AUVSI Defense is designed to align U.S. military priorities with the trusted technologies, acquisition pathways, and industrial base capacity required to deliver robotics and autonomous systems at speed and scale. The program focuses on the levers that matter—acquisition reform, strategy, procurement, and funding—turning innovation into operational capability and giving industry the clarity needed to shape effective capture strategies.
Through sessions led by defense officials, program executives, acquisition leaders, and technology experts, attendees gain a clear view of capability gaps, transition pathways, and emerging opportunities across air, ground, maritime, space, and cyber domains.
This is more than just insight. It is access.
AUVSI Defense connects industry directly to the priorities shaping procurement and deployment, strengthening the industrial base, and accelerating mission-ready robotics and autonomy into the hands of the warfighter.
AUVSI Defense 2025 Steering Committee
- Hank Adams, HA Solutions
- Tom Bailey, Advanced Technology International (ATI)
- John (“JC”) Coffey, Cherokee Nation Federal
- Randall Culpepper, Parley Tent
- Thomas Deale, Northrup Grumman Corporation
- Matt Dooley, Forterra
- Dorothy Engelhardt, US Navy
- Jordan Fletcher, Hypergiant
- Colleen Hahn, Cellula Robotics
- Stu Hatfield, US Army G8
- Orin Hoffman, The Engine
- Rob Holzer, Herren Associates
- Heather Hopkins, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
- Dan Imbat, Shield AI
- Jonathan Kim, MITRE
- Cara LaPointe, Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology
- Barbara Lindauer, Lockheed Martin Sikorsky Autonomy Programs
- Chris O’Donnell, O2 Defense
- Chris Orlowski, Anduril Industries
- Thomas Reynolds, Reynolds Strategies, LLC
- Warren Sponsler, NAMC – The National Advanced Mobility Consortium
- Jim Thomsen, Seaborne Defense, LLC
- Ron Tremain, Airbus Helicopters
- Mat Winter, Winter Strategic Solutions
Featured Voices from Past AUVSI Defense Events
- Joe Courtney
House Armed Services Committee and Chairman of the Sea power and Projection Forces Subcommittee: (D-CT) US House of Representatives - Jim Langevin
Senior Member of House Armed Services Committee and Chairman of the Intelligence and Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee; (D-RI) US House of Representatives - Commander, Air Force Research Laboratory
- Major General Michelle Link
Commanding General, 75th U.S. Army Reserve Innovation Command - Lieutenant General Francis L. Donovan
Vice Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command - Vice Admiral Brad Cooper
Deputy Commander, U.S. Central Command - Michael Kuenzli
Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Defense Exports and Cooperation - Brent Ingraham
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Platform and Weapons Portfolio Management- Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment - Doug Beck
Director, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) - Dr. Amy Sunshine Smith-Carroll
Director Surface Warfare, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment Department of Defense - Dave Adams
Director – Warfighting Effectiveness, Assessments, and Readiness (CPF N9WAR) - Michael Stewart
Director, Disruptive Capabilities Office - Dr. Matt Turek
Deputy Director Information Innovation Office (I2O) at Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) - Sue Gordon
Former Principal Deputy Director, National Intelligence - CAPT Colin Corridan
Commodore Task Force 59, Commander Unmanned and Artificial Intelligence Integration - Acting Chief of Responsible AI, U.S. Department of Defense
- Captain Justin Quinn
Director of NATO Maritime Unmanned Systems Innovation Coordination Cell (MUSIC^2) & Secretary of the NATO Joint Capabilities Group for Maritime Unmanned Systems (JCGMUS) - Acting Principal Director for Trusted Artificial Intelligence and Autonomy Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering
- Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition
- Principal Military Deputy Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition)
- Dorothy Engelhart
