Fireside Chat: Leadership in the Age of AI

Ylli Bajraktari is adamant that the U.S. government needs leaders who are willing to adapt to new technologies if it wants to be competitive in a dynamic global world.

And yes, much of that technology relates to artificial intelligence, he told a group of educators, students and Class of 2026 graduates of the Institute for Leadership in Technology at a recent fireside chat. Rishi Jaitly, founder of the institute at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, served as moderator.

“For years many of us have been aware that a major new technology was coming our way and were encouraging discussion and deliberation,” said Bajraktari, president and CEO of the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP).“Today, everyone knows about AI. They may not understand it, and often may misunderstand it, but it is not ignored. Everything going forward will be moved by AI, and the U.S. government is beginning to realize the need to lead with speed.”

Educating government leaders is a big part of what his organization does. A private operating foundation located in Arlington, Virginia, SCSP is supported by a team of technologists, national security professionals, and subject-matter experts. Its’ mission is to make recommendations to strengthen America’s long-term competitiveness as artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are reshaping national security, economy, and society. The goal is to ensure that America is positioned and organized to win the techno-economic competition between now and 2030, the critical window for shaping the future.

“The days of a government employee spending 20 years culling information in the same SCIF are long gone,” said Bajraktari. “It is time to step out of the bubble and go to open sources. We need to know how to build and how to use new technologies to stay at the forefront as we compete with other world powers like China.”

Using new technologies is also a way to attract a younger generation of employees, he said. And if you give them a purpose, a mission, they will work hard. Status and managing people is not a motivator for this group.

Bajraktari has had a long career in the U.S. government. Prior to launching SCSP, he served as the executive director of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. He also served as chief of staff to National Security Advisor LTG H.R. McMaster; held a variety of leadership roles for former Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work; and served as special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey. 

He first joined the Department of Defense in 2010 where he served in the Office of the Undersecretary for Policy as a country director for Afghanistan, and later India. Bajraktari is also recipient of the department’s Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, the highest award given to career DoD civilian employees.

What asked by Jaitly, who has been a professor of practice and Distinguished Humanities Fellow at Virginia Tech since 2022 after a career as a leader at Google, Twitter and OpenAI, about the role of AI at universities like Virginia Tech, Bajraktari said, “The days of students getting an education exclusively by listening to someone talk to you for 60 minutes are in the past. But, while using technology like AI is certainly playing a role, it is also important for educators and students to cultivate new learning by working with -- and as -- teams. You still need to sit down and hash out difficulties, a process that retains the human aspect.”

Bajraktari also addressed skepticism brought on by all the excitement over AI.

Too many people, he said, are stuck in the negative, and tend to blame everything on it, including lost jobs, unsatisfactory healthcare, political discourse, the loss of real human interaction.

“But reading the room is still important and we can’t underestimate the need for people. I believe that a combination of traditional reasoning skills -- emanating from the humanities -- alongside AI tutorials is how this can all work together. This is what is needed so that we can expand AI capabilities to the fullest,” Bajraktari said.

Kirk Cameron, managing director of the Institute for Advanced Computing, kicked off the fireside chat, sponsored by Virginia Tech’s Institute for Leadership in Technology, which offers the nation’s first executive degree in the humanities to rising leaders in technology, alongside the Virginia Tech Institute for Advanced Computing, and the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics.