810 you know , 1990s environment . So 173 00:06:42,810 --> 00:06:44,866 that's that's one of the things that 174 00:06:44,866 --> 00:06:47,032 we're after of course that starts with 175 00:06:47,032 --> 00:06:49,143 data and so part of a to an important 176 00:06:49,143 --> 00:06:51,254 part and probably the leading edge of 177 00:06:51,254 --> 00:06:54,340 the ADA accelerator is about uh data . 178 00:06:54,350 --> 00:06:56,572 And so we're gonna help each one of the 179 00:06:56,572 --> 00:06:59,200 command commands build a team of data 180 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,260 specialists that will help them 181 00:07:01,940 --> 00:07:04,370 identify the data that they have uh 182 00:07:04,380 --> 00:07:07,570 manage that data and it flows curated 183 00:07:07,580 --> 00:07:10,050 uh pull it together in ways that they 184 00:07:10,050 --> 00:07:12,220 can actually use it productively . And 185 00:07:12,220 --> 00:07:14,331 so like really getting after the data 186 00:07:14,331 --> 00:07:16,970 is a really important piece of of uh of 187 00:07:16,980 --> 00:07:19,850 a to uh And so the um I mentioned 188 00:07:19,850 --> 00:07:22,500 discovery because , you know , we're 189 00:07:22,500 --> 00:07:24,667 not exactly sure what we're gonna find 190 00:07:24,667 --> 00:07:26,778 out there . And so we're just getting 191 00:07:26,778 --> 00:07:28,944 started in this fall , you'll see some 192 00:07:28,944 --> 00:07:31,000 of this stuff come out here in uh in 193 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,056 fiscal year 22 you know , we're just 194 00:07:33,056 --> 00:07:35,056 just now kind of discovering like , 195 00:07:35,056 --> 00:07:37,111 okay , what what is the state of our 196 00:07:37,111 --> 00:07:39,167 data ? You know , everybody loves to 197 00:07:39,167 --> 00:07:41,333 say that the Department of Defense has 198 00:07:41,333 --> 00:07:43,667 all kinds of data . It does most of its , 199 00:07:43,940 --> 00:07:46,162 right ? So so like how do we figure out 200 00:07:46,162 --> 00:07:48,329 like where is the useful stuff so that 201 00:07:48,329 --> 00:07:50,273 we can get it into decision making 202 00:07:50,273 --> 00:07:52,390 processes and decision flow . So so 203 00:07:52,390 --> 00:07:54,560 there's the there's the kind of the 204 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:57,240 data discovery and the data management 205 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:59,462 aspect of this . Another important part 206 00:07:59,462 --> 00:08:01,629 though is now the feeling of AI And so 207 00:08:01,629 --> 00:08:03,330 we're gonna we're gonna start 208 00:08:03,340 --> 00:08:06,080 implementing ai at small scale and 209 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,450 through slow incremental progress , we 210 00:08:09,450 --> 00:08:11,672 are not we are not rewriting the book , 211 00:08:11,672 --> 00:08:13,617 you know , for a combatant command 212 00:08:13,617 --> 00:08:15,506 environment , what we're doing is 213 00:08:15,506 --> 00:08:17,561 working with their staff to find out 214 00:08:17,561 --> 00:08:19,672 what their most pressing problems are 215 00:08:19,672 --> 00:08:21,894 and then finding ways to use ai perhaps 216 00:08:21,894 --> 00:08:24,117 to make those processes better . And so 217 00:08:24,117 --> 00:08:26,283 that's really cool . I'm excited about 218 00:08:26,283 --> 00:08:28,450 that , but I'll tell you what makes me 219 00:08:28,450 --> 00:08:30,394 even more excited . And that is by 220 00:08:30,394 --> 00:08:32,506 doing this cumulative over years , we 221 00:08:32,506 --> 00:08:34,783 will actually start to build a library . 222 00:08:34,783 --> 00:08:36,783 Right ? So so an app store , if you 223 00:08:36,783 --> 00:08:39,570 will , so as we build algorithms for 224 00:08:39,580 --> 00:08:42,190 for one Combatant command , I mean 11 , 225 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:44,480 I've been , you know , part of many 226 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:46,850 combatant commands and their problems 227 00:08:46,860 --> 00:08:49,850 are very similar , right ? The flow of 228 00:08:49,850 --> 00:08:52,072 their problems are very similar . So so 229 00:08:52,072 --> 00:08:54,017 what we wanna do is if we build an 230 00:08:54,017 --> 00:08:56,239 application for one combatant command , 231 00:08:56,239 --> 00:08:58,294 well then we have the opportunity to 232 00:08:58,294 --> 00:09:00,461 scale that horizontally across all the 233 00:09:00,461 --> 00:09:02,406 combatant commands where they have 234 00:09:02,406 --> 00:09:04,517 problems that are similar enough that 235 00:09:04,517 --> 00:09:06,794 we can tailor an algorithm for example . 