Convening to Act

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The second in the Convening to Act: Artificial Intelligence series concentrated on Mission Assurance in Agentic AI Operations – Building AI Security & Assurance to Accelerate National Security Adoption. The program was held on December 3-4, 2025, in Virginia. 

The NCF’s strategic partner, Carahsoft, opened the event with remarks from their CEO, Mr. Craig Abod. The NCF followed up with opening remarks by NCF Board Chairman, Mr. George Barnes, and NCF President & CEO, Ms. Laura Nelson.  

The program began with a Fireside Chat featuring Gen Paul M. Nakasone, U.S. Army (Ret), Founding Director of Vanderbilt University’s Institute of National Security, and Mr. Ron Bushar, Google Public Sector’s Chief Security Officer & Managing Director of Cyber Solutions.  

The Fireside Chat covered the rapidly evolving AI threat landscape, with particular emphasis on how adversaries use AI for automated espionage operations and how defenders must respond with AI-powered defensive capabilities. Both speakers proposed innovative solutions, including establishing an AI consortium to proactively address open-source vulnerabilities. They emphasized the critical importance of public-private-academic partnerships in maintaining national security.  

The first panel of the morning, “Beyond AI Security: Toward Mission Assurance in National Security AI,” featured Mr. Vinh Nguyen, Senior Fellow for AI at the Council on Foreign Relations, as the moderator. Panelists included Mr. Mikel Rodriguez(MITRE), Dr. Paul Rodrigues (Microsoft), Mr. Dean Ball (FAI), and Mr. Troy Poppe (AWS). The panel discussed what agentic AI is, the security challenges it presents, approaches to mission assurance, workforce implications, and the critical balance between speed and safety in national security contexts.  

Next, a conversation with Mr. Justin Fanelli and Mr. Grant Verstandig (CEO, Red Cell Partners and NCF Board Member) focused on Deploying AI in NATSEC. Their discussion explored how AI is transforming military operations and the urgency of adoption. Topics covered included the Navy’s transformation strategy, the innovation adoption toolkit they developed, concrete success examples, and their urgent 18-month timeline. Additionally, both emphasized the need to demonstrate the public-private partnership model for defense AI adoption. 

The second panel of the morning focused on Agentic AI Opportunities in National Security and was moderated by Dr. Matt Gaston (CMU). Panelists included Dr. Alexis Bonnell (OpenAI), Mr. Jason Clinton (Anthropic), Mr. Michael Gerstenhaber(Google), and Mr. Brian Campo (U.S. Coast Guard). The panel emphasized the importance of discerning when to deploy agents versus traditional automation. Agents are best suited for high-variance workflows, multi-tool orchestration, and situations requiring rapid decision-making with massive data—not for deterministic, repeatable processes. 

Following lunch, a Lightning Round session focused on three topics – 1) lessons learned from deploying agentic AI systems in real-world Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) applications; 2) managing emerging AI security challenges of the AI supply chain in vendor relationships and third-party supply chains; and 3) the Coalition for Security that focuses on four workstreams: agent AI Systems, incident response, supply chain risks, and security risk management tools. 

The third panel, Investors in National Security AI, was moderated by Mr. Kevin Keaton (NCF), and panelists included the Hon Veronica Daigle (Red Cell Partners), Mr. Ron Gula (Gula Tech Adventures), Mr. Christopher Steed (Paladin Group), Mr. Justin Wilder (IQT), and Mr. Jonathan Clifford (General Catalyst). The panel discussed funding gaps between venture capital and government, the need to balance progress with security, and barriers to innovation reaching warfighters. 

The day’s fourth panel focused on Cybersecurity Challenges in Agentic AI Operations. It was moderated by Major General George Franz, U.S. Army (Ret.), the Executive Operations Director of the Global Cyberspace Practice at MANTECH. Panelists included Mr. Omar Santos from Cisco, Mr. Jonathan Dambrot from Cranium AI, and Mr. Eric “Hutch” Hutchins from JPMC. This panel discussed cybersecurity and agentic AI, emphasizing China as a threat. They highlighted secure networks, visibility, and intelligence-driven defense strategies. The panelists stressed addressing current threats and preparing for future AI advances.  

