Reference register
Who's Who in AI Warfare
A working register of the operators, architects, theorists and witnesses shaping AI in modern warfare.
A reference register, not a ranking. Entries here are the people we keep coming back to as we cover the field — the officers running the programmes, the executives selling the software, the academics writing the doctrine, the journalists getting it on the record. The list grows when our coverage does.
- theorist
Al Carns
Labour MP and reserve Royal Marines Colonel, Birmingham Selly Oak
- architect Palantir Technologies (2003-)
Alex Karp
Co-founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies; outspoken advocate for software in the kill chain.
- defense tech ceo
- data fusion
- theorist
Alexander Dugin
Russian geopolitical philosopher and Eurasianist strategist
- architect Swarmer (2023-)
Alexander Fink
Co-founder and US CEO of Swarmer; a veteran of imaging-silicon and camera companies.
- defense tech ceo
- imaging silicon
- theorist
Alexander Khinstain
Acting Governor of Kursk Oblast; former Russian State Duma deputy
- witness Komsomolskaya Pravda
Alexander Kots
Komsomolskaya Pravda war correspondent; Kotsnews on Telegram
- information operations
- operator
Alexander Lyubimov
- operator
Alexander Lyubimov (Akela)
Drone operator known by callsign Akela, named in Russian drone warfare coverage
- witness VGTRK
Alexander Sladkov
VGTRK war correspondent reporting from Chechnya to Ukraine
- information operations
- operator
Alexus Grynkewich
Commander, US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe
- architect Meta
Amir Frenkel
A generative-AI engineering leader at Meta and a director of Swarmer.
- ai engineering
- defense tech board
- architect
Andrei Belousov
Minister of Defence, Russia
- operator
Andrei Cherezov
Russian official linked to drone development networks
- operator
Andrei Klintsevich
Russian State Duma deputy and defence committee member
- theorist University of Warwick
Anthony King
Sociologist of war whose fieldwork shows AI changing headquarters more than the battlefield.
- sociology of war
- academic
- architect
Anton Alikhanov
Russia's Minister of Industry and Trade since May 2024
- theorist
August Hanning
Former BND President and private security consultant
- theorist White House (2021-2024)
Ben Buchanan
Cyber-and-AI policy scholar who served as the White House's first Special Advisor for Artificial Intelligence.
- ai policy
- cybersecurity
- theorist
Ben Hodges
Retired General, former Commanding General of U.S. Army Europe
- witness
Beskrestnov
Russian defense analyst and Telegram military commentator
- theorist
Bob Work
Former US Deputy Secretary of Defense; Raytheon board member
- theorist
Boris Pistorius
Federal Minister of Defence, Germany
- witness Colonelcassad
Boris Rozhin
Colonelcassad — Sevastopol blogger turned high-volume war analyst
- information operations
- architect
Brett Adcock
Founder & CEO, Figure AI; serial entrepreneur in robotics and aviation
- architect Anduril Industries (2017-)
Brian Schimpf
Co-founder and CEO of Anduril Industries, the engineer running one of the largest US defence-tech startups.
- defense tech ceo
- autonomous systems
- operator
Christopher LaNeve
Acting Chief of Staff, United States Army
- theorist
Dan Caine
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Department of Defense
- architect
Dan Driscoll
U.S. Secretary of the Army, Trump administration
- operator
Daryl Caudle
34th Chief of Naval Operations, United States Navy
- operator
Deng Jianping
- operator US Department of Defense (2017-2021)
Drew Cukor
Retired US Marine colonel who founded and ran Project Maven, the Pentagon's first algorithmic-warfare team.
- programme lead
- military officer
- architect
Elon Musk
CEO of Tesla and SpaceX; appointed to shape US military future warfare
- architect Special Competitive Studies Project (2021-)
Eric Schmidt
Former Google CEO who chaired the US AI national-security commission and now builds AI attack drones for Ukraine.
- defense tech founder
- policy architect
- architect Blackwater (1997-2010)
Erik Prince
Founder of the private-military firm Blackwater; non-executive chairman of Swarmer.