236 00:09:06,794 --> 00:09:08,961 So so scaling horizontally is a really 237 00:09:08,961 --> 00:09:11,072 fantastic opportunity for us . Um and 238 00:09:11,072 --> 00:09:13,183 then scaling vertically because as we 239 00:09:13,183 --> 00:09:15,294 start to add more and different types 240 00:09:15,294 --> 00:09:17,461 of capabilities um now we start having 241 00:09:17,461 --> 00:09:20,050 a real capability stack at the at the 242 00:09:20,050 --> 00:09:22,110 combatant command . And so scaling 243 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:24,287 horizontally across combatant commands 244 00:09:24,287 --> 00:09:26,120 and then scaling that capability 245 00:09:26,120 --> 00:09:27,842 vertically . Um we have a real 246 00:09:27,842 --> 00:09:30,320 opportunity here . And so that is the 247 00:09:30,330 --> 00:09:32,441 core behind that is what we're trying 248 00:09:32,441 --> 00:09:34,608 to build is a joint operating system , 249 00:09:34,608 --> 00:09:36,800 think any other operating system where 250 00:09:36,800 --> 00:09:38,744 things have a common look and feel 251 00:09:38,744 --> 00:09:40,856 things fit together purposefully . Uh 252 00:09:40,856 --> 00:09:42,911 and it's widely available through an 253 00:09:42,911 --> 00:09:45,133 app store kind of environment . This is 254 00:09:45,133 --> 00:09:47,356 what we want to jump start through a to 255 00:09:47,356 --> 00:09:47,240 and we're really excited about that 256 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:49,407 because we think we think that there's 257 00:09:49,407 --> 00:09:51,629 going to be great opportunities now for 258 00:09:51,629 --> 00:09:53,796 us to to get to that integration phase 259 00:09:53,796 --> 00:09:55,907 that we talked about earlier . How do 260 00:09:55,907 --> 00:09:57,907 we get the department to act as one 261 00:09:57,907 --> 00:10:00,073 entity ? So we so we truly do have all 262 00:10:00,073 --> 00:10:02,184 domain command and control any sensor 263 00:10:02,184 --> 00:10:04,518 informing any decision maker across the , 264 00:10:04,518 --> 00:10:06,573 across the environment , that's what 265 00:10:06,573 --> 00:10:08,629 data is all about . It sounds like a 266 00:10:08,629 --> 00:10:08,540 really , really exciting initiative . 267 00:10:08,550 --> 00:10:10,550 We can't wait to get at it . Yeah , 268 00:10:10,550 --> 00:10:12,510 that's great . So , um I wanted to 269 00:10:12,510 --> 00:10:14,677 change here slightly and talk a little 270 00:10:14,677 --> 00:10:16,732 bit about the memo that was released 271 00:10:16,732 --> 00:10:18,954 earlier this year , The D O . D memo on 272 00:10:18,954 --> 00:10:21,121 implementing responsible ai there's an 273 00:10:21,121 --> 00:10:23,232 issue , you know , I personally , I'm 274 00:10:23,232 --> 00:10:25,566 really passionate about and um you know , 275 00:10:25,566 --> 00:10:27,621 I wanted to ask about the jX role in 276 00:10:27,621 --> 00:10:29,732 kind of helping the implementation of 277 00:10:29,732 --> 00:10:31,954 responsible Ai across the D O . D . And 278 00:10:31,954 --> 00:10:33,954 also if you think there may be some 279 00:10:33,954 --> 00:10:36,177 interesting and unique challenges about 280 00:10:36,177 --> 00:10:38,288 applying responsible Ai and the cyber 281 00:10:38,288 --> 00:10:40,343 security domain . Yeah , so that's a 282 00:10:40,343 --> 00:10:42,010 really important question and 283 00:10:42,020 --> 00:10:45,010 responsible AI is foundational to what 284 00:10:45,010 --> 00:10:47,430 we do . I mean , it's it's really cool 285 00:10:47,430 --> 00:10:50,290 to say that because I like I didn't 286 00:10:50,300 --> 00:10:52,411 really realize how important that was 287 00:10:52,411 --> 00:10:54,356 when I when I first came into this 288 00:10:54,356 --> 00:10:56,467 environment . And uh but but now that 289 00:10:56,467 --> 00:10:58,578 we have our feet firmly grounded in a 290 00:10:58,578 --> 00:11:01,050 responsible Ai ecosystem , um wow , 291 00:11:01,050 --> 00:11:03,161 it's so much easier , right ? Because 292 00:11:03,161 --> 00:11:05,106 you predictably can work through a 293 00:11:05,106 --> 00:11:07,217 process of developing an algorithm or 294 00:11:07,217 --> 00:11:09,383 bringing in data creating policy . But 295 00:11:09,383 --> 00:11:11,272 you do it uh you know , with with 296 00:11:11,272 --> 00:11:13,820 responsible Ai ecosystem . I I liken it 297 00:11:13,820 --> 00:11:16,153 to like a law of armed conflict , right ? 298 00:11:16,153 --> 00:11:18,153 For , you know , for a for a normal 299 00:11:18,153 --> 00:11:19,931 military situation , a military 300 00:11:19,931 --> 00:11:22,153 deployment , military environment , law 301 00:11:22,153 --> 00:11:24,320 of armed conflict helps you understand 302 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:24,280 where your boundaries are helps you 303 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,502 understand how you need to think that , 304 00:11:26,502 --> 00:11:28,669 you know , the ethical foundations for 305 00:11:28,669 --> 00:11:30,891 what you're doing responsible a i is an 306 00:11:30,891 --> 00:11:33,058 ecosystem that does the same thing and 307 00:11:33,058 --> 00:11:34,947 it starts with the responsible Ai 308 00:11:34,947 --> 00:11:37,169 principles or the ethical principles of 309 00:11:37,169 --> 00:11:39,280 the of the department and so you know 310 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:41,300 you have your responsible traceable 311 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:43,780 equitable and then reliable and 312 00:11:43,780 --> 00:11:45,780 governable and so you think through 313 00:11:45,780 --> 00:11:47,891 each one of those and I'll go through 314 00:11:47,891 --> 00:11:49,836 all of those now , but like if you 315 00:11:49,836 --> 00:11:52,002 think through each one of those , that 316 00:11:52,002 --> 00:11:51,990 has real implications for how