Future near-peer adversaries will attempt to contest all domains and utilize complex and congested terrain to mitigate current joint force capabilities and reduce effectiveness of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) tactical maneuver elements.
During Potomac Officers Club’s Artificial Intelligence for Maneuver Virtual Event, a panel of expert speakers across the public and private sectors will discuss how the federal government, and its industry partners, can deter or defeat peer threats in contested multi-domain environments.
To register for Artificial Intelligence for Maneuver Virtual Event, as well as learn about new upcoming opportunities, visit Potomac Officers Club’s Event Page.
Michèle Flournoy, co-founder and managing partner of WestExec Advisors, will be featured as a speaker during Potomac Officers Club’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Maneuver Virtual Event on October 29, 2020. Greg Wenzel, 2020 Wash100 Award recipient and executive vice president with Booz Allen Hamilton, will moderate a fireside chat with Flournoy.
In addition, the Artificial Intelligence for Maneuver Virtual Event will feature an expert panel, moderated by Joel Dillon, vice president of Global Defense, Army Account, with Booz Allen Hamilton.
Featuring Col. John Cochran of the DoD, Col. Jay Wisham of Army Futures Command (AFC) and Capt. Christian Dunbar of the Department of the Navy, the panelist will discuss how advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms can enable human-machine teams to bring greater precision, certainty, speed and mass to the battlefield.
Speaker: Michèle Flournoy
In 2017, Flournoy co-founded WestExec Advisors, a strategic advisory firm. She is the former co-founder and chief executive officer of the Center for New American Security (CNAS), where she currently serves on the board.
In January 2007, Flournoy co-founded CNAS, a bipartisan think tank dedicated to developing strong, pragmatic and principled national security policies. She served as CNAS’ president until 2009, and returned as CEO in 2014.
She served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from 2009 to 2012. She was also the principal advisor to the Secretary of Defense in the formulation of national security and defense policy, oversight of military plans and operations and in National Security Council deliberations.
Flournoy led the development of the Department of Defense’s (DoD) 2012 Strategic Guidance and represented the Department in dozens of foreign engagements, in the media and before Congress. Prior to confirmation, Flournoy co-led President Obama’s transition team at the Defense Department.
Flournoy recently co-authored a report, calling on the DoD to establish a more collaborative approach for testing and evaluation of AI. In order to meet the department’s AI goals, she said that DoD has to develop robust methods of testing, evaluation, validation and verification of AI that can increase the speed of the development pipeline.
“This is going to require much greater coordination across the entire [testing, evaluation, validation and verification] ecosystem,” Flournoy said. “You really can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach in this area.”
Moderator: Greg Wenzel
Wenzel leads Booz Allen’s Army business. His primary focus is to help the Army transform and modernize by bringing the best digital, analytic, cyber and engineering services and solutions available to our warfighters.
Previously, he led the company’s Strategic Innovation Group (SIG) Digital Solutions initiative focused on transforming Booz Allen Systems Delivery into a modern Digital Solutions provider. He and his teams delivered modular agile solutions that integrate deep understanding of mission and systems development with the latest technologies in social, mobile and cloud computing.
Moderator: Joel Dillon
Dillon is a technical leader in Booz Allen’s Army portfolio, focused on Digital Battlefield and Soldier Solutions.
He also serves as a leader in Booz Allen’s Chief Translation Office, a program that works across multiple portfolios to translate technical and operational requirements, bring innovation to the Army, and create talented teams that excel in delivering quality solutions to Booz Allen’s clients.
Prior to joining Booz Allen in 2019, Joel worked on the cutting edge of cloud computing as a Senior Technical PM for Amazon Web Services (AWS), where he was responsible for partnering with the Intelligence Community and overseeing the launch and operation of the world’s first cloud computing region capable of handling workloads.
Panelist: Col. John Cochran
Col. John Cochran is the former director of the Secretary of Defense’s Close Combat Lethality Task Force (CCLTF) and AI for Maneuver Working Group. In the role, he was responsible for guiding the program management, strategic planning, defense acquisition, military programs oversight, direct congressional engagement and program resourcing of close combat lethality initiatives on behalf of the Secretary of Defense.
With the Headquarters Department of the U.S. Army, where he served as deputy chief of Staff G-3/5/7, Cochran was as a senior strategist in the management of the Army Aviation Restructure Initiative and the National Commission on the Future of the Army.
During his time assigned to the Deputy Chief of Staff G-8, he functioned as a strategic planner for the Army Aviation Force Development Division in the concept development and strategic design of the Army’s Aviation’s modernization strategy.
Panelist: Jay Wisham
Jay Wisham is the former Artificial Intelligence Applications and Program Director for Project Convergence with Army Futures Command. Wisham is currently a US Army Fellow at the University of Texas, Austin, and works in the arena of development and employment of cutting edge technology, such as AI enabled systems and better partnering with private industry.
He previously served in the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross Functional Team (CFT) in Army Futures Command as the Lead for Artificial Intelligence Applications and Program Director for Project Convergence the Army’s largest effort to bring AI & data enabled systems to reality for the tactical edge.
Wisham has also led several AFC efforts in outreach to critical research universities and leading innovators in high tech industry sectors.
Panelist: Christian Dunbar
Christian Dunbar is the director of Future Concepts and Innovation with the U.S. Department of Navy. Dunbar is a 27-year Naval Special Warfare (SEAL) Officer assigned as the Director of Future Concepts and Innovation at the Naval Special Warfare Command.
He leads the exploration, partnered ventures and development of Enterprise-level innovations focused on Disruptive and Transformational applications of horizon technologies for Special Operations and National Defense.
Dunbar is a recognized leader for the strategic and practical applications of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Mobile Robotics in Human-Machine Teaming for asymmetric competitive advantage.
The panelists will discuss advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms in support of robotic autonomous systems, miniaturized sensors, computing power and storage, and secure autonomous communication networks that create a competitive advantage on the battlefield.
To register for Artificial Intelligence for Maneuver Virtual Event, as well as learn about new upcoming opportunities, visit Potomac Officers Club’s Event Page.
