Nexus 23 special edition
AFWERX announcement, Joint Autonomy Office, and Nexus 23 read-ahead
The Nexus Newsletter
We are breaking our usual cadence for this special edition of the Nexus Newsletter. Nexus 23 is tomorrow, so keep reading for a quick read-ahead on what to expect at this year’s event. We also share an exciting announcement about our engagement with AFWERX Prime and some recent Congressional news.
AFWERX contract
We recently announced that we were selected by AFWERX Prime to deliver a virtual sensor optimization solution to enable faster sensor selection, configuration, and experimentation during aerial system design and acquisition. Through Spectral, our sensor simulation software, AFWERX Prime and the Air Force will save significant time and money that would otherwise be spent purchasing multiple sensor arrays and testing performance exclusively through real-world testing.
“AFWERX is excited to work with one of the top leaders in sensor simulation environments,” said Lt Col Bryan Ralston, AFWERX’s Autonomy Prime Lead. “Leveraging the vast experience Applied Intuition has in the commercial industry is just one of the ways AFWERX is continuing to transform advanced autonomy operations in the Department of the Air Force.”
Read more about the contract in Breaking Defense and in our press release.
Autonomous Systems Adoption & Policy Act
Last week, Congressman Rob Wittman (VA-R) and Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-D) introduced the bipartisan Autonomous Systems Adoption & Policy Act (ASAP Act), HR 3168. The bill establishes a Joint Autonomy Office (JAO) at the Department of Defense’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) to accelerate development, adoption, and delivery of autonomy technology and programs. This legislation is in line with the recent Special Competitive Studies Project report, Offset-X, calling for an enterprise test platform for DOD AI-enabled systems to increase effectiveness of software-defined systems.
Specifically, the JAO would provide:
An enterprise platform for all-domain autonomy testing, and resulting curated databases; this platform is based on commercial best practices and is provided to existing service and joint autonomy programs.
A DOD-wide framework for the classification of autonomous capabilities to develop a common understanding of autonomous capabilities and operational requirements to better plan for, resource, and integrate appropriate autonomy-enabling technologies into current and future systems.
Plans and procedures to standardize the planning, resourcing, and integration efforts with respect to autonomous capabilities for current and future systems across the DoD.
DOD program managers and industry experts, both traditional and non-traditional, with an understanding of best practices for autonomy program design and execution to advance the state of all domain autonomy.
To learn more and hear what Reps. Wittman and Ruppersberger have to say about the bill, read the press release.
Our take: We strongly support the creation of the Joint Autonomy Office and applaud Reps. Wittman and Ruppersberger for their bipartisan leadership in driving transformative change in the Department of Defense. By housing the service autonomy programs’ infrastructure at the enterprise level within OSD, current programs - as well as future programs - will benefit from shared training data, development and testing architecture, joint autonomy concepts of operations, and institutional knowledge that the Office will enable. We’ve been honored to work with Reps. Wittman and Ruppersberger - starting at Nexus 22 last year, through Rep. Wittman’s visit to our Mountain View, California HQ last year, and in the lead up to Nexus 23 - to bring commercial best practices for autonomy development into the Department of Defense.
Tune in to Nexus 23 to hear more from Rep. Wittman on the ASAP Act and the JAO.
Nexus 23 read-ahead
Nexus 23 is tomorrow! This year’s event convenes more than 40 of the world’s brightest minds from government, venture capital, industry, and academia for an electrifying program across two days and 20 sessions. Keep reading for more on what to expect from key sessions at Nexus 23 and be sure to register to attend (in person or virtually) if you haven’t already:
Foreign policy keynote: Michèle Flournoy
Michèle Flournoy and Clementine Starling
Returning to the Nexus stage for the second time in two years, former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle Flournoy will discuss the geopolitical landscape and the role of technologies like autonomy and artificial intelligence in shaping tomorrow’s strategic challenges for the United States and its Allies.
Ukraine: Autonomy, AI, and lessons from the battlefield
Preston Dunlap, LTC Alexander Brand, Dr. Margarita Konaev, and Samuel Bendett
The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how small, unmanned, attritable, and commercially-derived technologies can augment - and, in some cases, defeat - larger, more expensive, traditional platforms and capabilities. This panel will discuss the role of unmanned and autonomous systems in Ukraine, and lessons learned for the U.S. and its Allies moving forward.
The race for autonomy and AI in the Indo-Pacific
Megan Eckstein, Lachlan McGovern, Gregory C. Allen, and GEN (Ret.) Stephen Wilson
China was recently identified as the “pacing challenge” in the National Defense Strategy. What does that mean for the United States and our allies in the Indo-Pacific? Specifically, what does that mean from a capabilities standpoint? This panel will discuss the unique challenges and dynamics at play in the Indo-Pacific, technologies and capabilities under development, and the role of regional allies in ensuring long-term stability and security in the region.
