The Department of War (DoW) is moving faster than ever—embracing commercial technology, autonomous systems, and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled capabilities. But this acceleration raises a critical question: what happens to the human in the loop?

Recorded at the NDIA Human Systems Conference, Arun Seraphin speaks with four leaders working at the intersection of technology, personnel, and defense innovation: Dr. Eric Sikorski, Stuart Michelson, Jenn McNamara, and Jesse Flint.

Together, they examine how evolving priorities within the Department of War (DoW) are accelerating adoption of autonomous systems and Artificial Intelligence (AI), while placing new demands on the workforce responsible for operating them. The discussion reveals that rapid defense innovation often outpaces workforce readiness and can create challenges in training, integration, and scalability.

This episode highlights how NDIA members across industry, academia, and government are advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI), autonomous systems, and human performance strategies to ensure the Department of Defense (DoD) workforce can effectively support next-generation missions at speed.

See here for more information on NDIA's Human Systems Division: https://www.ndia.org/divisions/human-systems

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Keywords:

- Defense innovation

- autonomous systems

- Artificial intelligence (AI)

- Department of Defense (DoD)