Commission on Software-Defined Warfare

About

The Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and its Forward Defense program have stood up the Commission on Software-Defined Warfare to digitally transform the armed forces for success in future battlefields.

Co-chaired by 27th US Secretary of Defense Mark T. Esper, Former Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox, and President of Purdue University Mung Chiang and comprised of a distinguished group of subject-matter and industry commissioners, the Commission will develop a framework to enhance US and allied forces through emergent digital capabilities.

Near-peer US competitors, China and Russia, are recognizing and adapting to a paradigm shift in modern technology that can potentially alter existing military balances of power. While the United States is a powerhouse of innovative commercial technology—from inexpensive attritable drones to autonomy and artificial intelligence, the warfighter, and the institutions and processes in place to sustain it, are not designed to harness them at a competitive pace.

In order to overcome adversarial challenges in a modern software-driven security environment, the US Department of Defense must modernize its archaic platform-centric approach to capability development. Following the success of the Council’s 2022-2023 Commission on Defense Innovation Adoption, this Atlantic Council Commission will consider how the US Defense Department and its allies ought to approach software-defined warfare, which consists of leveraging modern software practices and integrating them into current platforms to optimize or improve defense strategies.

Meet the Commissioners

Commission co-chairs

Hon. Mark T. Esper

Board Director, Atlantic Council; 27th US Secretary of Defense

Hon. Christine H. Fox

Former Acting Deputy Secretary of Defense

Dr. Mung Chiang

President, Purdue University

Commissioners

Steve Bowsher

President, Chief Executive Officer, In-Q-Tel

Gen James E. Cartwright, USMC (ret.)

Board Director, Atlantic Council; 8th Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Gen Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., USMC (ret.)

Board Director, Atlantic Council; 19th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

Francis A. Finelli

Managing Director, Carlyle Group

Hon. James “Hondo” Geurts

Former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Acquisition

Hon. Susan M. Gordon

Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence

Lt Gen S. Clinton Hinote, USAF (ret.)

Former Deputy Chief of Staff, Air Force Futures

Paul Kwan

Managing Director, Global Resilience Practice, General Catalyst

Hon. Ellen Lord

Former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, US Department of Defense

John Ridge, CBE

Director of Defence Innovation, UK Ministry of Defence

Dr. Nadia Schadlow

Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute; Former US Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategy 

Lt Gen Jack Shanahan, USAF (ret.)

Former Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center

Trae Stephens

General Partner, Founders Fund

ADM Scott H. Swift, USN (ret.)

35th Commander, US Pacific Fleet

Industry commissioners

Rob Bassett Cross MC

Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Adarga; Nonresident Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council

Prashant Bhuyan

Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Accrete AI

Michael D. Brasseur

Chief Strategy Officer, Saab, Inc.

John E. Brennan, PhD

General Manager, Public Sector, Scale AI

Steven Escaravage

Executive Vice President, Booz Allen Hamilton

Dan Gelston

Group President, Defense & Security, CAE

Jon Gruen

Chief Executive Officer, Fortem Technologies

Adam Hammer

Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Roadrunner Venture Studios

Jags Kandasamy

Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Latent AI

Rob Lehman

Co-Founder, Chief Commercial Officer, Saronic Technologies

Joel Meyer

President of Public Sector, Domino

Sean Moriarty

Chief Executive Officer, Primer AI

Nathan Parker

General Manager, Defense and Public Sector, Kodiak Robotics

Dr. Gundbert Scherf

Co-Founder & Co-Chief Executive Officer, Helsing

Stu Shea

Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Peraton

Tyler Sweatt

Chief Executive Officer, Second Front Systems

Jim Taiclet

Chairman, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lockheed Martin

Chris Taylor

Founder, Chief Executive Officer, Aalyria Technologies

Mark Valentine

President, Global Government, Skydio

Meet the Commission Staff

Commission Director

Stephen Rodriguez

Senior Advisor, Forward Defense, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Authors

Whitney McNamara

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Forward Defense, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Pete Modigliani

Vice President, Beacon Global Strategies

Tate Nurkin

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Forward Defense, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Advisors

Lt Gen Michael S. Groen, USMC (ret.)

Former Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center

Rob Murray

Nonresident Senior Fellow, Forward Defense, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Maj Gen Arnold L. Punaro, USMC (ret.)

Advisory Council Member, Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security, Atlantic Council

Meet the Project Team

Staff

Clementine G. Starling

Director, Forward Defense

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Security & Defense NATO

Staff

Kathryn Levantovscaia

Deputy Director

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Industry Defense Policy

Staff

Holly Ryan

Project Assistant

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Artificial Intelligence Defense Industry

Fellow

Brian Higgins

Senior US Air Force Fellow

Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Cybersecurity Defense Policy

Stay Engaged

Engage with Forward Defense as we put forth a framework for enhancing US and allied forces by embracing emergent digital capabilities.

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