AI for the Warfighter: Acquisition Challenges and Guidance

About this episode

The episode discusses the challenges and guidance for AI Engineering in defense acquisition following a new strategy from the Department of War.

On November 7, the Department of War released an acquisition transformation strategy that seeks to remove bureaucratic hurdles and streamline acquisition processes to enable even more rapid adoption of technologies, including artificial intelligence. Getting AI into the hands of warfighters requires disciplined AI Engineering. In this podcast from the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, Carol Smith, lead of human-centered research in the SEI's AI Division, and Brigid O'Hearn, the SEI's lead of software modernization policy for the Department of War, sit down with Eileen Wrubel, the SEI's technical director of Transforming Software Acquisition Policy and Practice, to discuss AI Engineering challenges and guidance in the defense acquisition space.

People in this episode

Guests: Carol Smith, Brigid O'Hearn, Eileen Wrubel

Topics covered

• AI Engineering
• Defense Acquisition
• Technology Adoption
• Bureaucratic Challenges
• Software Modernization

Keywords

• AI
• Warfighter
• Acquisition Challenges
• Technology
• Engineering

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Department of War, Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute, SEI

More episodes of Software Engineering Institute (SEI) Podcast Series

• An LLM Evaluation Framework for High-Stakes AI · June 11, 2026 · 17 min
• Protecting AI Systems Against Data Poisoning · June 4, 2026 · 20 min
• Goal-Line Defense: A Tool to Discover and Mitigate UEFI Vulnerabilities · April 15, 2026 · 41 min
• Leadership, Legacy, and the Power of Mentors: Insights from Dr. Paul Nielsen · April 6, 2026 · 19 min
• With a Little Help from Our Civilian Friends: Cybersecurity Reserve Is Both Feasible and Advisable · March 20, 2026 · 49 min
• Maturing AI Adoption: From Chaos to Consistency · March 2, 2026 · 26 min