Distinguished keynote: Rep. Rob Wittman
Rep. Rob Wittman and Nicholas Kazvini-Gore
Fresh off the introduction of the bipartisan ASAP Act to establish the Joint Autonomy Office, Rep. Wittman takes the stage at Nexus 23 to discuss the role of trusted autonomous systems in safeguarding our national security, the role of Congress in ensuring the Department of Defense has the tools and authorities needed to accelerate the delivery of trusted autonomous systems to the warfighter, and the role of non-traditional technology companies to our national security ecosystem.
Autonomy policy: Shaping the future of warfighting
Dr. Michael Horowitz and Sunmin Kim
In a redux of one of last year’s most newsworthy panels, Director of the DOD’s Emerging Capabilities Policy Office Dr. Michael Horowitz will walk us through a year’s worth of updates on lethal autonomous weapons (LAWS) policy, the role of rigorous T&E and V&V in approving LAWS, and methods of addressing common misconceptions about autonomous weapons systems.
Industry and the warfighter: Breaking down barriers
Justin Lynch, Michael D. Brasseur, Zachary Mears, Don Burnette, and Mandy Long
There is growing momentum behind leveraging the innovation engine of the private sector to deliver innovative capabilities to the warfighter at speed. Bridging the gap between industry - including both traditional and non-traditional contractors - and the national security ecosystem will prove essential to our national security. This panel will discuss lessons learned from ongoing experiments with commercial capabilities (including Task Force 59’s commercially-owned, commercially-operated approach), why bridging the gap is important, and a path forward to strengthen ties between industry and the warfighter.
Distinguished keynote: Marc Andreessen
Marc Andreessen and Qasar Younis
Returning to the stage once again for Nexus 23, there is possibly no man better equipped to speak to the role of venture capital in enabling technological innovation at the Department of Defense than Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen. In this fireside chat, Marc and Qasar will discuss top-of-mind issues in Silicon Valley, the national security imperative for emerging technologies, and how innovative companies can work with the government.
Distinguished keynote: Dr. Mark T. Esper
Dr. Mark T. Esper and Stephen Rodriguez
27th Secretary of Defense Dr. Mark T. Esper requires little introduction. In this fireside chat with Stephen Rodriguez, Secretary Esper will discuss why the United States sometimes struggles to adopt and field cutting-edge technologies, near-term changes to deliver innovative capabilities to the warfighter, and how the Department of Defense and Congress can work together to better leverage commercial innovation.
Distinguished keynote: Ellen Lord
Ellen Lord and Whitney McNamara
Former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord kicks off day two with a fireside chat focused on the current acquisitions landscape, ways to incentivize tech companies to do business with the DOD, and how to modernize the DOD to align with the 21st century industrial base.
Creating pathways to mission-critical technologies through capital investment
Stephen Rodriguez, Bilal Zuberi, Katherine Boyle, and Jason Rathje
Billions of dollars of venture capital investment have created the greatest driver of innovation in the 21st century: America’s startup ecosystem. This panel convenes leading voices from the funds that are most committed to supporting advancements in defense technology for a discussion centered on changes in the investment landscape over the past year, strategies to transition capabilities through the Valley of Death, and how the government can be a better customer for new entrants to the market.
Acquiring critical technologies at speed: New strategies and reforms
Ahmed Humayun, Lara Sayer, Nand Mulchandani, Peter R. Dixon, and Michael Brown
Much ink has been spilled about the need for acquisitions reform in the Department of Defense. This panel cuts through the noise to identify new strategies and reforms - from greater employment of the software acquisition pathway to PPBE reforms - that could both actually yield results and be executed in today’s environment.
Autonomy acquisitions at the service and program level
Dr. Arun Seraphin, Dorothy Engelhardt, COL Jeffery Jurand, and LTC Tom Meagher
Understanding the challenges of incorporating autonomy technology in the context of major capability acquisition (combat platforms) from the program perspective - and from program managers themselves - is critical. This panel provides a cross-cutting look to understand and appreciate promising developments and recalcitrant challenges that continue to stymie acquisitions efforts.
Data, tech, and warfighting: A discussion with LTG Christopher Donahue
LTG Christopher Donahue, John Mark Wilson, and GEN (Ret.) Raymond Anthony Thomas III
Thorough warfighter testing and experimentation is crucial to the development of cutting-edge capabilities. There is no man better suited to provide the warfighter perspective on emerging capabilities than LTG Christopher Donahue, Commanding General of the XVIII Airborne Corps. This panel will glean important perspectives and lessons learned from a distinguished career in military service, and ways to ensure that warfighter perspectives are incorporated into development and testing processes for emerging capabilities.
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