Opportunities and Threats to the Defense and Security Industry from Advanced Automation and Artificial Intelligence

Student: Isabella Martinez, 2017-2018

This project has a twofold aim: (1) To understand the business case for evolving the work structure of Booz Allen Hamilton towards fully embracing autonomy and artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on how they will be used in security and defense by Booz Allen Hamilton's clients, and (2) to hypothesize on how to implement those solutions in a manner that maximized the efficiency of human personnel without displacing them completely. The research and deliverables shall be framed as the opportunity available in autonomous systems for new solutions with existing and future BAH clients, and the threats it poses to the existing workforce.This project is being undertaken because of the rise of advanced automation and artificial intelligence. Special consideration will be given to machine learning, which is an important subset of both research fields. The client understands that advanced computer science and robotics will transform the economy within the next decade, and wish to have a strategy to integrate such advances into the solutions they, in turn, provide their clients and to use those advances to their own advantage to increase efficiency, accuracy, and speed. A strategy is needed to seamlessly integrate such advances into their current business structure.