Speakers
Keynote Speakers
Sue Gordon, Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence
The Honorable Susan (Sue) M. Gordon was sworn in as the fifth Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI) on August 7, 2017 and resigned the position in August 2019. As PDDNI, Gordon assisted the DNI in leading the Intelligence Community (IC) and managing the ODNI. In particular, she focused on advancing intelligence integration across the IC, expanding outreach and partnerships, and driving innovation across the Community.
With nearly three decades of experience in the IC, Gordon has served in a variety of leadership roles spanning numerous intelligence organizations and disciplines. She is known for her commitment to diversity and inclusion, and to the women and men of the IC. Most recently, Gordon served as the Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) from 2015 to 2017. Prior to her assignment with NGA, Gordon served for 27 years at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), rising to senior executive positions in each of the Agency’s four directorates: operations, analysis, science and technology, and support. She joined the CIA in 1980 as an analyst in the Office of Scientific and Weapons Research, and went on to serve as the Director of the Office of Advanced Analytic Tools, Director of Special Activities in the Directorate of Science and Technology, Director for Support, and ultimately in concurrent roles as Director of the Information Operations Center and the CIA Director’s senior advisor on cyber. She has been recognized for her creative executive leadership through numerous awards, including the Presidential Rank Award at the distinguished level.
Gordon holds a B.S. in zoology (biomechanics) from Duke University where she was the captain of the Duke Women’s Basketball team. She and her husband, Jim, live in Northern Virginia, and have two adult children who have also chosen to serve their country.
Gen. Jack Shanahan, Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center
Lt. Gen. John N.T. “Jack” Shanahan is the Director of the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, housed within the Office of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer. Gen. Shanahan is responsible for accelerating the delivery of artificial intelligence-enabled capabilities, scaling the department-wide impact of AI, and synchronizing AI activities to expand joint force advantages.
Gen. Shanahan received his commission in 1984 as a distinguished graduate of the ROTC program at the University of Michigan. He has served in a variety of flying, staff and command assignments, most recently as the Director for Defense Intelligence Warfighter Support, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. He was also the Director of the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team (Project Maven), where he led the artificial intelligence pathfinder program charged with accelerating integration of big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Gen. Shanahan also served as the Commander, 25th Air Force, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, where he led 30,000 personnel in worldwide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations and also served as the Commander of the Service Cryptologic Component. In this capacity he was the Air Force's sole authority for matters involving the conduct of cryptologic activities, including the spectrum of missions directly related to both tactical warfighting and national-level operations.
Gen. Shanahan holds a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, and an M.S. in National Security Strategy from the National War College.
Emcee
Ellen McCarthy, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research
Ellen E. McCarthy was sworn in as the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research on January 17, 2019. McCarthy returned to government service after three years in the private sector, where she served as President of Noblis NSP, leading its mission to serve clients in the Intelligence Community (IC). Before joining Noblis, from 2015 to 2018, she capped an over 25-year career in the IC serving as Chief Operating Officer of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. From 2008 to 2012 she served as the President of the Intelligence and National Security Alliance (INSA), which supports government policy and programs relating to cyber security, counter intelligence, acquisition, and homeland security.
From 2004 to 2008, McCarthy was the Director of the Human Capital Management Office and the Acting Director of Security in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. At DoD, she focused on policy development and strategy relating to intelligence reform, resource management, acquisitions, collection authorities, and personnel. McCarthy also served the Director of Intelligence Operations, Strategy, and Policy for the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and played a critical role in moving the USCG intelligence program into the IC, establishing Maritime Intelligence Fusion Centers, expanding USCG attaché presence worldwide, and establishing new intelligence and law enforcement collection capabilities.
McCarthy started her government career as an all-source intelligence analyst at the Office of Naval Intelligence and at Atlantic Fleet. Before joining the IC, she served as a technical research analyst at the Institute for Defense Analysis supporting the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization. McCarthy is a graduate of the University of South Carolina and holds a master’s in public policy from the University of Maryland.
