The Cipher Brief

DNI Day One: Three Strategic Decisions for National Security Evolution

The next Director of National Intelligence will inherit an intelligence enterprise confronting AI-driven disruption, strategic competition, and mounting resource pressures. Shelby Pierson and Renee Novakoff examine three critical decisions that will shape the future of the Intelligence Community.

Authors’ Note:This paper is intended to frame a discussion, not settle one.Too often, debates about intelligence reform begin with organizational [...] More

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Cipher Brief Experts bring context to today’s global events

Why Human Intelligence Matters More in an AI World

Why Human Intelligence Matters More in an AI World

An impending casualty of artificial intelligence, we are told, is the human spy. The conventional wisdom is that in our AI future, there’s little [...] More

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THE NAME GAME: The Trump administration’s Department of War announced Tuesday that U.S. Indo-Pacific Command — USINDOPACOM — will henceforth be known again as U.S. Pacific Command. The move restores that name that was changed by (checks notes) the first Trump administration. In 2018, SECDEF Jim Mattis renamed it INDOPACOM to signal Washington's growing strategic embrace of India. On Tuesday, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth reversed that noting on social media: "U.S. Pacific Command…is back." The rename is the latest in a cascade of rebranding exercises by an administration that has already rechristened the Gulf of Mexico, [...] More

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State Secrets

America's national security challenges are evolving faster than ever—and the traditional defense innovation system is struggling to keep pace.

In this episode of State Secrets, Cipher Brief CEO Suzanne Kelly sits down with two of the most influential voices in defense innovation: Steve Blank, creator of the Lean Startup methodology and co-founder of Hacking for Defense, and Pete Newell, retired Army officer, founder of BMNT, and co-founder of Hacking for Defense.

Together, they discuss how students at leading universities are tackling real-world challenges from the Pentagon, intelligence community, and NASA; why AI is changing the way innovators build solutions; and what it will take for the United States to compete with increasingly adaptive adversaries like China.

The conversation explores defense acquisition reform, the Pentagon's innovation ecosystem, startup culture in national security, the rise of defense venture capital, and why the biggest challenge may not be technology—but people.

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