Two of the most senior people shaping artificial intelligence policy at the Pentagon came from the private sector: Emil Michael, a former Uber executive who now serves as the department’s chief technology officer, and Steve Feinberg, the founder of the investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, who serves as deputy secretary. Here is who holds which role as of October 2026, what the department’s AI strategy says, and why these appointments have received so much attention.
Who holds the key AI and technology roles
The Defense Department, which since September 2025 also uses the name Department of War under an executive order, spreads AI responsibility across several offices. The people at the top of that structure, according to official biographies and congressional testimony, are listed below.
| Official | Role | Background |
|---|---|---|
| Pete Hegseth | Secretary | Army veteran and former television host; issued the January 2026 AI strategy |
| Steve Feinberg | Deputy Secretary, sworn in March 17, 2025 | Founded Cerberus Capital Management in 1992; chaired the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board from 2018 to January 2021 |
| Emil Michael | Under Secretary for Research and Engineering and chief technology officer, in office since May 2025 | Former senior vice president of business at Uber; earlier a White House Fellow who worked for Defense Secretary Robert Gates |
In testimony to the House Armed Services Committee in May 2026, Michael listed the organizations that now sit under his office: the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO), the Defense Innovation Unit, DARPA, the Strategic Capabilities Office, the Test Resource Management Center and the Office of Strategic Capital. He said the CDAO and the Defense Innovation Unit were moved under his leadership at Hegseth’s direction, which makes his office the main hub for AI work across the department.
What the 2026 AI strategy says
On January 9, 2026, the department published its Artificial Intelligence Strategy, and Hegseth described it in a speech a few days later. The stated goal is an AI first force that uses American advantages in computing power, data, capital markets and operational experience. The document names the chief technology officer as the single technical decision maker and gives the CDAO authority to push data and AI tools across the services.
The strategy centers on seven pace setting projects, each with one accountable leader reporting monthly to the deputy secretary and the under secretary:
- Swarm Forge: testing ways to fight with and against AI enabled systems.
- Agent Network: AI support for battle management and decisions.
- Ender’s Foundry: AI driven simulation.
- Open Arsenal: faster weapons development based on intelligence.
- Project Grant: a shift in how deterrence is applied.
- GenAI.mil: access to AI models for personnel at every classification level.
- Enterprise Agents: a playbook for AI agents in back office work.
The strategy also sets a target of getting access to new commercial AI model versions within 30 days of their public release and asks for faster security approvals for AI systems.
Where the strategy stands in October 2026
Several pieces are now in place. According to Michael’s May 2026 testimony, GenAI.mil had been rolled out to about three million military and civilian personnel and logged more than 1.4 million unique users in its first five months. On May 1, 2026, the department announced agreements with eight companies, SpaceX, OpenAI, Google, NVIDIA, Reflection, Microsoft, Oracle and Amazon Web Services, to bring their AI tools to classified networks through GenAI.mil. The department described the multivendor approach as a way to avoid depending on a single supplier.
The department has also narrowed its list of critical technology areas from fourteen to six, with applied artificial intelligence first on the list.
Why the appointments drew attention
Several factors put these officials in the spotlight:
- Private sector backgrounds. Michael and Feinberg both built careers in technology and finance rather than in uniform or the civil service. Supporters say that experience helps the department buy and deploy commercial technology faster. Others ask how business ties are managed in government roles.
- Past public scrutiny. Michael left Uber in 2017 during a period of leadership changes that followed an internal review of the company’s workplace culture. That history resurfaced when he took a prominent role in AI negotiations.
- The Anthropic dispute. Michael was a central figure in the department’s 2026 contract talks with AI developer Anthropic. The department wanted terms allowing all lawful uses of the company’s models, while Anthropic sought to keep limits on domestic mass surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. After Anthropic declined, the department designated it a supply chain risk in early March 2026. A federal appeals court panel upheld that designation in a 2 to 1 decision in late September 2026, and Anthropic has said it is considering further review.
Together, these factors made the officials’ backgrounds part of a wider public discussion about how the government should set rules for military use of AI and how much influence private companies should have over those rules.
FAQ
Who is the Pentagon’s chief technology officer?
Emil Michael. He was confirmed as Under Secretary for Research and Engineering in May 2025, a post that also carries the chief technology officer title.
Who runs the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office?
The CDAO now reports to the Under Secretary for Research and Engineering, so Michael’s office sets its overall direction, and the January 2026 strategy gives the CDAO the job of spreading AI tools and data across the department.
What is GenAI.mil?
It is the department’s official generative AI platform. It gives personnel access to commercial AI models on secure government networks.
Is Anthropic still designated a supply chain risk?
Yes, as of early October 2026. The designation took effect in March 2026, and an appeals court panel let it stand in September.
The verdict
AI policy at the Pentagon in late 2026 runs through a small group of leaders, with Steve Feinberg as deputy secretary and Emil Michael as chief technology officer overseeing the CDAO and the Defense Innovation Unit. Their private sector careers, the speed of the AI first strategy and the legal dispute with Anthropic explain why their appointments continue to draw close public attention.
Updated October 2026: rewritten as a neutral explainer on who holds the Pentagon’s AI roles, the January 2026 strategy and the status of the Anthropic dispute.
Featured photo: Andy Feliciotti on Unsplash.
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