Keynote Interviewer
Jason Matheny, Director, Center for Security and Emerging Technology
Jason Matheny is founding director of Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology. Previously he was Assistant Director of National Intelligence and Director of IARPA, responsible for the development of breakthrough technologies for the U.S. intelligence community. Before IARPA, he worked at Oxford University, the World Bank, the Applied Physics Laboratory, the Center for Biosecurity, and Princeton University, and was the co-founder of two biotechnology companies.
Dr. Matheny is a member of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence and the National Academies’ Intelligence Community Studies Board, and was named one of Foreign Policy’s “Top 50 Global Thinkers.” He is a recipient of the Intelligence Community’s Award for Individual Achievement in Science and Technology, the National Intelligence Superior Service Medal, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He has served on various White House committees related to artificial intelligence, biosecurity, high-performance computing, and quantum information science. He co-led the National AI R&D Strategic Plan released by the White House in 2016 and was a member of the White House Select Committee on AI, created in 2018.
Dr. Matheny holds a Ph.D. in applied economics from Johns Hopkins University, an MPH from Johns Hopkins University, an MBA from Duke University, and a B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Panel 1: International Cooperation and Competition in AI
Tarun Chhabra
Tarun Chhabra is a Senior Fellow at Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology as well as a fellow with the Brookings Institution, where he co-directs an initiative on China’s growing global influence. Previously, Chhabra served on the White House National Security Council staff as Director for Strategic Planning and Director for Human Rights and National Security Issues, and at the Pentagon as a speechwriter for the Secretary of Defense. He also worked in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary General.
Chhabra has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perry World House and a Graduate Fellow at Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. He received his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow for New Americans, an M.Phil. from Oxford, where he was a Marshall Scholar, and a B.A. from Stanford.
Fiona Cunningham
Fiona Cunningham is an Assistant Professor of Political Science and International Affairs at the George Washington University. Her research interests lie at the intersection of technology and conflict, with an empirical focus on China. Dr. Cunningham’s current book project explains how and why states use space, cyber, and conventional missile weapons as substitutes for threats to use nuclear weapons for coercion in limited wars. Her research on China’s nuclear strategy has been published in International Security and has been supported by the Smith Richardson Foundation, China Confucius Studies Program, and the MIT Center for International Studies.
Dr. Cunningham received her Ph.D. in political science in 2018 from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she was a member of the Security Studies Program. She was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Center for International Security and Cooperation at Stanford University from 2018 to 2019 and a Pre-Doctoral Fellow in the Cyber Security Project at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard University from 2017 to 2018. She conducted fieldwork in China from 2015 to 2016 as a joint Ph.D. research fellow at the Renmin University of China in Beijing. Dr. Cunningham also holds a B.A. in politics and international relations from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney, both with first-class honors.
Matthew Daniels
Matthew Daniels is the inaugural Technical Director for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. In this role, he oversees and focuses the department's AI and machine learning research portfolio, architects future capabilities, engages the research and technology organizations of U.S. allies, and advises the undersecretary of defense for research and engineering.
Previously, Dr. Daniels served as an advisor to the director of net assessment in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. His work focused on U.S. space programs and artificial intelligence at the whole-enterprise level for DoD. He was also a senior technical advisor in the office of the NASA administrator. Outside of the U.S. government, he has had academic affiliations at MIT, Stanford, and Georgetown.
Dr. Daniels was a research engineer at NASA, with work in stochastic control, probability theory, and new science missions. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in engineering from Stanford. He was a Fellow at Stanford's Center for International Security and Cooperation, and is a recipient of the Department of Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. He received his B.A. in physics from Cornell.
Michael Horowitz
Michael C. Horowitz is a professor of political science and the associate director of Perry World House at the University of Pennsylvania. He received the 2017 Karl Deutsch Award from the International Studies Association, presented annually to a scholar under age 40 who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to the study of international relations and peace research.
Dr. Horowitz is the co-author of the book Why Leaders Fight, and the author of The Diffusion of Military Power: Causes and Consequences for International Politics. His research interests include technology and global politics, military innovation, the role of leaders in international politics, and forecasting. He has published in a wide array of peer reviewed journals, as well as more popular outlets such as the New York Times and Politico.