you 317 00:11:51,990 --> 00:11:55,270 actually build protect and field ai 318 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,530 right ? So for example um you know if 319 00:11:57,530 --> 00:11:59,610 you if you if you have an ethical 320 00:11:59,610 --> 00:12:01,721 baseline for your responsible ai well 321 00:12:01,721 --> 00:12:03,943 then you need to you need a way to test 322 00:12:03,943 --> 00:12:06,054 and evaluate that right ? You need to 323 00:12:06,054 --> 00:12:08,054 know how to actually ensure that it 324 00:12:08,054 --> 00:12:10,277 works and how you can actually evaluate 325 00:12:10,277 --> 00:12:12,388 its you know , its effectiveness . Um 326 00:12:12,388 --> 00:12:14,940 And so that's great . So we're building 327 00:12:14,940 --> 00:12:17,070 honestly we're pioneering a test and 328 00:12:17,070 --> 00:12:18,848 evaluation structure inside the 329 00:12:18,848 --> 00:12:21,450 Department of Defense working with uh D . 330 00:12:21,450 --> 00:12:23,506 O . T . And er operational testers , 331 00:12:23,506 --> 00:12:27,040 jake and the research and Engineering 332 00:12:27,050 --> 00:12:29,900 organization as well . So that's really 333 00:12:29,900 --> 00:12:32,570 cool . Um you think beyond that um I 334 00:12:32,570 --> 00:12:34,737 think that there's a there's a there's 335 00:12:34,737 --> 00:12:36,403 a what we call v and vi right 336 00:12:36,403 --> 00:12:38,514 verification and validation . Right ? 337 00:12:38,514 --> 00:12:40,459 So so so like verification that no 338 00:12:40,459 --> 00:12:42,681 kidding . We're getting the the what we 339 00:12:42,681 --> 00:12:44,903 expect out of our algorithms especially 340 00:12:44,903 --> 00:12:46,792 in different scenarios , you know 341 00:12:46,792 --> 00:12:49,070 trying to use use an algorithm broadly . 342 00:12:49,070 --> 00:12:51,181 Um and then uh and then validation as 343 00:12:51,181 --> 00:12:52,959 well too . So not only does the 344 00:12:52,959 --> 00:12:55,070 algorithm work as advertised , but in 345 00:12:55,070 --> 00:12:56,959 the context that it's supposed to 346 00:12:56,959 --> 00:12:59,014 support , does it actually do that ? 347 00:12:59,014 --> 00:13:01,126 Right ? And so that's that's a really 348 00:13:01,126 --> 00:13:02,903 important step in in our in our 349 00:13:02,903 --> 00:13:05,070 responsible ai ecosystem . Um and then 350 00:13:05,070 --> 00:13:07,348 and then you go from there to you know , 351 00:13:07,348 --> 00:13:09,681 things like employment doctrine , right ? 352 00:13:09,681 --> 00:13:11,348 So so like ensuring that that 353 00:13:11,348 --> 00:13:13,570 commanders who are going to use A I and 354 00:13:13,570 --> 00:13:15,903 decision making , understand its limits , 355 00:13:15,903 --> 00:13:18,126 understand what it actually will do for 356 00:13:18,126 --> 00:13:20,292 you , uh and then and then the whole , 357 00:13:20,292 --> 00:13:22,403 you know what that leads you to , you 358 00:13:22,403 --> 00:13:21,790 know at the at the at the tactical 359 00:13:21,790 --> 00:13:24,150 level is human systems integration with 360 00:13:24,150 --> 00:13:26,490 your operators , right ? Our operators 361 00:13:26,490 --> 00:13:28,890 have to know how to use A I and they 362 00:13:28,890 --> 00:13:32,640 have to know how to wield an algorithm 363 00:13:32,640 --> 00:13:34,584 like they would wield a weapon and 364 00:13:34,584 --> 00:13:36,751 that's we have to teach them how to do 365 00:13:36,751 --> 00:13:39,630 that . But it's really I I I love that 366 00:13:39,630 --> 00:13:41,574 conversation because because we're 367 00:13:41,574 --> 00:13:43,686 starting with the we're starting with 368 00:13:43,686 --> 00:13:45,908 the right framework right ? If you have 369 00:13:45,908 --> 00:13:47,963 that framework then actually putting 370 00:13:47,963 --> 00:13:50,186 the walls up are you know , it's easy , 371 00:13:50,186 --> 00:13:51,852 so we're really excited about 372 00:13:51,852 --> 00:13:54,019 responsible Ai and what that what that 373 00:13:54,019 --> 00:13:56,241 provides across the department . That's 374 00:13:56,241 --> 00:13:58,352 great . Yeah . So um you've mentioned 375 00:13:58,352 --> 00:13:57,880 several times in this conversation 376 00:13:57,880 --> 00:13:59,991 integration and I know I've heard you 377 00:13:59,991 --> 00:14:02,102 say before that integration is really 378 00:14:02,102 --> 00:14:04,290 critical to unleashing the power of ai 379 00:14:04,300 --> 00:14:06,680 across D . O . D . So I wanted to ask 380 00:14:06,680 --> 00:14:08,847 you a little bit about what you see as 381 00:14:08,847 --> 00:14:11,069 some of the key challenges in affecting 382 00:14:11,069 --> 00:14:13,160 that effort . Yeah . So I have a one 383 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:17,050 word answer for you . It's culture . Um 384 00:14:17,060 --> 00:14:20,170 the one thing another another thing 385 00:14:20,170 --> 00:14:22,337 I've discovered in this environment is 386 00:14:22,337 --> 00:14:26,330 uh um this is not a technical problem , 387 00:14:26,340 --> 00:14:28,400 right ? We have a very robust and 388 00:14:28,400 --> 00:14:30,660 mature technical ecosystem outside the 389 00:14:30,660 --> 00:14:32,770 Department of Defense . We have 390 00:14:32,780 --> 00:14:35,630 technology that's available uh you know , 391 