Director, Unmanned Systems, for Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Ship - Steve Kinskie
Executive Director, J35, Defense Logistics Agency - John Garstka
Director, Cyber Warfare, DASD (Platforms & Weapons Portfolio Management) OUSD(A&S) - Stu Hatfield
Deputy Division Chief, Human-Machine Integration Division, Army G8 - Director, AFWERX
- Russell Bailey
Deputy Director, Daniel K. Inouye AsiaPacific Center for Security Studies (DKI APCSS) - Rob Monto
Technical Director, Army Rapid Technology Capabilities Office (RCCTO), U.S. Army - David Michelson
Director, Autonomy Portfolio, Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) - Captain Pete Small
PEO Unmanned and Small Combatants, PMS-406, US Navy - Dr. Steven Rogers
Senior Scientist, Air Force Research Laboratory - WGCDR Keirin Joyce
Chief Engineer RPAS, Royal Australian Air Force - Technical Director, Ocean, Atmosphere & Space Research Division, Office of Naval Research, U.S. Navy
- Don Sheehan
Contingency Operations & Disruptive Capabilities Lead, Program Executive Office, Unmanned Aviation & Strike Weapons, U.S. Navy - Chief Systems Engineer, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition
- Dr. Bob Sadowski
Senior Scientist for Robotics Research, Technology and Integration Directorate, DEVCOM Ground Vehicle Systems Center, U.S. Army - Dr. Thomas Apker
Chief Scientist, Globally Contested Logistics and Supply Chains, MITRE - Steve Bradford
Chief Scientist for Architecture and Next Generation Air Transportation System Development, FAA - Director, Ground Vehicle Intelligence Systems Ground Vehicle Systems Center, U.S. Army
- Associate Director, Ground Vehicle Robotics, U.S. Army
- Yudi Carmona
Associate Director for Industry Engagement, Office of Small Business Programs, Department of Defense - Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Institute for Assured Autonomy
- Deputy Director, Integrated Warfare (N9IB) , Unmanned Task Force Lead, U.S. Navy
- Marie Bussiere
Digital Transformation Executive, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport - Deputy Director, Navy Unmanned Task Force, U.S. Navy
- Program Executive Office, Unmanned and Small Combatants, U.S. Navy
- Director, Warfare Integration, N9I, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations
- Program Executive Officer for Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons, U.S. Navy
- Director, Operations & Integration, G2, U.S. Army
- UTM Deputy Program Manager, NASA
- Program Manager, Tactical Technology Office, DARPA, Senior Scientific Technical Manager, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific, U.S. Navy
- Program Manager – PMS 408, U.S. Navy
- COL Ken Bernier
Program Manager, Future Battle Platforms, PEO Ground Combat Systems, U.S. Army - Dr. Whitney Mason
Program Manager, Microsystems Technology Office, DARPA - Deputy Program Manager, Unmanned Maritime Systems program office, PMS 406, U.S. Navy
- Assistant Program Manager, PEO USC, U.S. Navy
- Director UAS Family of Systems, U.S. Army
- Mine Warfare Senior Leader, PEO USC, U.S. Navy
- Technical Director, Expeditionary Missions PMS 408, U.S. Navy
- COL Danielle Medaglia
Project Manager Unmanned Aircraft Systems US Army - PdM, Robotic Combat Vehicle
- LCS Mission Modules (PMS 420), U.S. Navy
- Chief Engineer, Naval Expeditionary Department, N234, MITRE
- Ronald O’Rourke
Specialist in Naval Affairs, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress - RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery
Senior Director & Senior Fellow Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation - Deputy Director of Analysis and Research Fellow: Georgetown’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology
- Beth Meinert
Senior Vice President and General Manager of MITRE Public Sector - Bryan Clark
Senior Fellow & Director, Center for Defense Concepts and Technology, The Hudson Institute - Dr. Henrik Christensen
Qualcomm Chancellor’s Chair of Robot Systems at Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering UC San Diego Director of the Contextual Robotics Institute - Director of Autonomous Systems Mission Area, MIT Lincoln Labs
