Theme 3
“SI and the Leader’s Role”
As emerging technologies reshape operations, leaders must adapt to an automated environment without surrendering human accountability. Panelists will examine how to leverage powerful SI tools while maintaining the wisdom, curiosity, and critical judgment required to override the algorithm when necessary.
Keynote Speaker:
Lt. Gen. John N.T. Shanahan, USAF, Ret.
Lieutenant General John (Jack) N.T. Shanahan, United States Air Force, Retired, retired in 2020 after a 36-year military career. In his final assignment he served as the inaugural Director of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) where he was responsible for accelerating the delivery of AI-enabled capabilities, scaling the department-wide impact of AI, and synchronizing AI activities to expand joint force advantages. Lt. Gen. Shanahan received his commission in 1984 as a distinguished graduate of the ROTC program at the University of Michigan. He has served in a variety of operational and staff positions in various fields including flying, intelligence, policy, and command and control. He commanded at the squadron, group, wing, Agency, and Numbered Air Force levels. As the first Director of the Algorithmic Warfare Cross-Functional Team (Project Maven), Jack established and led DoD’s pathfinder AI fielding program charged with bringing AI capabilities to intelligence collection and analysis.
Jack is also a 2022 graduate of the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Master of International Studies program and serves on the NCSU School of Public and International Affairs Advisory Council. He serves as an advisor to the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) Defense Panel. He is an Adjunct Senior Fellow with the Technology and National Security Program at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS); is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association (IEEE-SA) Autonomous Weapons Systems Assurance and Safety Subcommittee; serves on the Advisory Group for the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) Hamilton Center on Industrial Strategy; and is a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) Committee on Testing, Evaluating, and Assessing Artificial Intelligence-Enabled Systems under Operational Conditions for the Department of the Air Force. He serves as a consultant on the use of AI-enabled technologies for national security.
Panelists:
Dr. Mary (Missy) Cummings
Professor Mary (Missy) Cummings received her B.S. in Mathematics from the US Naval Academy in 1988, her M.S. in Space Systems Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in 1994, and her Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2004. A naval officer and military pilot from 1988-1999, she was one of the U.S. Navy's first female fighter pilots. She is a Professor in the George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing and directs the Mason Responsible AI and robotics PhD programs. She is an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics fellow and a member of the Virginia Academy for Science, Engineering and Mathematics. Her research interests include the application of artificial intelligence in safety-critical systems, assured autonomy, human-systems engineering, and the ethical and social impact of technology.
Dr. Hassan A. Tetteh
Dr. Hassan A. Tetteh is a retired US Navy Captain and Associate Professor of Surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and adjunct faculty at Howard University College of Medicine. He was selected an Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar by the National Academy of Medicine.
Currently, Tetteh is a Thoracic Surgeon for Inova Health and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He founded and previously led a Specialized Thoracic Adapted Recovery (STAR) Team in Washington, DC, and his research in organ transplantation aims to save lives.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Tetteh received his BS from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Plattsburgh, his MD from SUNY Downstate Medical Center, his MPA from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, an MBA from Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, and an MS in National Security Strategy with a concentration in Artificial Intelligence from the National War College. Tetteh received the Doctor of Science (honoris causa) degree from the SUNY Board of Trustees in 2019. He completed his thoracic surgery fellowship at the University of Minnesota and advanced cardiac surgery fellowship at Harvard Medical School’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
Tetteh is the founder and principal of Tetteh Consulting Group, creator of The Art of Human Care® book series, and a best-selling author of several books, including Gifts of the Heart, Star Patrol, and The Art of Human Care. Tetteh is board certified in thoracic surgery, general surgery, and clinical informatics, and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a Fellow of the American Medical Informatics Association, and a Patron Member of the Academy of American Poets.
Tetteh received the Alley Sheridan Award by the Thoracic Surgery Foundation for Research and Education, was named a TEDMED Front Line Scholar, and is a TEDx speaker. He’s an alumnus of the Harvard Medical School Writers’ Workshop and Yale Writers’ Conference and lives near Washington, DC, with his wife, son, and daughter.
CAPT Paul Tortora, USN, Ret.
CAPTAIN Paul Tortora, USN (ret), currently is the Director of Information Security at Aalo Atomics, a start-up company developing Small Modular Reactors to provide sustained power off the electrical grid to such customers as data centers and remote locations.
Previous to this position, for fourteen years in and out of uniform, he was the U.S. Naval Academy’s Senior Intelligence Officer and the Director of the Center for Cyber Security Studies, which manages, leads, and oversees the integration of cyber education and cyber warfare across the curriculum, academically and professionally, inside and outside of the classroom. During that time, he was also detailed for one year as the Assistant National Cyber Director for Workforce, Education and Training, at the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD) in the Executive Office of the President.
He is a graduate of the US Naval Academy, with a Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics and a Spanish Minor. He holds a Masters of Science in Management, from the University of Maryland University College, and a Masters of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies, from the US Naval War College. He spent over 26 years as an active-duty Naval Officer, qualifying as a Submarine Warfare Officer, Naval Nuclear Engineer, and Information Warfare Officer, serving across the globe in peacetime and combat operations, with five deployments on fast attack nuclear submarines, amphibious assault ships, and nuclear aircraft carriers. His shore duty assignments included the United States Naval Academy, Office of Naval Intelligence, the Navy and Marine Corps Intelligence Training Center, Chief of Naval Operations staff, Naval aide and Intelligence Officer to the Secretary of the Navy, and the staff of the Director of National Intelligence.
His personal awards include the White House Exceptional Meritorious Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, and various campaign awards. He is a recipient of the National Military Intelligence Association's Vice Admiral Taylor Award for Intelligence Leadership and the Rear Admiral Layton Award for outstanding leadership in Naval Intelligence.