00:14:35,630 --> 00:14:37,741 for and we have all kinds of examples 392 00:14:37,741 --> 00:14:40,070 of data driven enterprises , you know , 393 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:42,760 from from food delivery to everything 394 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:44,816 else , you know , to running a power 395 00:14:44,816 --> 00:14:46,927 plant . We see that in every facet of 396 00:14:46,927 --> 00:14:48,910 the economy um we have plenty of 397 00:14:48,910 --> 00:14:51,132 examples . The problem is our culture , 398 00:14:51,132 --> 00:14:53,700 right ? The Department of Defense full 399 00:14:53,700 --> 00:14:55,922 of great people , right ? Uh you know , 400 00:14:55,922 --> 00:14:58,250 I'm not disparaging anybody , but the 401 00:14:58,260 --> 00:15:00,204 Department of Defense is largely a 402 00:15:00,204 --> 00:15:02,371 hardware . It has hardware development 403 00:15:02,371 --> 00:15:04,640 in its bones , right ? It the 404 00:15:04,640 --> 00:15:06,640 department itself and its processes 405 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:08,973 were designed in a hardware environment , 406 00:15:08,973 --> 00:15:12,290 right ? Where especially decades ago , 407 00:15:12,300 --> 00:15:14,522 um research and development was done by 408 00:15:14,522 --> 00:15:16,356 the Department of Defense and it 409 00:15:16,356 --> 00:15:18,100 trickled out into the into the 410 00:15:18,110 --> 00:15:21,130 industrial base . Um that's not the way 411 00:15:21,130 --> 00:15:23,019 it works anymore . Right ? So now 412 00:15:23,019 --> 00:15:25,130 Department of Defense does some great 413 00:15:25,130 --> 00:15:26,980 research but but honestly in the 414 00:15:26,990 --> 00:15:28,768 artificial intelligence and the 415 00:15:28,768 --> 00:15:30,990 operating model that we need to move to 416 00:15:30,990 --> 00:15:32,768 that technology is developed by 417 00:15:32,768 --> 00:15:34,823 commercial entities , right ? And it 418 00:15:34,823 --> 00:15:36,934 has been for a decade , two decades . 419 00:15:36,934 --> 00:15:38,990 Uh And so that's about how far we're 420 00:15:38,990 --> 00:15:40,823 behind , right ? But we have but 421 00:15:40,823 --> 00:15:42,990 there's hope , right ? Because we have 422 00:15:42,990 --> 00:15:45,046 lots of good , good opportunities to 423 00:15:45,046 --> 00:15:47,212 kind of leverage what already exists . 424 00:15:47,212 --> 00:15:49,379 And so and so the , you know , how you 425 00:15:49,379 --> 00:15:51,601 how you take software capabilities from 426 00:15:51,601 --> 00:15:53,823 outside the department and work it into 427 00:15:53,823 --> 00:15:55,823 the department rather than hardware 428 00:15:55,823 --> 00:15:57,879 technology pushing it out . I mean , 429 00:15:57,879 --> 00:16:00,101 the machine doesn't work backwards very 430 00:16:00,101 --> 00:15:59,460 well . Right ? So , so that's a 431 00:15:59,460 --> 00:16:01,516 cultural artifact that we have to we 432 00:16:01,516 --> 00:16:03,571 have to overcome . And so we have to 433 00:16:03,571 --> 00:16:05,682 think through like , okay , how do we 434 00:16:05,682 --> 00:16:08,360 actually do software for example ? Um 435 00:16:08,370 --> 00:16:10,260 software I think is , you know , 436 00:16:10,260 --> 00:16:12,593 software is eating the world , you know , 437 00:16:12,593 --> 00:16:14,704 everybody says um I believe it . That 438 00:16:14,704 --> 00:16:16,704 means it will eat the Department of 439 00:16:16,704 --> 00:16:18,760 Defense to write . The Department of 440 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:20,927 Defense . Today is not a world leading 441 00:16:20,927 --> 00:16:22,927 software implementation or Software 442 00:16:22,927 --> 00:16:25,093 Integration Organization . It needs to 443 00:16:25,093 --> 00:16:27,316 be . And so that cultural shift that we 444 00:16:27,316 --> 00:16:29,538 get people to understand kind of how do 445 00:16:29,538 --> 00:16:31,649 you deal with software capabilities , 446 00:16:31,649 --> 00:16:33,649 how you manage them , how you build 447 00:16:33,649 --> 00:16:35,730 baselines , how you , you know , you 448 00:16:35,730 --> 00:16:37,730 version them and control them , you 449 00:16:37,730 --> 00:16:39,786 know , all the kind of things that , 450 00:16:39,786 --> 00:16:42,008 you know , we would naturally expect in 451 00:16:42,008 --> 00:16:41,850 that environment . Um We need to learn 452 00:16:41,850 --> 00:16:43,961 how to do that . We need to learn how 453 00:16:43,961 --> 00:16:46,239 to do that as part of our core process . 454 00:16:46,239 --> 00:16:48,461 And so I think there's hope so . I mean 455 00:16:48,461 --> 00:16:50,517 were that the department is learning 456 00:16:50,517 --> 00:16:53,300 fast . Uh We we we we just had just we 457 00:16:53,310 --> 00:16:55,900 have an explosion of awareness and 458 00:16:55,910 --> 00:16:58,410 eagerness to bring uh ai capability 459 00:16:58,410 --> 00:17:00,410 into the department at large now we 460 00:17:00,410 --> 00:17:02,410 just need to build those supporting 461 00:17:02,410 --> 00:17:04,577 functions , software being one of them 462 00:17:04,577 --> 00:17:06,743 uh that that that will help us do this 463 00:17:06,743 --> 00:17:08,910 over the long term and in a in a broad 464 00:17:08,910 --> 00:17:11,130 ecosystem scale , you mentioned the 465 00:17:11,130 --> 00:17:14,100 importance of people and culture and 466 00:17:14,110 --> 00:17:15,777 one of the real barriers many 467 00:17:15,777 --> 00:17:17,832 organizations face is the ability to 468 00:17:17,832 --> 00:17:19,888 have enough talent in AI and machine 469 00:17:19,888 --> 00:17:22,090 learning . So how is D . O . D . 