The AI Policy Podcast

In this episode of the AI Policy Podcast, Wadhwani AI Center Director Aalok Mehta is joined by Arun Gupta, CEO of NobleReach Foundation and experienced venture capitalist, for a discussion on bridging the technology talent gap between the private and public sectors. They will cover the mission and accomplishments of NobleReach, the newly launched US Tech Force and its implications for AI adoption across the federal government, and how AI is reshaping opportunities for the next generation of workers.

Arun Gupta is CEO of NobleReach Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young technologists to move between the private and public sectors. He is the co-author of two books, Venture Meets Mission: Aligning People, Purpose, and Profit to Innovate and Transform Society and The Mission Generation: Reclaim Your Purpose, Rewrite Success, Rebuild Our Future. Arun is also a Lecturer at Stanford University and an Adjunct Entrepreneurship Professor and Senior Advisor to the Provost at Georgetown University.

This event is made possible by general support to CSIS.

In this episode, Aalok Mehta makes his first appearance as the new host of the AI Policy Podcast. We briefly discuss what listeners can expect in this new chapter of the podcast before diving into Pope Leo XIV's recent encyclical on AI (1:45). We also cover President Trump's postponed executive order on AI and cybersecurity, including what the EO likely contained and why its signing ceremony was ultimately called off (18:09).

In this episode, founding host Gregory C. Allen announces his departure from CSIS and introduces Aalok Mehta, Director of the Wadhwani AI Center, as the new host of the AI Policy Podcast.

In this episode, we are joined by Wadhwani AI Center fellow Kateryna Bondar to discuss her recent reports on Russia's military AI, "How Russia Is Building a Sovereign Drone Ecosystem for AI-Driven Autonomy" and "How Russia Is Reshaping Command and Control for AI-Enabled Warfare." 

We cover Kateryna's background (1:07) before doing a deep dive into the role technological innovation has played in the conflict in Ukraine (7:49). Kateryna then explains why AI capabilities in warfare "cannot be built, can only be grown" (22:24) and unpacks the report's claim that Russia has likely fielded a fully autonomous unmanned system in combat (53:02).

Read Kateryna's report on Russia's AI-enabled C2 architecture here. 

Read her report on Russia's sovereign drone ecosystem here.

In this special episode, we sit down with Katrina Manson, author of Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, and the Dawn of AI Warfare. We explore what drew Katrina to this story (2:31), trace the turbulent history of Project Maven and the obstacles it has overcome (8:03), examine how the U.S. leveraged Maven to support Ukraine against Russia (31:32), and discuss Katrina's latest reporting on Maven's role in the ongoing conflict with Iran (47:40).

You can order a copy of Katrina's book here.