Workforce development

Air Force Prioritizing AI Skills, Data Infrastructure to Meet 2025 Goals

The Department of the Air Force is working toward a 2025 artificial intelligence readiness target through workforce development programs and partnerships with commercial and academic organizations. Eileen Vidrine, DAF’s chief data and AI officer and a speaker at past Potomac Officers Club events, said achieving that goal will depend on airmen and U.S. Space Force guardians meeting certain competencies and having access to the necessary digital infrastructure to conduct research.

She shared ongoing collaborative efforts with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology such as a test run of a national security-focused AI course that convenes senior leaders in the field. The DAF and MIT also maintain an accelerator program aimed at driving the development of new algorithms and other solutions.

Vidrine also pointed out that the department is identifying civilian and military personnel who have learned programming skills through non-traditional means and is placing them on career tracks where their abilities could be maximized.

She highlighted a new AI experimentation ground overseen by DAF in cooperation with AFWERX, Federal News Network reported Tuesday.