AI and autonomy on the modern battlefield

  • Thu, August 27, 2026 • 3:45 pm ET
  • Atlantic Council Headquarters
  • 1400 L Street NW • Floor 11
  • Washington, DC 20005

Experts examine how the US military can develop and adopt AI-enabled capabilities that remain effective and resilient where adversaries contest US advantage.

On Thursday, August 27 at 3:45 p.m. ET, the Atlantic Council’s Forward Defense program, part of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, will host a panel discussion on the future of artificial intelligence (AI) in contested military operating environments.

The stakes are high: AI promises to reshape how the US military senses, decides, and acts, yet the environments where it matters most are rarely ideal. In a future fight, communications will be jammed and connectivity disrupted. This panel of experts will explore what it takes to build and deploy AI and autonomous systems that hold up under these denied, degraded, intermittent, and limited conditions, and where the assumptions behind today’s AI models are most likely to break.

New policy: In-person attendees will be required to show photo ID upon arrival, and no on-site registration will be permitted. Guests will not be admitted later than twenty minutes after the event’s start time.

By registering to attend in-person, you agree to abide by the Atlantic Council’s Event Code of Conduct.

Please complete the form below to register for this event.

join the conversation

Send our speakers a question—it may be featured during our event.

ask a question

Speakers

Gen. (ret.) James Cartwright, USMC
Board Member,
Atlantic Council;
8th Vice Chairman,
Joint Chiefs of Staff

Owen J. Daniels
Nonresident senior fellow, Forward Defense,
Atlantic Council

Moderated by

Joe Costa
Director, Forward Defense,
Atlantic Council

More speakers to be confirmed.

Stay connected

Supported by

Related content

AI and autonomy on the modern battlefield

Issue Brief May 28, 2026

Information fires: Building C-C5ISRT advantage in competition 

By Martin Zuber, Caleb Eames, Dan Minnocci, Amy Cowley

Countering adversary command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting (C5ISRT) has emerged as a critical operational priority.
China Defense Policy
AI and autonomy on the modern battlefield

Report Jun 30, 2025

Second-order impacts of civil artificial intelligence regulation on defense: Why the national security community must engage

By Deborah Cheverton

Civil regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) is hugely complex and evolving quickly, with even otherwise well-aligned countries taking significantly different approaches. At first glance, little in the content of these regulations is directly applicable to the defense and national security community.
Artificial Intelligence Defense Technologies

Explore the program

Forward Defense leads the Atlantic Council’s US and global defense programming, developing actionable recommendations for the United States and its allies and partners to compete, innovate, and navigate the rapidly evolving character of warfare. Through its work on US defense policy and force design, the military applications of advanced technology, space security, strategic deterrence, and defense industrial revitalization, it informs the strategies, policies, and capabilities that the United States will need to deter, and, if necessary, prevail in major-power conflict.

Learn more

Atlantic Council TV

Watch this event and more content on ACTV

Follow the conversations shaping our world. Available on all major platforms.

Start watching