The Analytic and Software Engineering Workforce Integration and Implications of Agentic AI Operations, the fifth panel of the day, was moderated by Mr. Ryan Jessee of MANTECH. Panelists included Dr. J.R. Rao (IBM), Dr. Christos Makridis (ASU), and Mr. Alex Schildt (ClearanceJobs). The panel explored security architecture, talent development, organizational culture, and strategies for integrating AI agents while maintaining mission security in secure environments.  

The final panel on day one, Future of AI in National Security, was moderated by Mr. Jamil Jaffer and featured panelists Mr. Andy Boyd (former Director of CIA’s CCI), LTG Karen Gibson (U.S. Air Force- Ret), and Mr. Kyle Pula (AWS). The discussion revealed that while AI has enormous potential to transform intelligence operations—particularly by automating imagery analysis, correlating data across compartments, and scaling cyber operations—the intelligence community faces significant cultural and policy barriers that may be even more challenging than the technical obstacles. 

The second Convening Day opened with an Industry Keynote address by Mr. Jason Matheny, President & CEO of the Rand Corporation. Mr. Matheny made a compelling case that what seemed like science fiction in 2014 is now considered likely within the next decade by most AI experts, with significant implications for military capabilities, cyber operations, and weapons proliferation. His remarks concluded with concrete policy recommendations developed through over 100 tabletop exercises with policymakers and military leaders.  

The first panel of day two was the DoD/USIC Perspective Panel, moderated by Mr. Kevin Keaton (NCF), and included panelists Mr. Israel Sung, Deputy Director, Office of AI at CIA, Ms. Salilah Kanem Salahuddin, AI Policy and Governance Lead for the Intelligence Community (IC), Mr. Matthew Johnson, Chief of Responsible AI, Department of War, and Ms. Amyn Jan.  This panel discussed how U.S. intelligence and defense communities are at a pivotal transformation moment, deliberately integrating agentic AI while building robust assurance frameworks. Success requires balancing aggressive adoption with ethical oversight, building trust through transparent testing, and maintaining human cognitive capabilities. The panelists emphasized that this is fundamentally an opportunity to lead global AI innovation while protecting national security and democratic values. 

Following the panel was a presentation about Agentic AI Strategy for the US Public Sector by Mr. Shane Shaneman, Senior AI Strategy Strategist at Nvidia. He discussed re-framing how organizations think about AI infrastructure and implementation, emphasizing the critical importance of “token generation capacity” as the fundamental resource that enables AI capabilities.    

The final panel of the Convening was an Agentic AI Startup panel, moderated by Dr. Esube Bekele of IQT. Panelists included Mr. Julien Launay of Adaptive ML, Ms. Daria Bahrami of Dreadnode, and Dr. Jeffrey Johns of Embed. The panel discussed the development and applications of agentic AI in national security and commercial sectors. They agreed on the need for clear goals, success criteria, and multiple layers of security to ensure effective adoption of AI agents. They also stressed the importance of literacy, collaboration, and adaptability in AI agent development and deployment. 

The Convening featured terrific, knowledgeable speakers who participants appreciated seeing, meeting, and networking with.   

Dr. Jeffrey Johns (Embed)
Dr. Matthew Kuan Johnson
Mr. Julien Launay (Adaptive ML)
Dr. Christos Makridis (ASU)
Mr. Vinh Nguyen (Council on Foreign Relations)
Mr. Troy Poppe (AWS)
Mr. Kyle Pula (AWS)
Dr. J.R. Rao (IBM)
Dr. Paul Rodrigues (Microsoft)
Mikel Rodriguez (MITRE)
Ms. Shari Rozen (ODNI)
Ms. Saleela Salahuddin (ODNI)
Omar Santos (Cisco)
Mr. Alex Schildt (ClearanceJobs)
Mr. Shane Shaneman (NVIDIA)
Mr. Israel Soong (CIA)
Mr. Christopher Steed (Paladin Group)
Mr. Grant Verstandig (Red Cell Partners)
Mr. Justin Wilder (IQT)