Many defense experts in the United States believe that implementing artificial intelligence (AI) to its fullest potential could be a decisive element in maintaining the United States’ military dominance. However, despite the potential importance of this technology to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), military research and development funding for AI represents only a small portion of the total investment in this technology.1 Instead, most of the recent breakthroughs in creating AI algorithms have come from software companies that focus on the commercial market. And, unlike traditional defense contractors, for whom DoD is a significant if not primary customer, DoD constitutes a relatively small percentage of the overall customer base for most of these high-tech software companies. Because these companies employ some of the leading AI talent and have built some of the most-capable technical frameworks, drawing on these experts’ talents could benefit DoD’s efforts to leverage AI for its own transformation.

This study aimed to capture and understand the views of software engineers and other technical staff working in the private sector about potential DoD applications using AI.