DISA & Cyber Defense Command Leverage AI Capabilities

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For large, data-heavy organizations, artificial intelligence (AI) could be a revolutionary capability.

“We use those tools to help us think through and support being more effective at daily routine tasks, just like everybody across the world is doing,” said Lt. Gen. Paul Stanton, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and commander of the Department of War (DOW) Cyber Defense Command.

Additionally, DISA and DOW Cyber Defense Command are using AI tools to improve warfighting enabling capabilities, Stanton noted.

“Within our J8, as an example, we are leveraging AI to support our requirement to perform an audition,” he said. “When you have a portfolio that is significantly large and suitably complex, AI is a game changer in our ability to look at transactions and tie them back to their source in order to pass an audit, which we have done and are on pace to do it again.”

AI is also being incorporated into defensive cyber operations, the commander said.

“Inside of our data platforms, we have embedded AI tools that lower the barrier to entry to analyzing and using that massive amount of data effectively,” Stanton said, noting the use of GenAI.mil that simplifies complex data.

GenAI.mil is the Pentagon’s own AI platform launched in December 2025 with the help of Google Cloud’s Gemini capabilities. The department provides free training of the tool to all its employees, according to the press release.

While humans remain in the loop, AI is helping operations move at speed.

“There are different risk-based decisions where AI can help,” Stanton said. “As an example, in a very low-risk environment with no impact to the warfighting operational mission, looking at URLs and websites on the open internet, we might very well use AI to institute a block for a suspicious URL.” The change could always be reversed if it is later determined unnecessary.

“Being able to operate at speed is 100% necessary as we watch our adversaries increasingly use AI for their own nefarious intent,” Stanton stated.