- private military
- defense investor
- architect
Guetlein
U.S. Space Force general leading the Golden Dome missile defense program
- theorist
H.R. McMaster
Retired U.S. Army Lt. General; former National Security Advisor
- theorist
Hamish de Bretton-Gordon
Former British Army CBRN colonel and chemical weapons commentator
- theorist
Hanno Pevkur
Former Estonian Minister of Defence; Reform Party leader
- operator
Igor Potapov
- theorist Ukrainian High Command (Stavka), since early 2024
Illya Sekirin
Volunteer turned frontline drone operator, now advising Ukraine's High Command — and the author of the "drone blitz".
- drone operator
- ukraine
- drones
- doctrine
- operator Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (2018-2020)
Jack Shanahan
First director of the Pentagon's Joint AI Center; previously ran Project Maven.
- command
- military ai
- theorist
Jack Watling
- architect
Jeth Rey
Deputy Chief of Staff for Command, Control, Communications, Cyber and Networks, U.S. Army
- architect Anduril Industries (2017-)
Joe Chen
Co-founder of Anduril Industries, the hardware engineer of the founding team.
- defense tech founder
- engineering
- theorist Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
Kateryna Bondar
A Ukrainian defence-technology analyst at CSIS, tracking how Russia and Ukraine are wiring AI, drones and command-and-control into the war.
- analyst
- ukraine
- ai warfare
- drones
- architect
Kathy Warden
President and CEO of Northrop Grumman
- theorist
Keir Giles
Russia analyst and senior fellow, Chatham House
- theorist
Keith Kellogg
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General and former Special Envoy for Ukraine
- architect
Ken Wilsbach
24th Chief of Staff, United States Air Force
- operator
Kenneth Wilsbach
24th Chief of Staff, United States Air Force
- operator
Khalifa Haftar
Field Marshal and commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA)
- theorist
Kiron Skinner
Political scientist and former State Dept. Director of Policy Planning
- operator
Konstantin Vorontsov
Deputy Director, Non-Proliferation and Arms Control, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- operator
Kyrylo Budanov
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine; former chief of military intelligence
- theorist
Lord Ricketts
Crossbench peer and former senior British diplomat
- operator
Madyar
Ukrainian drone unit commander, 'Madyar's Birds'
- architect UA Dynamics
Maksym Muzyka
CEO of UA Dynamics, the Ukrainian maker of the Punisher reusable strike drone
- defense tech architect
- autonomous systems
- architect
Maria Berlinska
Reconnaissance veteran, drone-training pioneer, and founder of Victory Neurones
- theorist
Mark Galeotti
British historian and analyst specialising in Russian security affairs; director, Mayak Intelligence
- architect Anduril Industries (2017-)
Matt Grimm
Co-founder and chief operating officer of Anduril Industries.
- defense tech coo
- operations
- architect
Micael Johansson
President and CEO of Saab AB
- architect Destinus (2021-)
Mikhail Kokorich
Russian-born physicist turned serial founder, now building Europe's cheap interceptors and cruise drones at Destinus — after a US national-security review forced him out of his own space company.
- defense tech founder
- defense tech ceo
- autonomous systems
- witness Rybar
Mikhail Zvinchuk
Founder of Rybar, the largest Russian military-analysis Telegram channel
- information operations
- theorist
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf
Speaker of the Iranian Parliament and former IRGC brigadier general
- architect Private sector (2026-)
Mykhailo Fedorov
Ukraine's former defence minister and digital-transformation chief — architect of the Army of Drones and BRAVE1, now launching the "Army of Robots" from the private sector.
- government
- defense tech architect
- defense tech founder
- drone procurement
- architect Swarmer (2026-)
Mykhailo Nestor
Chief product officer of Swarmer; former chief product officer of Ukraine's Kyivstar Group.
- defense tech exec
- product leadership
- operator
Oleksandr Syrskyi
Commander-in-Chief, Armed Forces of Ukraine
- architect
Owen West
Director, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU)
- theorist
Pål Jonson
Minister for Defence of Sweden, Moderate Party
- architect Anduril Industries (2017-)
Palmer Luckey
Founded Anduril Industries to bring Silicon Valley engineering to defence procurement.