Dr. Horowitz previously worked for the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy in the Department of Defense. He is affiliated with the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and the Center for a New American Security. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dr. Horowitz has held fellowships at the Weatherhead Center, Olin Institute, and Belfer Center at Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in government. He received his B.A. in political science from Emory University.
Stephanie O’Sullivan
Stephanie O'Sullivan served as the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence at Office of the Director of National Intelligence from February 2011 to January 2017. In that role, O'Sullivan focused on the operations of the ODNI and the Intelligence Community (IC), as well as IC integration initiatives and resource challenges. Before this assignment she served as the Associate Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, where she worked with the Director and Deputy Director in the overall leadership of the Agency, with emphasis on day-to-day management of the organization.
Prior to becoming Associate Deputy Director of the CIA, O'Sullivan spent four years leading the CIA's Directorate of Science and Technology (DS&T), the part of the Agency responsible for developing and deploying innovative technology in support of intelligence collection and analysis. In her career, she held various management positions in the CIA's DS&T, where her responsibilities included systems acquisition and research and development in fields ranging from power sources to biotechnology. O'Sullivan joined the CIA in 1995 after working for the Office of Naval Intelligence and for TRW.
Panel 2: Should AI Companies Work With Government?
Jack Clark
Jack Clark is the Policy Director for OpenAI, an AI research organization ensuring that the benefits of artificial general intelligence are widely and evenly distributed. He predominantly works on policy and safety issues. Clark also helps develop the AI Index, an AI forecasting and progress initiative that is part of the Stanford One Hundred Year Study on AI.
Previously, Clark has worked as a reporter for Bloomberg Business and The Register. In his spare time he writes an AI newsletter, Import AI (importai.net), which is read by more than ten thousand experts.
Richard Danzig
Richard Danzig’s primary activities in recent years have been as a consultant to U.S. Intelligence Agencies and the Department of Defense on national security issues. Dr. Danzig has served on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, the Secretary of Defense’s Defense Policy Board, the Homeland Security Secretary’s Advisory Council. He was Secretary of the Navy from 1998 to 2001 and was the Under Secretary of the Navy for several yeas prior. From during the presidential election of 2008, Dr. Danzig was a senior advisor to then-Senator Obama on national security issues.
Dr. Danzig is a Senior Advisor to the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and has been on the boards of countless organizations, including the Idaho National Laboratories’ Innovation Center, the Toyota Research Institute, and the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. He is a member of the Cyber Resilience Forum of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and a Director of the Center for a New American Security.
Dr. Danzig has a B.A. from Reed College, a J.D. from Yale Law School, and Bachelor of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar.
Melissa Flagg
Melissa Flagg is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. Previously, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research. In that role, she was responsible for policy and oversight of Department of Defense science and technology programs, including basic research through advanced technology development and the DoD laboratory enterprise.
Dr. Flagg has worked at the State Department, the Office of Naval Research, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Army Research Laboratory. She also ran her own consulting business and was the Chief Technology Officer of a small consumer start-up. She has served on numerous boards including the National Academy of Sciences Air Force Studies Board and the Department of Commerce Emerging Technology Research Advisory Committee; she is currently on the board of Humanity 2050. She holds a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical chemistry and a B.S. in pharmacy.
Raj Shah
Raj M. Shah is currently the Co-founder and Chairman of Arceo.ai, a start-up powering new approaches to cybersecurity. Previously, he was the Managing Partner of the Pentagon's Defense Innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), reporting to the Secretary of Defense. Shah led DIUx in its efforts to strengthen the U.S. Armed Forces through contractual and cultural bridges between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon.
Previously he was senior director of strategy at Palo Alto Networks, which acquired Morta Security, where he was Co-founder and CEO. He began his business career as a consultant with McKinsey & Co. Shah serves as a reserve F-16 pilot in the Air National Guard and has completed multiple combat tours. He holds an A.B. from Princeton University and an MBA from The Wharton School. He is also a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.