JIM MITRE: Good afternoon. My name is Jim Mitre, and until recently, I was a senior advisor to the deputy secretary of defense. My job was to help establish the CDAO, and the CDAO, the chief digital and artificial intelligence officer, just hit full operating capability last week.
Now, in the Department of Defense often times after a mission, there’ll be held what’s often referred to as a hot wash, which is an opportunity to reflect on the mission, tease out some of the key lessons learned and think about the implications for the future.
So in the spirit of a hot wash, the deputy secretary and I are now going to engage in a fireside chat to review some of the thinking and really understand her observations and insights about the CDAO.
No further ado, it is my distinct privilege and honor to introduce the deputy secretary of defense, Dr. Kathleen Hicks.
DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE KATHLEEN HICKS: Hi. Good afternoon, Jim. And I note there’s no fire, but I’m letting it go. We’ll fireside chat regardless.
(LAUGHTER)
MR. MITRE: Indeed. Great. Well, one of the things that I’m interested in understanding a little bit more, and I expect many on the line are as well, is some of the initial observations you had when you first came into the Department of Defense and were thinking that there is a specific problem here that you were trying to solve with the CDAO. How do you think about articulating that problem?
DR. HICKS: Sure. So as you know, Jim, I’m at my…
