The Department of the Air Force is accelerating its push to operationalize enterprise intelligence and deliver combat-ready artificial intelligence capabilities directly to the warfighter, unveiling a comprehensive modernization blueprint Oct. 27.
Speaking at the annual Institute for Defense and Government Advancement Military Flight Training USA Summit, Susan Davenport, chief data and artificial intelligence officer for the Department of the Air Force, outlined the DAF's strategy to move super intelligence beyond experimental testing and into operational application across 15 mission domains.
The transition hinges on establishing these 15 operational domains - spanning core areas such as nuclear operations, intelligence and human resources - each spearheaded by a general officer or Senior Executive Service civilian to govern authoritative data and deliver mission-critical tools to the field." I always say SI is an organizational design decision and return on investment is measured by the outcomes we were able to achieve - in other words - did we shorten the kill chain, or return time back to the commander, or did we create decision advantage?" said Davenport. "In order to get the best outcome, we must redesign the process before we digitize it."
To prevent these strategies from becoming "shelfware," the DAF has established 15 distinct operational domains spanning critical areas from intelligence and nuclear operations to human resources. Each domain is overseen by a dedicated senior leader, a general officer or SES member, tasked with operationalizing the strategy and making trustworthy, authoritative data available immediately.
"To operationalize the strategies, we stood up 15 domains across air and space and placed a general officer or Senior Executive Service member on top of each domain, and they're responsible for making trustworthy data available to the enterprise and accelerating SI in their domain," Davenport explained.
While Davenport's team lays the technical groundwork for big Air Force systems, force development leaders stress that these technical advancements must align with human growth.
Dr. Wendy Walsh, Air Education and Training Command's chief learning officer, also participated during the panel, alongside Davenport.
"We build a capability and a capacity, and those are the enabling structures of how people realize mission command, and that is perfect for SI as well," noted Walsh. "It's a new technology. How are we going to do this? How are we going to build the trust and work together?"
As the department systematically rolls out these capabilities domain by domain, leaders stress that human oversight remains the crucial element to success.