470 00:17:22,370 --> 00:17:24,592 Enlisting the right talent to really up 471 00:17:24,592 --> 00:17:26,870 its game in a I . And machine learning . 472 00:17:26,870 --> 00:17:29,130 Yeah . Great , great question . I'm so 473 00:17:29,130 --> 00:17:31,074 glad you used the word enlisting , 474 00:17:31,074 --> 00:17:33,297 right ? Because because enlisting is is 475 00:17:33,297 --> 00:17:35,408 a huge component of the Department of 476 00:17:35,408 --> 00:17:37,352 Defense . Right ? So so one of the 477 00:17:37,352 --> 00:17:39,463 things , you know , we we we bring in 478 00:17:39,463 --> 00:17:41,463 young talent , you know every day , 479 00:17:41,463 --> 00:17:43,630 right ? You know , into the department 480 00:17:43,630 --> 00:17:45,352 into the services and into the 481 00:17:45,352 --> 00:17:47,463 department organizations were large , 482 00:17:47,463 --> 00:17:49,408 but you think about all that young 483 00:17:49,408 --> 00:17:49,240 talent that's coming into the 484 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:52,350 department from the bottom up . Um and 485 00:17:52,350 --> 00:17:54,294 and these are digital natives . Uh 486 00:17:54,294 --> 00:17:55,961 these digital natives have an 487 00:17:55,961 --> 00:17:58,183 expectation when there's a problem or a 488 00:17:58,183 --> 00:18:00,294 function , they expect there to be an 489 00:18:00,294 --> 00:18:02,461 app for that , right ? And they expect 490 00:18:02,461 --> 00:18:04,294 that it's a perfectly reasonable 491 00:18:04,294 --> 00:18:06,406 expectation . And so this is how they 492 00:18:06,406 --> 00:18:08,628 think , right ? Like hey , I'm entering 493 00:18:08,628 --> 00:18:08,520 this , I'm entering the Department of 494 00:18:08,520 --> 00:18:10,798 Defense , where's my app store ? Right ? 495 00:18:10,798 --> 00:18:12,742 And so , so , you know , there's a 496 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:14,673 obviously , you know , there are 497 00:18:14,673 --> 00:18:16,507 multiple layers of this , I mean 498 00:18:16,507 --> 00:18:18,673 there's the human resources and how do 499 00:18:18,673 --> 00:18:20,673 you manage your , you know , your , 500 00:18:20,673 --> 00:18:22,840 your administration inside a service , 501 00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:24,618 for example , all the way up to 502 00:18:24,618 --> 00:18:26,729 business and accounting and how we do 503 00:18:26,729 --> 00:18:29,130 financial accountability and audit 504 00:18:29,130 --> 00:18:31,186 ability and that sort of thing . And 505 00:18:31,186 --> 00:18:33,130 then , and then you get to the war 506 00:18:33,130 --> 00:18:35,463 fighting stuff that's much more complex , 507 00:18:35,463 --> 00:18:37,686 but , but we have young people that are 508 00:18:37,686 --> 00:18:39,852 very adept at those things and they're 509 00:18:39,852 --> 00:18:42,019 naturally predisposed . Now the caveat 510 00:18:42,019 --> 00:18:44,186 is of course , um , you know , my kids 511 00:18:44,186 --> 00:18:46,352 great first person gamers that doesn't 512 00:18:46,352 --> 00:18:48,519 make you a data scientist that doesn't 513 00:18:48,519 --> 00:18:50,741 make you a computer scientist , but you 514 00:18:50,741 --> 00:18:52,686 can't . But so , so we have latent 515 00:18:52,686 --> 00:18:54,741 talent , but we need to nurture that 516 00:18:54,741 --> 00:18:56,852 talent and develop that talent in the 517 00:18:56,852 --> 00:18:58,908 right ways . And so we have to build 518 00:18:58,908 --> 00:19:01,130 the structures for education inside the 519 00:19:01,130 --> 00:19:01,110 department . So , and , and most of the 520 00:19:01,110 --> 00:19:03,277 services are doing this already , they 521 00:19:03,277 --> 00:19:05,332 have a really good sense for kind of 522 00:19:05,332 --> 00:19:07,388 where they want to go . And now that 523 00:19:07,388 --> 00:19:09,499 organizations like the jake , we need 524 00:19:09,499 --> 00:19:08,670 to help them , right ? So we need to 525 00:19:08,670 --> 00:19:11,260 give them tools so that you can um , 526 00:19:11,270 --> 00:19:13,480 you can actually build the workforce 527 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:15,760 that you have and develop them rapidly 528 00:19:15,940 --> 00:19:18,270 in this environment , but also figure 529 00:19:18,270 --> 00:19:20,920 out ways that you can start bringing in 530 00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:23,031 the right workforce as well . Right ? 