Defense Budget Reductions Seen as New Opportunity for Innovation
The recent budget and personnel cuts within the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) are forcing Pentagon officials to initiate changes in their respective branches. Amidst these differences and despite acknowledging it as a challenge, the chief information security officer with the U.S. Army called the executive branch’s efforts to economize opportunities for quicker and more efficient innovation. She explained these opportunities during a panel at TechNet Cyber 2025 in Baltimore.
“We talk about the budget reductions and personnel changes; we like to look at it as opportunities,” said Brig. Gen. Urbi Lewis, director for cybersecurity and chief information security officer for the Headquarters Department of the Army in the Office of the Chief Information Officer. “We’ve been given the green light to go faster, to reimagine things, to now employ at a faster [rate] or accelerate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), freeing up our workforce to focus on those mission-critical capabilities. When we talk about eliminating waste, we’re looking at data rationalization. We’ve been closing data centers forever, but we’re finally doing that.”
Furthermore, Army officials are using tools to find efficiencies while also analyzing their information technology services to assess what is effective and what is necessary. The new practice of quick authorization is also allowing Army leaders to make changes to their established systems.
“We’re getting rid of legacy systems,” Lewis said. “This challenge, if you will, has again given us that green light. We’re looking at our Army regulations. They are often outdated and voluminous, so we are looking to skinny that down.”
“We’re listening to the warfighter,” Lewis added. “Again, we’re enabling that AI and that ML to do those things that take hours to do. So, that is how we look at it, more like an opportunity as opposed to a challenge. Yes, it’s time to go. We will accelerate. We will accelerate fast, but we will also be smart about it. So, it’s about securing the data, data centricity, interoperability, standards, resilience and survivability.”
As for other branches of the military, U.S. Navy official Jane Rathbun said they will not know immediately how much the budget cuts will affect their work and progress. She said it's a stressful time, but she acknowledges that it is an opportunity for technology.
It’s about securing the data, data centricity, interoperability, standards, resilience and survivability.
“I don’t really know the impact of what’s going to happen because this wasn’t a targeted maneuver to take out certain organizations or certain functions,”Rathbun, chief information officer of the Department of the Navy, said during the panel discussion. “It was ‘quickly get rid of workforce.’”
“It’s going to be probably a year before we really know the impact of who left and how critical some of those functions were, and can we hire behind them or do we need to rethink our workforce,” Rathbun added. “Again, it’s an opportunity for technology. Can we get rid of functions that were critical, but maybe now AI can help us do those? So, it’s going to be, for me, an exciting time. It’s opportunity, but it’s also going to be incredibly stressful.”
These comments were made after the Department of Government Efficiency located nearly $6 billion in possible savings within the DOD as of early May, according to DOD officials.
TechNet Cyber is organized by AFCEA International. SIGNAL Media is the official media of AFCEA International.
