2027 Theme: Securing the Autonomous Mission: Cyber Resilience, Decision Advantage and Human Command
Artificial/Super intelligence is rapidly evolving from a tool that generates information to one that can take action. Emerging autonomous systems can plan, coordinate and execute tasks with increasing independence, creating new opportunities for mission effectiveness as well as new cybersecurity challenges.
For defense, intelligence and critical infrastructure leaders, the challenge extends beyond securing individual AI/SI models. The real question is how to protect the data, identities, permissions, communications and oversight mechanisms that determine what autonomous systems can do, and whether their decisions and actions can be trusted.
As autonomous technologies become more integrated into military operations and national security missions, both on Earth and in outer space, how can the United States and allied nations harness their advantages while preserving human command, mission assurance and strategic superiority?
This year's theme invites contributors to explore how government, military, industry and research organizations can build, employ and defend autonomous capabilities in contested environments throughout all five warfighting domains: land, maritime, air, space and cyberspace. Successful submissions should connect emerging risks to practical solutions involving technology, operational doctrine, acquisition, workforce development and accountability.
Ideal submissions will:
- Explain how agentic AI and autonomous systems could reshape cyber defense, offensive cyber operations and mission risk.
- Propose technical, operational or policy approaches that preserve trusted decision-making and accountable action.
- Demonstrate how solutions can be implemented, tested and sustained in realistic operational environments.
- Examine the tradeoffs among speed, autonomy, interoperability, security and human oversight.
Suggested topics include:
- Securing agentic AI: Identity, access and safeguards for autonomous systems.
- Autonomous cyber operations: Machine-speed detection, response and defense.
- Human command and accountability: Oversight, intervention and responsibility.
- Decision integrity: Protecting data, recommendations and workflows from manipulation.
- Mission continuity: Operating through cyber attacks and degraded environments.
- Resilient critical infrastructure: Securing interconnected national systems.
- Space domain evolution: Advancing capabilities and frameworks operating in outer space.
- Coalition interoperability: Building trust across allied networks and services.
- Assurance before deployment: Testing autonomous systems under realistic conditions.
- Acquisition and supply-chain trust: Managing third-party AI and software risk.
- Workforce readiness: Preparing leaders and operators for human-machine teaming.
The Central Question for 2027
As machines gain greater freedom to act, how do we preserve the trust, accountability and human control that mission success requires?
The 2027 theme builds on the 2026 focus on generative AI-enabled threats and capabilities by examining the next frontier: securing autonomous action and ensuring that increasingly independent systems remain trustworthy, resilient and mission-aligned.
Submission Guidelines:
- Length: 1,200–1,600 words
- Style: Journalistic (no academic citations; include quotes, examples and attribution)
- Content must be original and unpublished.
- Submissions should be written by the author(s), with minimal use of generative AI tools (e.g., for grammar checks, outline assistance or headline search engine optimization). Articles that appear to be heavily AI-generated may be disqualified.
- Audience: Senior leaders, decision-makers, cybersecurity professionals in the military, defense and national security industry and research institutions.
Submission deadline: March 1, 2027
Note: Submission link coming soon.
Prizes
The top three authors will each receive a monetary prize and have their articles published by SIGNAL Magazine.
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1st place — $5,000
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2nd place — $2,000
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3rd place — $1,000
Eligibility
Open to industry, academia, government and military at all levels and locations. Employees of AFCEA and their immediate families, or employees of the contest sponsor, are not eligible. Only one submission per individual name, regardless of author or co-author status. An author can include co-authors when submitting; however, regardless of the number of co-authors, only one prize will be paid, as shown above, per winning submission.
EXTRA EXTRA ... If you are interested in writing a shorter piece and qualify as an emerging leader, fill out the form to write for the Disruptive by Design column and be featured in SIGNAL Magazine.