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We are recording this at the Air Force Air, Space, & Cyber Conference. During the second day of the conference, General B. Chance Saltman, Chief of Space Operations at the Space Force, talked about a “focus on readiness.”

Our guest, Rob Bocek from Virtualitics begins the interview by talking about the concept of readiness being applied to AI.

In fact, Bocek recently did an in-depth discussion of this topic at a conference he led titled The Frontiers of AI for Readiness.

Today, we combine some of the lessons learned from that gathering with some of the goals and aspirations that were given at presentations at this year’s Air Force Air, Space, & Cyber Conference. In a wide-ranging interview, Bocek comments on topics like guardrails, leadership, procurement, and collaboration.

GUARDRAILS

Even the casual observer will notice that AI will have an impact on the DoD. However, the DoD deals with life and death decisions daily and cannot be subject to data poisoning and LLM attacks. During the interview, Bocek commented on implementing guardrails when experimenting with AI.

LEADERSHIP

In the corporate world, leaders will justify a blind jump into AI with assertions like, “if they don’t jump in, their competitors will.” The DoD deals with much more than a profit and loss statement. Military leaders must step up with understanding the positives and negatives of AI, and lead technology experts into correct implementations.

PROCUREMENT

When General B. Chance Saltman was presenting nobody in the audience thought he would include acquisition reform as one of his three main points. He reinforced the concept of living in a contested world where adversaries can adapt quickly, and the American military cannot be held back by antiquated procurement processes.

Listen to the podcast to get an idea of some of the solutions available for federal leaders trying to use AI in a responsible manner.