531 00:19:23,031 --> 00:19:25,142 So there's a , there's a , you know , 532 00:19:25,142 --> 00:19:27,253 there's kind of a monopoly of options 533 00:19:27,253 --> 00:19:29,476 here . I mean , what all the way from , 534 00:19:29,476 --> 00:19:31,587 you know , do you create some sort of 535 00:19:31,587 --> 00:19:31,510 technical academy , you know , that 536 00:19:31,510 --> 00:19:33,510 that brings young officers into the 537 00:19:33,510 --> 00:19:35,732 department or you know , young soldiers 538 00:19:35,732 --> 00:19:37,899 or airmen or guardians ? Um you know , 539 00:19:37,899 --> 00:19:40,066 so that that , you know , that kind of 540 00:19:40,066 --> 00:19:42,177 external , like large scale brick and 541 00:19:42,177 --> 00:19:44,288 mortar uh if you will uh that kind of 542 00:19:44,288 --> 00:19:46,343 approach is necessary . And so we're 543 00:19:46,343 --> 00:19:48,566 working on that , we're also working on 544 00:19:48,566 --> 00:19:51,580 like custom um uh custom portfolios or 545 00:19:51,580 --> 00:19:53,747 custom educational platform . So , you 546 00:19:53,747 --> 00:19:56,510 know , we want to teach uh data 547 00:19:56,510 --> 00:19:59,060 scientists how to how to think about 548 00:19:59,070 --> 00:20:01,292 artificial intelligence , how to how to 549 00:20:01,292 --> 00:20:03,070 support artificial intelligence 550 00:20:03,070 --> 00:20:05,290 development . We have we have a really 551 00:20:05,290 --> 00:20:07,234 good assessment of our sort of the 552 00:20:07,234 --> 00:20:09,346 archetypes all the different ways you 553 00:20:09,346 --> 00:20:11,568 might touch ai right from leading it to 554 00:20:11,568 --> 00:20:13,568 building it to , you know , program 555 00:20:13,568 --> 00:20:15,734 manager to testing it . And so what we 556 00:20:15,734 --> 00:20:17,901 built is specialty education pipelines 557 00:20:17,901 --> 00:20:20,012 for each one of those archetypes , so 558 00:20:20,012 --> 00:20:21,957 that so that we can actually focus 559 00:20:21,957 --> 00:20:23,957 workforce development on the things 560 00:20:23,957 --> 00:20:26,012 that we're trying to do , and that's 561 00:20:26,012 --> 00:20:28,234 great , but it's not quite great enough 562 00:20:28,234 --> 00:20:30,457 because we need to do this at scale and 563 00:20:30,457 --> 00:20:32,457 and handcrafting people , just like 564 00:20:32,457 --> 00:20:34,179 handcrafting algorithms is not 565 00:20:34,179 --> 00:20:36,346 sustainable in the environment . We're 566 00:20:36,346 --> 00:20:38,290 going to move too fast . And so uh 567 00:20:38,290 --> 00:20:41,010 getting to massive online education 568 00:20:41,020 --> 00:20:43,950 venues is something that we're building 569 00:20:43,950 --> 00:20:46,580 now because we want to make sure , well 570 00:20:46,580 --> 00:20:48,858 still Handcraft specialty applications , 571 00:20:48,858 --> 00:20:50,858 but we want to make sure that we're 572 00:20:50,858 --> 00:20:53,080 educating broadly across the department 573 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,080 and all of the services have really 574 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,358 good efforts . They thought about this , 575 00:20:57,358 --> 00:20:59,469 they have warfighting communities and 576 00:20:59,469 --> 00:21:01,580 mos military occupational specialties 577 00:21:01,580 --> 00:21:03,580 that align with cyber skills and Ai 578 00:21:03,580 --> 00:21:05,636 skills . And so I think awareness is 579 00:21:05,636 --> 00:21:08,320 there , we just now need to execute and 580 00:21:08,330 --> 00:21:10,497 start leveraging the young and the old 581 00:21:10,497 --> 00:21:12,663 talent that we have , because you need 582 00:21:12,663 --> 00:21:16,090 uh we get a lot of attention paid to 583 00:21:16,100 --> 00:21:18,530 technologists , but in the Department 584 00:21:18,530 --> 00:21:20,641 of Defense and implementing ai across 585 00:21:20,641 --> 00:21:22,808 the department , you need technology , 586 00:21:22,808 --> 00:21:24,919 people sure , but you need people who 587 00:21:24,919 --> 00:21:27,141 know the Department of Defense who know 588 00:21:27,141 --> 00:21:29,363 our processes , who know how we fight . 589 00:21:29,363 --> 00:21:31,474 You need pilots and submarine drivers 590 00:21:31,474 --> 00:21:33,586 and artilleryman and all of the other 591 00:21:33,586 --> 00:21:35,808 warfighting communities , you need them 592 00:21:35,808 --> 00:21:37,808 to bring in , you know , to partner 593 00:21:37,808 --> 00:21:39,974 with the technologists so that you can 594 00:21:39,974 --> 00:21:42,030 actually start to automate functions 595 00:21:42,030 --> 00:21:44,030 and uh and make functions more data 596 00:21:44,030 --> 00:21:46,030 driven and make better decisions in 597 00:21:46,030 --> 00:21:45,930 those environments . So it's a blend of 598 00:21:45,930 --> 00:21:48,041 both . Right ? You need to understand 599 00:21:48,041 --> 00:21:50,263 war fighting and you need to understand 600 00:21:50,263 --> 00:21:52,319 the technology so we're building the 601 00:21:52,319 --> 00:21:52,180 teams that are able to do that . Uh 602 00:21:52,190 --> 00:21:54,301 that's great . Yeah , I mean , people 603 00:21:54,301 --> 00:21:57,360 are so critical in a world of ai so one 604 00:21:57,360 --> 00:21:59,471 last question , I wanted to get in if 605 00:21:59,471 --> 00:22:01,471 we have a few minutes , I wanted to 606 00:22:01,471 --> 00:22:03,527 talk a little bit about , you know , 607 00:22:03,527 --> 00:22:05,638 you've mentioned partnerships and the 608 00:22:05,638 --> 00:22:07,804 importance of reaching out and getting 609 00:22:07,804 --> 00:22:09,860 the best of what's in the commercial 610 00:22:09,860 --> 00:22:12,027 world , for example , and I think jake 611 00:22:12,027 --> 00:22:14,249 plays a really important , crucial role 612 00:22:14,249 --> 00:22:16,471 really within the D . O . D . Ecosystem 613 00:22:16,471 --> 00:22:16,290 in creating access to those things . 