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Military advantage is being redefined by breakthroughs in autonomy, hypersonics, AI, and advanced manufacturing. As China and Russia accelerate investments in next-generation warfare capabilities, the U.S. faces mounting pressure to move faster and rethink legacy systems built for a different era. In this keynote conversation, Dr. Jewell will examine the future of scalable hypersonics, including the shift from single-use missiles to reusable, highly maneuverable platforms enabled by major aerothermodynamic breakthroughs. He will also explore the rapid rise of robotic warfare and what it will take for the DoD to transition toward autonomous, multi-layered unmanned architectures that can operate at the speed of modern conflict. Looking ahead, he’ll highlight the scientific breakthroughs poised to shape the next decade of defense innovation, from applied generative AI to biomanufacturing and material science, and why urgency matters in the race to outpace strategic competitors.

The defense community is investing heavily in AI, autonomy, cyber capabilities, and advanced manufacturing. But none of these technologies can scale without a trusted enterprise foundation. In this session, SAP U.S. Public Services Managing Director Jamison Braun will explore why mission readiness begins long before the mission itself. From auditability and financial visibility to predictive logistics and supply chain resilience, he will discuss how trusted data enables faster decisions, connected operations, and greater mission effectiveness.

Learn how defense organizations can move from reactive processes to predictive supply chains by connecting finance, procurement, logistics, and operations into a single digital backbone - supporting readiness from factory to foxhole.

The era of AI experimentation has given way to the era of enterprise execution. As the Pentagon moves to integrate generative models and hyperscale analytics into every facet of the kill chain, the challenge shifts from code to infrastructure. How is the CDAO coordinating with industry to ensure data readiness across the Joint Force? This panel examines the massive compute requirements, the integration of frontier models into command and control, and the roadmap for maintaining a decision advantage against near-peer adversaries.

Innovation alone doesn’t create advantage, execution at scale does. In this session, we will explore how Maximus uses an ecosystem-driven approach to transform emerging technologies into operational capabilities for defense agencies. Grounded in startup-driven innovation, the discussion will examine how large organizations can adopt faster learning cycles, rapid prototyping, and disciplined scaling models to avoid stalled pilots. We'll also explore Maximus’ emerging tech partnerships, which combine platform scale with disruptor speed to co-develop, validate, and deploy solutions that reduce time-to-impact while remaining secure, trusted, and mission-aligned.

Artificial intelligence is increasingly central to mission success, yet most architectures still assume constant connectivity to the cloud—an assumption that breaks down in contested, remote, and classified environments. This talk explores how bringing cloud capabilities directly to the point of need enables a seamless shift from centralized data centers to distributed edge environments, and ultimately to fully disconnected operations where systems continue to function without external networks. By rethinking how AI is deployed and executed, organizations can achieve real-time insight, preserve data sovereignty, and maintain decision advantage even when the network is degraded or denied.

While massive cloud models dominate the headlines, the future of the frontline may depend on "Small AI," low-power, resilient, and autonomous systems that operate where the cloud cannot reach. From DARPA's high-risk research to the Navy's maritime requirements, leaders are rethinking the AI footprint. In this session, speakers will examine the push toward edge intelligence, the hardware breakthroughs enabling autonomous sensing, and the operational requirements needed to bring autonomous capabilities from concept to mission execution. The discussion will explore how the Pentagon is approaching readiness for autonomous systems, including workforce preparation, sustainment, deployment, and lifecycle management, as well as the role AI can play in helping commanders understand the readiness of platforms and personnel. As autonomous technologies become more integral to future operations, leaders will discuss what it takes to ensure these systems are not only intelligent, but available, deployable, and mission-ready when needed most.

The conflict in Ukraine has turned the Black Sea and the Donbas into an intensive laboratory for autonomous warfare. The rules of engagement, procurement, and mass are being rewritten in real-time by cheap drones and AI-driven targeting. Joined by leaders from NATO and Ukraine’s Brave1 defense tech cluster, we discuss the shift from yesterday’s weapons to "massed" autonomy and what the West must learn from the first true robot war to prepare for the next.

