Robert Work
Architect of the Pentagon's Third Offset Strategy and the original sponsor of Project Maven.
architectUS Department of Defense (2014-2017)
Profile
Deputy Secretary of Defense from 2014 to 2017 under both the Obama and Trump administrations. Drove the Third Offset Strategy — the doctrine that AI, autonomy, and human-machine teaming would be the next decisive military advantage for the US. Chartered the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team, better known as Project Maven, in April 2017 to apply computer vision to the deluge of full-motion video coming off uncrewed aerial systems. Co-chaired the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence (NSCAI) from 2018 to 2021.
Why they matter
More than any other single official, set the framework within which the US military buys and applies AI today; the Maven contract he authorised remains the template for Pentagon-Silicon Valley partnerships.
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Last researched .