- defense tech ceo
- autonomous systems
- theorist Center for a New American Security
Paul Scharre
Former Pentagon policy lead writing the canonical books on autonomous weapons.
- defense policy
- autonomous weapons
- theorist
Pete Hegseth
29th U.S. Secretary of Defense, former Fox News host
- operator
Randall Reed
Commander, U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)
- theorist
Randall Schriver
Chairman, Project 2049 Institute; former Asst. Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Affairs
- operator
Robert "Madiar" Brovdi
Commander, Unmanned Systems Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
- architect US Department of Defense (2014-2017)
Robert Work
Architect of the Pentagon's Third Offset Strategy and the original sponsor of Project Maven.
- doctrine
- civilian leadership
- theorist
Roderich Kiesewetter
CDU Member of the Bundestag and former Bundeswehr general staff officer
- theorist
Rutte
Secretary General of NATO since October 2024
- operator
Samuel Paparo
Commander, United States Indo-Pacific Command
- witness WarGonzo
Semyon Pegov
WarGonzo founder; war correspondent decorated with the Order of Courage
- information operations
- theorist
Sergei Shoigu
Secretary of Russia's Security Council; former Minister of Defence
- architect
Sergey Chemezov
CEO of Rostec, Russia's state-owned defense and technology conglomerate
- architect Swarmer (2023-)
Serhii Kupriienko
Co-founder and global CEO of Swarmer, the first Ukrainian defence-tech company to list on the Nasdaq.
- defense tech ceo
- drone swarm
- architect
Serhiy Prytula
Founder, Prytula Charity Foundation — Ukraine
- theorist
Seth Jones
Senior Vice President, Center for Strategic and International Studies
- operator US Army (2003-2008)
Stanley McChrystal
Former JSOC commander who pioneered industrial-scale data-driven targeting in Iraq.
- special operations
- command
- architect Donaustahl (2020s-)
Stefan Thumann
Founder and chief designer of Donaustahl, whose wooden-airframe loitering munitions fly with Ukrainian intelligence units — and who has lived in hiding since being warned of a Russian plot to kill him.
- defense tech founder
- defense tech ceo
- drones
- architect
Stephen Feinberg
US Deputy Secretary of Defense; oversight of the Pentagon's new autonomy czar
- architect
Steve Feinberg
Deputy Secretary of Defense; co-founder, Cerberus Capital Management
- theorist
Todd Young
Senior U.S. Senator for Indiana (R), member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
- architect Anduril Industries (2017-)
Trae Stephens
Co-founder and executive chairman of Anduril and a Founders Fund partner who connects Silicon Valley capital to defence.
- defense tech founder
- venture capital
- architect
Troy Meink
27th Secretary of the Air Force, United States
- operator
Valerii Zaluzhnyi
Former Commander-in-Chief, Armed Forces of Ukraine; Ambassador to the UK
- operator
Valery Baranov
Russian ground forces general, North Caucasus and counterterrorism commands
- theorist
Valery Gerasimov
Chief of the General Staff, Russian Armed Forces
- theorist
Vladimir Putin
President of Russia, former FSB director
- theorist
Volodymyr Zelensky
President of Ukraine, commander-in-chief directing the war against Russia
- operator
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine, overseeing wartime defence and military technology
- architect
Woodburn
CEO of BAE Systems, one of the world's largest defence contractors
- witness VGTRK (Russia-24 / Russia-1)
Yevgeny Poddubny
Russia-24 special correspondent; Hero of the Russian Federation
- information operations
- operator
Yevhenii Khmara
Minister of Defence of Ukraine, overseeing national air defence
- theorist
Yuri Felshtinsky
Russian-American historian and author on Soviet and post-Soviet power
- witness Segodnya.ru
Yuri Kotenok
Voenkor Kotenok — hawkish war correspondent and Segodnya.ru editor
- information operations
- witness The World Today with Yuri Podolyaka
Yuri Podolyaka
Ukrainian-born blogger behind Russia's largest war commentary channel
- information operations
- theorist
Yuriy Sak
- architect
Zaluzhny
Ukrainian general; former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Showing 106 people.
For broader figures in AI — researchers, founders, ethicists not specifically focused on warfare — see the Prometheans 100+ register on prometheusroot.com.