Defense Mavericks

Captain Shawn Cooper, XVII Airborne Corps Innovation Officer, joins Bonnie Evangelista this week to talk about how the Corps is building connective tissue to support bottom-up innovation, scale soldier ideas, and integrate them with development partners across the DoD. He dives into managing soldiers’ time to innovate, maximizing your 20%, and identifying demand signals from your end users. Tune i...

This week, Bonnie Evangelista is joined by special guest, Lt. Gen. (ret.) Michael Nagata, former Director of Strategy for the National Counterterrorism Center and retired United States Army veteran with a storied 38-year career. Mike shares his insights on the importance of embracing technological military change and the need for collaboration between government and industry to create a risk-toler...

This week, Bonnie Evangelista sits down with Bill Wilder, NCOIC for XVIII Airborne Corps Data Activities, to talk about the importance of bottoms-up military innovation. They talk about the current pipeline for soldier-oriented ideas and how it connects end-users with the resources needed to bring projects to life. Tune in to explore the world of military innovation and the vital role it plays in...

In this episode, Stephanie Wilson, Agreements Officer with the Army Contracting Command (ACC) Rock Island, joins Bonnie Evangelista to explore and demystify the complexities of the contracting process. They talk about how to eliminate unnecessary complications, the importance of statutes and guidebooks, and how industry and non-traditional contractors can more easily navigate this world. Tune in t...

This week, Bonnie sits down with Vince Pecoraro, Lead Program Manager for the DAF Digital Transformation Office, to explore the concept of speed in government contracting. Vince shares his insights on the need for faster delivery of product to the warfighter and how both industry and government play a role in lowering barriers. Tune in as we explore the challenges in training and educating the wor...

This week, we break down the defense playbook with Brigadier General Jasper Jeffers III, Deputy Director for Special Operations and Counter-Terrorism. He dives into lessons learned from the infamous Patriots vs. Seahawks Super Bowl game in 2015 and how these principles apply not only to military operations but also to the world of technology and AI. From the importance of teamwork and integration...

In this episode of Defense Mavericks, Bonnie is joined by Dr. Dolores Kuchina-Mucina, Chief Disruptor at REXOTA Solutions and an expert in practicing and executing other transaction authorities (OTs). They explore the misconceptions surrounding OTs, the value of two-page contracts, and the importance of coloring outside the lines when it comes to contract frameworks. Dolores shares her insights on...

AI Proficiency is now Defense Mavericks! We’re excited to take this show to the next level as we hone in on the untapped potential of AI within the federal government. Join us as we dive into authentic and disruptive conversations with our nation’s brightest minds, offering a fresh perspective on how to gain an unfair advantage through the adoption of new, emerging technology. Our goal is to equip...

Join us for another episode of ‘AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today’ to hear an insightful discussion with Krista Kinnard, Director of Innovation and Engineering at U.S. Department of Labor OCIO. Across the department, major changes to data collection, automation processes, and other vital tasks have made way for the implementation of AI tools which Krista credits as being a big step in th...

Join us for another episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today to hear a conversation with Dr. Ola Olude-Afolabi, AI PM & Visionary at the Office of the Chief Technology Officer in the U.S. Department of Commerce. Through Dr. Olude-Afolabi's work with the Department of Commerce, she has been able to see the successful integration of AI across different agencies. Though she and...

On today’s episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, we are joined by  Drew Malloy, Technical Director of the  Cyber Development Directorate for the Defense Information Systems Agency. Drew sat down with us to discuss Project Thunderdome within the department as an initiative to further cybersecurity and Zero Trust efforts, and their goals to improve security as well as performance....

Join us for another episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today to hear a conversation with Jade Baranski, Co-Founder and CEO of Mobilize. Since entering the world of technology, Jade has been inspired by the immense impact of innovation through collaboration and problem-solving. At Mobilize, this has been achieved by addressing the unknowns, making space to explore, and ensuring trustw...

Today’s episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today features a discussion with Dr. Dorothy Leidner, Leslie H. Goldberg Jefferson Scholars Foundation Distinguished Professor in AI Ethics at the University of Virginia. Dr. Leidner’s lifelong fascination with technology continues to inspire her to explore as well as interrogate the consequences of their use within society. Stay tuned to he...

On this episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, we are joined by Maynard Holliday, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Critical Technologies at the United States Department of Defense. Maynard’s background as a mechanical engineer served as an exceptional introduction into the world of AI, and credits media representation as also being an especially powerful influence. As a result,...

Today’s episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today features a conversation with Dr. Charles Clancy, Senior Vice President of MITRE and head of MITRE Labs. As we embark on an era of large language models and generative AI tools, Dr. Clancy’s work with MTIRE has been influential in figuring out the best ways for them to augment user performance. Tune in to learn more about what Dr. Clanc...

On today’s episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, we sat down with Paul Scharre, Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security to discuss his work exploring new defense capabilities. With an extensive background in the field of national security, Paul has been instrumental in supporting and implementing autonomous warfighting capabilities by obse...

On today’s episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, we are joined by Kevin Williamson, Wargame and Subject Matter Expert at Marine Corps University. Training reliable capabilities that can serve as educational tools has been Kevin’s goal with wargaming–a skill that combines strategy and simulated scenarios. Stay tuned to learn more about how he aims to integrate this technology with...

Join us for another episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, to hear an eye-opening discussion with Hilke Schellmann, Journalist and Associate Professor of Journalism at NYU. As a filmmaker, journalist, and researcher, her introduction into the world of AI came purely through curiosity and inspired her to share her findings about the powerful instances of bias that she’s recognized...

On today’s episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, we are joined by Mallesh Murugesan, Founder & CEO of Abeyon, and Co-Founder of chirrp.ai. Mallesh’s journey into the world of AI through software development has allowed him to see the monumental changes in these capabilities firsthand. Despite the intense speed at which AI is moving and evolving, its fundamental principles rem...

Join us for another episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today to hear a conversation with  CPT Michael Sass, Mission Manager, DoD-IC Integration, Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, U.S. Department of Defense. Michael shares with us how his background in supporting new capabilities across the department exposed to him the importance of breaking down the problems that AI...

On this episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, we are joined by Mailani Veney, CEO of Kana Systems. Mailani recognizes that change-making requires giving back to your community, and has made that an initiative through Kana. Systems. This approach to navigating the defense space with what she calls an “Aloha spirit” has been successful in inspiring her team to innovate at their hig...

Join us for another episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today to hear a discussion with Daniel Castro, Director of the Center for Data Innovation. By observing AI’s success as a tool in the workforce, education, and government, Daniel sat down with us to discuss how to keep that momentum going for decades to come. This can only be accomplished by removing the misconceptions surroundin...

On this episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, we are joined by Sandy Barsky, Executive Program Director of Government and Education at Oracle. In the rapidly-evolving world of AI, Sandy imparted upon us the importance of drawing wisdom and expertise from the innovators in your circle. This ideology has laid the foundation for the work he does now with Oracle, and by providing the...

On today’s episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today, we are joined by Tristan Harris, Co-Founder of The Center for Humane Technology. Tristan’s dedication to further understanding the complex relationship between humanity and technology raised some captivating questions about how this current landscape of AI will be navigated by innovators and users alike. As AI gains the ability to...

Join us for another episode of AI Proficiency: Turning Tomorrow into Today to hear a groundbreaking discussion with Julie George, Predoctoral Fellow at CISAC and HAI at Stanford University, and PhD Candidate of Government at Cornell University. Julie’s work in academia inspires her to not only observe the symbiotic relationship between humans and AI, but to analyze it within a global context. Unde...