Defense Tech Executives: Capital Markets Now Powering Military Innovation

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4, 2025 — Defense technology executives urged an expanded use of artificial intelligence and updated federal policies to keep pace with national security requirements.

At a forum hosted by The Hill on Wednesday, speakers said automated manufacturing systems and software based engineering tools now advance faster than federal acquisition and certification processes can support. This mismatch has made it difficult for agencies to integrate technologies that are already widely used in commercial markets.

Teresa Carlson, founding president of the General Catalyst Institute, the policy arm of a venture capital firm, said national defense depends on whether agencies can evaluate and adopt AI enabled tools as they are developed. 

She said agencies need review pathways that reflect current development speeds rather than procedures built for earlier generations of technology. “Technology has never moved this fast,” she said.

Lukas Czinger, CEO of Divergent, an advanced digital manufacturing company, said procurement rules now determine whether advanced engineering firms can meet defense production needs. Divergent uses AI driven design and high rate metal printing to produce aircraft and missile components in days. 

Czinge said certification standards have not been updated to reflect technologies that can shift from commercial to defense output with minimal lead time. “Factory models can change overnight,” he added.

Czinger said inconsistent drawings, late stage redesigns and limited engineering capacity across the supply chain slow production, creating a second set of delays that occur even when federal certification moves on time. He said these bottlenecks often originate with contractor led design work rather than with manufacturing technology or government review.

Carlson said commercial firms deploy AI systems for logistics, predictive maintenance and operational planning much faster than federal agencies can evaluate them. She said agencies need clear procedures to assess commercially ready tools so they can be integrated before they become outdated.

Private investment is now a major driver of national security innovation, said Carlson. Venture firms are funding robotics platforms, digital engineering systems and autonomous technologies that were traditionally developed through government programs. She said acquisition policies must allow agencies to adopt commercially developed systems once they demonstrate operational reliability.

This means the Pentagon is increasingly dependent on technologies born in commercial markets, making streamlined procurement essential if the military is to field new capabilities on competitive timelines.

Infrastructure and permitting requirements present additional obstacles, according to Carlson. Construction of robotics facilities, additive manufacturing plants and data processing centers often involve extended environmental and local reviews that slow expansion of industrial capacity needed for defense missions. 

But recent White House efforts to speed environmental reviews may reduce wait times for these projects.

“We want lawmakers to move as fast as technology,” she said.