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.

Welcome remarks

Tressa Guenov
Senior Director, Programs and Operations, and Senior Fellow,
Atlantic Council

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

Lt. Gen. (ret.) David Harris, USAF
Founder & CEO,
DashFive;
Former Deputy Chief of Staff for
Strategy, Integration, and Requirements,
United States Air Force

Moderated by

Joe Costa
Director, Forward Defense,
Atlantic Council

Stay connected

Supported by

Related content

Report

Aug 27, 2026

AI and autonomy in contested operations

By Owen J. Daniels

Any potential major conflict the United States engages in will be shaped by AI and autonomous systems. US forces should expect their systems to operate in denied, degraded, intermittent, and limited (DDIL) conditions imposed by jamming techniques, cyber-attacks, and anti-satellite capabilities designed to sever the connectivity and wreak havoc on military operations.

Artificial Intelligence Defense Policy

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