U.S. Central Command is being forced to innovate due to the strategic pivot of traditional military assets to other theaters like EUCOM and INDOPACOM. This resource constraint compels the command to adopt new technologies like unmanned systems and AI to continue meeting its mission objectives effectively.
CENTCOM is scaling the successful model of the Navy's Task Force 59, which focuses on integrating unmanned systems and AI in an operational environment. This has led to the creation of Task Force 39 (Army) and Task Force 99 (Air Force), creating dedicated, in-theater units for rapid experimentation and fielding.
The speaker, CTO Skylar Moore, emphasizes that the main barrier to technology adoption in the DoD is not technical but rather rooted in policy, bureaucracy, and acquisition processes. Her role as a non-technical CTO underscores the need for expertise in navigating these institutional challenges to successfully field new capabilities.
CENTCOM's application of AI, particularly in computer vision and anomalous behavior detection, is not aimed at replacing human operators. Instead, the goal is to augment human capabilities, helping analysts and operators sift through vast amounts of data to identify threats more efficiently and cue limited assets.
The war in Ukraine is reinforcing the importance of rapid, iterative technology deployment. The conflict demonstrates that the old model of perfecting technology in a lab before handing it to users is impractical. Instead, getting 'good enough' tech into the field quickly and iterating based on user feedback is critical.
Keep pulling the thread on Skylar Moore.