‘Help us solve our national security problems’: Pentagon wants Silicon Valley tech execs to join military

The Pentagon wants technology executives in Silicon Valley to enlist and bring their expertise to help improve the military’s capabilities, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

The executives would be enlisted as reservists in mid to high-level positions and work with defense officials to strengthen the Pentagon’s cyber capabilities, according to Brynt Parmeter, the Department of Defense (DOD) lead talent officer, who spoke to the WSJ. Parmeter has been tasked with seeking out individuals and organizations in Silicon Valley and other U.S. technology hubs as part of this effort.

It’s a bid to stay ready to deal with the dynamic global threat environment, according to Parmeter. American adversaries such as China are tapping their growing technology sector to help rapidly advance its military.

“We’re creating this people industrial base that is going to help us solve our national-security problems and national security challenges in the decades to come,” Parmeter told the WSJ.

Parameter is still figuring out the details of the new program, like which branches of the military the executives would be assigned to and what their positions would be, according to the WSJ.

Reservists attend routine training throughout the year, and that will likely be expected of the technology executives, but Parameter noted that they wouldn’t likely be deployed to the front lines of a possible conflict.

“It’s not like, ‘Put down your keyboard and pick up a rifle,’” he told the WSJ. Instead, the technology executives would be tasked with various projects in cybersecurity and data analysis, Parameter said.

Parmeter has already found one willing participant, Shyam Sankar of Palantir Technologies, who said he’d be the “first in line to join” when the program is ready for launch. Palantir sells artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to the Pentagon and other Western governments.

Sankar is also helping Parmeter search for talent across Silicon Valley, according to the WSJ.

Silicon Valley and the Pentagon don’t typically have a close relationship. Many technology startups are wary of selling to the Pentagon and helping build weapons systems. And some talent typically seek work in the faster-moving private sector.

But that’s started to change amid global wars in the Middle East and Europe and the rising threat from China — and an opportunity to integrate AI with the military, according to the WSJ. Over $35 billion in investments were poured into various venture-backed defense projects in 2023, compared to $2 billion in 2013.

“Ten years ago, you never led with ‘I work with the DOD,’” Parmeter told the WSJ.

An exact timeline for the program hasn’t been set, but Parmeter hopes to have it up and running by next September, according to the WSJ. In the coming years, the goal is to recruit thousands of technology executives.

“This new talent program creates an opportunity for America’s elite technical leaders to serve,” Sankar told the WSJ.

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