The SEAL Turned CEO: Brandon Tseng on the AI-Powered Future of War

The SEAL Turned CEO: Brandon Tseng on the AI-Powered Future of War

From Bold Names by The Wall Street Journal

March 13, 2026 · 31 min

About this episode

Brandon Tseng discusses the impact of AI and autonomous drones on the future of warfare.

Former Navy SEAL and Shield AI co-founder Brandon Tseng is building the autonomous drones that are redefining global defense.This week on Bold Names, WSJ’s Tim Higgins sits down with Tseng to discuss how Shield AI’s Hivemind software is currently overcoming GPS jamming in Ukraine, and why the future of the U.S. military depends on a mix of elite manned assets and swarms of affordable, autonomous drones. Editor’s Note: This interview was recorded before the war with Iran. To watch the video version of this episode, visit our WSJ Podcasts YouTube channel or the video page of WSJ.com. Check Out Past Episodes: Palmer Luckey's 'I Told You So' Tour: AI Weapons and Vindication The AI Agent in Your Pocket: Qualcomm’s CEO on the Future of Mobile Condoleezza Rice on Beating China in the Tech Race: 'Run Hard and Run Fast' This CEO Says Global Trade Is Broken. What Comes Next? Let us know what you think of the show. Email us at BoldNames@wsj.com. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter.Read Tim Higgins’s column. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Tim Higgins

Guest: Brandon Tseng

Topics covered

  • AI
  • military technology
  • autonomous drones
  • defense

Keywords

  • Hivemind software
  • GPS jamming
  • Ukraine
  • U.S. military

Mentioned in this episode

Products: Shield AI, Shield AI’s, Hivemind, Hivemind software

Books & works: I Told You So

Places: Ukraine, U.S., Iran, China

More episodes of Bold Names

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Bold Names podcast page.