As artificial intelligence reshapes intelligence collection and analysis, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency is redefining how it delivers insight in an era of contested information, commercial data proliferation, and rapidly evolving threats. From the agency's AI Blueprint and the lessons emerging from Ukraine to the growing risks of data manipulation, disinformation, and democratized geospatial capabilities, this conversation will explore how NGA is adapting its mission, workforce, and technology strategy. Join NGA leadership for a discussion on scaling AI across the intelligence enterprise, maintaining trust in data and algorithms, and ensuring the United States retains its decision advantage in an increasingly AI-enabled world.

From the ocean floor to orbit, autonomous systems are the future of maritime operations. Across the seabed, the surface, cyberspace, and space, the United States Navy is revealing unmanned vessels, underwater drones, AI-powered analysis, resilient communications, and even space-based robots can unlock new levels of awareness, reach, and speed in contested environments.This conversation will look beyond today’s tools and into the breakthroughs still ahead: smarter robotic teammates, next-generation sensing, connected fleets, and the long-horizon technologies that could redefine how maritime forces discover, decide, and operate. The Navy's research leaders will discuss how autonomy is expanding operational advantage, what it takes to integrate robots across domains, and how science, experimentation, and bold technology discovery can help shape a more connected, autonomous maritime force for the future.

Now more than ever before, defense agencies are focused on developing an AI-first workforce, using these tools to improve day-to-day operations, secure systems, and deliver on high-level mission objectives. In this session, Google Public Sector’s Kevin Mulligan will share how Gemini for Government on GenAI.mil can be used to protect sensitive data and accelerate defense initiatives like modernizing legacy systems and improving real-time decision-making.

The traditional defense industrial base is under pressure from a new wave of nimble, venture-backed startups. For Special Operations, these fast-moving players are no longer a luxury—they are a necessity. This panel bridges the gap between the Pentagon’s policy makers and the Silicon Valley investors fueling the next generation of defense tech. We ask: Does the defense industry of the future even exist yet? And can the "fast and nimble" ethos of SOCOM scale to the rest of the enterprise?

Modern warfare is no longer shaped solely by generals and strategists. It is increasingly influenced by the investors and capital allocators determining which technologies scale and which stall. As autonomous systems, AI, and next-generation capabilities move from experimentation to reality, private capital is playing a defining role in shaping the future of conflict. This conversation will explore how venture capital, private equity, and public markets are accelerating or constraining defense innovation, where capital is flowing, and how geopolitical tensions are reshaping priorities. Leaders will also examine the challenge of aligning commercial speed with government acquisition, the risks tied to market and policy uncertainty, and what it means for the Defense Industrial Base as new entrants compete alongside traditional primes.

The Pentagon has a clear mandate to accelerate its AI efforts.

Every service, every combatant command, every agency inside the DoW is racing to deploy AI, and every one of them is running into the same wall: their data is scattered, untagged, ungoverned, and invisible to the AI systems they are trying to stand up. AI does not fail because the models are weak. AI fails because the data underneath is not ready.

Join this session to learn how DoW can unlock the power of AI by accessing, organizing, tagging and packaging its dark data and meet the mandate to become an AI-first Department.

In an era of hypersonic glide vehicles and orbital threats, the line between space superiority and missile defense has vanished. As the Space Force matures and the Missile Defense Agency looks toward the next generation of interceptors, the role of commercial satellite constellations has become critical. This session features the architects of the nation’s orbital shield discussing the future of strategic deterrence, the integration of commercial imagery, and the reality of defending the "ultimate high ground" against a resurgent nuclear threat.

The growing use of unmanned aerial systems in modern conflict, particularly Iran’s Shahed drones, has intensified attention on counter-drone capabilities, or C-UAS. These relatively low-cost systems have demonstrated how rapidly drones can alter the dynamics of the battlefield, challenging traditional air defense models and highlighting new operational vulnerabilities. In this GovExec panel, defense experts will examine the evolving role of drones in contemporary warfare and the technologies being developed to counter them. Panelists will discuss recent developments in C-UAS capabilities, lessons emerging from current conflicts, and the tools, from electronic warfare to kinetic and directed energy systems, that militaries may need to maintain a strategic edge in increasingly contested environments.