NatSec Tech

In this episode of NatSec Tech, host Jeanne Meserve sits down with Dr. Erik Brynjolfsson, Director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab and member of the newly formed SCSP-NVIDIA Task Force on AI and the Future of Work. 

Dr. Brynjolfsson argues that we are entering a "Second Machine Age" that will be ten times faster and significantly larger than the Industrial Revolution. As artificial intelligence races ahead of our economic institutions, the United States faces a critical turning point: will we lead the most advanced workforce in history, or succumb to a new "technology shock"?

NatSec Tech is a product of the Special Competitive Studies Project.

In this episode of NatSec Tech, host Jeanne Meserve explores India's emerging role as a global AI superpower. Guests Rama Elluru, Senior Advisor at the Special Competitive Studies Project, and Eli Sugarman, Director of Special Projects at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, provide a firsthand account of the massive AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. The discussion highlights a shift in the global AI narrative from Western-centric safety concerns to the population-scale adoption of technology in the Global South.

NatSec Tech is a product of the Special Competitive Studies Project.

In this episode of NatSec Tech, recorded at the Munich Security Conference, host Jeanne Meserve is joined by André Loesekrug-Pietri, Chairman and Scientific Director of the Joint European Disruptive Initiative (JEDI). JEDI focuses on accelerating frontier technologies across energy, life sciences, and computing.

Loesekrug-Pietri offers a candid assessment of why the West must move past "innovation theater"—the tendency to talk about technological advancement without fundamentally changing how organizations operate. The conversation explores the urgent need to move from linear, years-long procurement cycles to an exponential model measured in days and weeks, as seen on the modern battlefields of Ukraine.

NatSec Tech is a product of the Special Competitive Studies Project.

Jeanne Meserve is joined by Sree Ramaswamy, Chief Innovation Officer at the NobleReach Foundation. The conversation explores how NobleReach is addressing this through the NobleReach Scholars Program, which recruits engineering and computer science graduates to enter public service for short-term, high-impact stints. The conversations cover the critical need to bridge the "tech talent gap" within the U.S., the U.S. Tech Force initiative, and the necessity of creating "dual citizens" who can move fluidly between the public and private sectors to maintain America's technological edge.

NatSec Tech is a product of the Special Competitive Studies Project.

Jeanne Meserve is joined by Steve Blank, adjunct professor at Stanford and co-founder of the Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation. They discuss the Department of Defense's proposal to transform its defense acquisition system. The conversation covers the shift from a requirements-based process to a problem-solving model, the introduction of portfolio management, and the challenges of integrating Silicon Valley-style innovation into a three-million-person organization to better compete with adversaries like China.

NatSec Tech is a product of the Special Competitive Studies Project.