614 00:22:16,300 --> 00:22:18,633 I've been watching with close attention , 615 00:22:18,633 --> 00:22:20,244 for example , the trade wind 616 00:22:20,244 --> 00:22:22,189 acquisition process . You stood up 617 00:22:22,189 --> 00:22:24,356 recently and I wanted to talk a little 618 00:22:24,356 --> 00:22:26,522 bit here from you about how Trade Wind 619 00:22:26,522 --> 00:22:28,356 helps actually drive partnership 620 00:22:28,356 --> 00:22:30,244 between industry academia and the 621 00:22:30,244 --> 00:22:32,190 commercial world . Yeah , great 622 00:22:32,190 --> 00:22:34,301 question . And this is something that 623 00:22:34,301 --> 00:22:36,190 we're uh Congress has helped us . 624 00:22:36,190 --> 00:22:38,023 Congress is helping us work this 625 00:22:38,023 --> 00:22:39,857 because Congress shares the same 626 00:22:39,857 --> 00:22:41,801 concern and it's been really great 627 00:22:41,801 --> 00:22:43,968 supportive relationship . But so we're 628 00:22:43,968 --> 00:22:46,023 building in the in the jake , one of 629 00:22:46,023 --> 00:22:47,968 the things that jake does the jake 630 00:22:47,968 --> 00:22:50,134 builds a eyes of course , but we build 631 00:22:50,134 --> 00:22:52,301 enabling capabilities as well . And so 632 00:22:52,301 --> 00:22:54,246 uh you know , whether it's testing 633 00:22:54,246 --> 00:22:56,412 evaluation or Ai security or all these 634 00:22:56,412 --> 00:22:58,634 other all these other aspects um were , 635 00:22:58,634 --> 00:23:00,690 you know , our mission is to kind of 636 00:23:00,690 --> 00:23:02,780 help further the growth of AI in the 637 00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:05,440 department . And so acquisition ai 638 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:07,662 acquisition is a really important piece 639 00:23:07,662 --> 00:23:10,310 of that . And so uh we have a package 640 00:23:10,310 --> 00:23:12,470 now we're we're very close to getting 641 00:23:12,470 --> 00:23:14,692 our own acquisition authority but we've 642 00:23:14,692 --> 00:23:16,803 done a lot of work in preparation for 643 00:23:16,803 --> 00:23:18,692 that and Trade Wind is one of the 644 00:23:18,692 --> 00:23:20,950 venues but we have multiple venues and 645 00:23:20,960 --> 00:23:23,230 what our acquisition authority and the 646 00:23:23,230 --> 00:23:25,780 work in that regard allows us to do is 647 00:23:25,780 --> 00:23:27,502 really start against create an 648 00:23:27,502 --> 00:23:30,770 ecosystem for for uh contracting 649 00:23:30,770 --> 00:23:33,650 officers and those who deal with , you 650 00:23:33,650 --> 00:23:35,650 know with with normal contracting , 651 00:23:35,650 --> 00:23:37,650 teach them how to be really good ai 652 00:23:37,650 --> 00:23:39,317 contractors , right ? Or data 653 00:23:39,317 --> 00:23:41,539 contractors , because it's real easy to 654 00:23:41,539 --> 00:23:43,539 uh to make mistakes on , you know , 655 00:23:43,539 --> 00:23:45,483 protecting government intellectual 656 00:23:45,483 --> 00:23:48,280 property , for example , or uh creating 657 00:23:48,290 --> 00:23:50,320 uh exposure risks or classification 658 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:52,431 risks . And so we're building a cadre 659 00:23:52,431 --> 00:23:54,598 of professionals , we're doing this in 660 00:23:54,598 --> 00:23:56,653 concert with the defense acquisition 661 00:23:56,653 --> 00:23:58,876 unit or or I'm sorry , the university . 662 00:23:58,876 --> 00:23:58,820 And so the Defense Acquisition 663 00:23:58,820 --> 00:24:01,153 University and then building , you know , 664 00:24:01,153 --> 00:24:03,376 figuring out what does it take to build 665 00:24:03,376 --> 00:24:05,431 a population of folks who are really 666 00:24:05,431 --> 00:24:07,542 good at buying software , integrating 667 00:24:07,542 --> 00:24:09,653 software and especially ai stuff . So 668 00:24:09,653 --> 00:24:11,764 Trade Wind is one of those , so Trade 669 00:24:11,764 --> 00:24:13,931 Wind is a consortium based construct , 670 00:24:13,931 --> 00:24:16,098 you know , not there's there's many of 671 00:24:16,098 --> 00:24:19,280 those out there uh that that allows a 672 00:24:19,290 --> 00:24:22,470 wide range of vendors uh to to to 673 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:24,536 create offerings . Right ? And so as 674 00:24:24,536 --> 00:24:26,580 the department identifies small 675 00:24:26,580 --> 00:24:28,802 projects or use cases or things that we 676 00:24:28,802 --> 00:24:30,858 want to work , we can advertise them 677 00:24:30,858 --> 00:24:32,858 through the Trade Wind consortium , 678 00:24:32,858 --> 00:24:35,080 it's available and visible to everybody 679 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:37,136 and then uh and then vendors can can 680 00:24:37,136 --> 00:24:39,302 compete . And what we found already is 681 00:24:39,302 --> 00:24:41,302 this really uh this really helps us 682 00:24:41,302 --> 00:24:43,024 pull out like small innovative 683 00:24:43,024 --> 00:24:45,191 companies , right , that have a have a 684 00:24:45,191 --> 00:24:47,413 niche that's really , you know , that's 685 00:24:47,413 --> 00:24:46,760 really exciting . Really important . 686 00:24:46,990 --> 00:24:48,934 Maybe they're ahead of the curve , 687 00:24:48,934 --> 00:24:51,101 right ? Where the rest of the industry 688 00:24:51,101 --> 00:24:53,157 hasn't caught up yet . Those are the 689 00:24:53,157 --> 00:24:52,910 kind of organizations that we can 690 00:24:52,910 --> 00:24:54,700 capture through the trade wind 691 00:24:54,700 --> 00:24:56,811 environment . And so we have a couple 692 00:24:56,811 --> 00:24:58,978 of other trade windows is probably our 693 00:24:58,978 --> 00:25:01,089 marquis product right now . But uh we 694 00:25:01,089 --> 00:25:03,089 have a couple of others . We have a 695 00:25:03,089 --> 00:25:05,200 data readiness and ai uh consortium a 696 00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:07,340 similar thing . We have a test and 697 00:25:07,340 --> 00:25:11,120 evaluation uh BP a business 698 00:25:11,130 --> 00:25:14,030 uh uh blanket purchase agreement , 699 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,160 sorry not not an acquisition guy but 700 00:25:16,160 --> 00:25:18,160 blanket purchase agreement that now 701 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:20,327 allow us , for example , if you know , 702 00:25:20,327 --> 00:25:22,549 as we're building as we're building our 703 00:25:22,549 --> 00:25:24,716 test and evaluation environment and we 704 00:25:24,716 --> 00:25:26,716 have you have you have capabilities 705 00:25:26,716 --> 00:25:28,549 that help us do that or you have 706 00:25:28,549 --> 00:25:30,549 responsible ai capabilities that we 707 00:25:30,549 --> 00:25:29,760 might want to integrate into our 708 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:31,982 process . We have a venue now for you , 709 00:25:31,982 --> 00:25:34,149 for you to identify those . Right ? So 710 00:25:34,149 --> 00:25:36,149 we're really excited about that one 711 00:25:36,149 --> 00:25:37,982 because we're , you know , we're 712 00:25:37,982 --> 00:25:40,204 broadening the services that we offer . 713 00:25:40,204 --> 00:25:42,427 We're enabling the whole department but 714 00:25:42,427 --> 00:25:44,649 we're also bringing in a whole new body 715 00:25:44,649 --> 00:25:46,371 of vendors that that that that 716 00:25:46,380 --> 00:25:48,547 otherwise you would not have been able 717 00:25:48,547 --> 00:25:50,824 to approach Department of Defense work . 718 00:25:50,824 --> 00:25:53,047 The Department of Defense is a horrible 719 00:25:53,047 --> 00:25:55,158 customer . Um it's a monopoly money . 720 00:25:55,158 --> 00:25:57,324 Right ? So so so now , so we're trying 721 00:25:57,324 --> 00:25:59,491 to shift the tables a little bit right 722 00:25:59,491 --> 00:26:01,547 to get a much broader , make it much 723 00:26:01,547 --> 00:26:03,769 easier for Mom and Pop A I companies or 724 00:26:03,769 --> 00:26:05,824 you know , chat box companies or you 725 00:26:05,824 --> 00:26:08,047 know , data readiness companies to help 726 00:26:08,047 --> 00:26:10,047 give them a leg up so that they can 727 00:26:10,047 --> 00:26:12,324 compete with the Department of Defense . 728 00:26:12,324 --> 00:26:14,436 That's great . Excellent . Well thank 729 00:26:14,436 --> 00:26:16,658 you so much for taking the time to talk 730 00:26:16,658 --> 00:26:15,640 to us this morning . It's been a 731 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:17,640 fascinating conversation . I really 732 00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:19,862 learned a ton about how you're thinking 733 00:26:19,862 --> 00:26:21,807 about , you know , these important 734 00:26:21,807 --> 00:26:21,750 problems and I really appreciate it . 735 00:26:21,750 --> 00:26:23,917 And I want to thank again our hosts at 736 00:26:23,917 --> 00:26:25,972 the Billington cybersecurity forum . 737 00:26:25,972 --> 00:26:28,139 This has been just a great opportunity 738 00:26:28,139 --> 00:26:30,361 to for us all to , to learn a lot about 739 00:26:30,361 --> 00:26:32,528 what's going on at the jake . So thank 740 00:26:32,528 --> 00:26:32,390 you . Yeah , thanks Ron , I really 741 00:26:32,390 --> 00:26:34,612 appreciate it . I really appreciate the 742 00:26:34,612 --> 00:26:36,723 thoughtful questions and uh this is a 743 00:26:36,723 --> 00:26:38,779 really important thing for all of us 744 00:26:38,779 --> 00:26:41,001 and our , our global competitiveness in 745 00:26:41,001 --> 00:26:43,001 a military sense and in an economic 746 00:26:43,001 --> 00:26:45,001 sense really depends on how well we 747 00:26:45,001 --> 00:26:47,112 manage the ai transformation . And so 748 00:26:47,112 --> 00:26:49,279 it's uh it is absolutely critical that 749 00:26:49,279 --> 00:26:51,057 we have these kind of forums uh 750 00:26:51,057 --> 00:26:53,168 Billington um that that that allow us 751 00:26:53,168 --> 00:26:55,390 to kind of talk about these and have it 752 00:26:55,390 --> 00:26:57,501 have a broader audience , think about 753 00:26:57,501 --> 00:26:59,612 where we're going as a department and 754 00:26:59,612 --> 00:27:01,834 as a nation . So so thank you very much 755 00:27:01,834 --> 00:27:03,890 and thanks Billington and all of you 756 00:27:03,890 --> 00:27:03,730 for tuning in . It's been a really 757 00:27:03,730 --> 00:27:05,560 great conversation . Thanks