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Archives for August 2025

Washington Women Technology Network Hosts ‘2024’ Authors Josh Dawsey and Tyler Pager

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August 6, 2025 — Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad and Lucid Motors’ Vice President of External Affairs Jessica Nigro hosted a Washington Women Technology Network breakfast conversation at The House at 1229 featuring Wall Street Journal political investigations reporter Josh Dawsey and New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager, co-authors of 2024: How Trump Retook the White House and the Democrats Lost America.

Tammy Haddad, Tyler Pager, Jessica Nigro, and Josh Dawsey

The authors discussed the reporting behind the book, campaign dynamics in 2024, and the role of authenticity, gender, and media strategy in shaping public perception.

Josh Dawsey described Donald Trump’s media style and influence:

“He [Trump] gets shot… probably a quarter of inch from dying, and his first impulse is to lift his arm up in the air and say Fight. I think there were a lot of people who really dislike Trump or weren’t his biggest fans who thought that was kind of badass. I mean, I think that sort of changed the public perception of him in that moment,” said Dawsey.

Pager reflected on the role of former President Obama and internal challenges facing the Biden campaign:

“Barack Obama… didn’t think Joe Biden should run in 2016. He didn’t think Joe Biden should run in 2020, and he definitely didn’t think Joe Biden should run in 2024 and repeatedly,” said Pager.  “One of the things that the campaign really struggled with was this sort of bifurcated structure where Joe Biden’s closest aides were in the White House, and the campaign was run by people that were not particularly close to the president and were not empowered to run the campaign.”

SPOTTED

Luxembourg Ambassador Nicole Bintner-Bakshian, YouTube’s Alexandra Veitch, the Consumer Technology Association’s Tiffany Moore, BBC anchor Sumi Somaskanda, NobleReach Foundation’s Tina Anthony, Omidyar Network’s Govind Shivkumar, Salesforce’s Charlotte Smith, Business Software Alliance CEO Victoria Espinel,  Joanna Guy of Booz Allen Hamilton, Charlotte Rock of the General Catalyst Insitute, Invenergy’s Andrew Wills, Stacy Kerr of Penta, Michael Ahrens of FGS Global, Joiwind Ronen of Ned’s Club, producer Kathy O’Hearn, GM’s Ashley Lerner, and Sydney Snowden, chief of staff to David Urban.

Army CTO Alex Miller Challenges Industry: Bring Your Best Tech to the Army; Warns of Drone Threats, Praises ChatGPT-5 Energy Efficiency in Washington AI Network Podcast 

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In an exclusive interview with the Washington AI Network, U.S. Army Chief Technology Officer Dr. Alex Miller pushed for AI companies to offer their best technology to the military, describes the dominance of drones calling them “airborne IEDs” and stressed the importance of working with commercial AI providers in the debut episode of the Washington AI Network Podcast’s new CTO Sessions series.

The veteran technologist and intelligence officer gave his insights on warfighting today, “What you’re seeing in Europe with the drones — those are airborne IEDs,” Miller said. “It is a bomb that can fly a hundred miles an hour. We have to get really good at countering those — using AI to detect them in the electromagnetic spectrum, identify them instantly, and deploy countermeasures in real time.”

The conversation, hosted by Washington AI Network founder Tammy Haddad, covered the Army’s plans for adopting artificial intelligence, speeding procurement, the China threat and preparing soldiers for the future fight.

Miller said the Army will adopt frontier AI models rather than try to build its own.
“I don’t like to compete with industry. That’s bad for taxpayers and not good value for soldiers,” he said. “In areas where industry’s way ahead, I don’t need to compete with the frontier AI providers. We’ll adopt those and tailor them to whatever our mission is.”

On the newly released GPT-5 model, Miller pointed to gains in efficiency over raw intelligence.
“Was there a huge increase in intelligence? Not that I’ve seen online,” he said. “What we see with 5 is another massive consolidation and power efficiency. Eventually, I want to run those LLMs on soldiers’ faces with smart glasses, on their phones, and on their vehicles.”

Miller also highlighted efforts to shorten Army procurement cycles.
“Our next generation command and control document is three pages — three and a half if you count the graphic,” he said. “Then we spend a year just getting technology into our soldiers’ hands to try it and get direct feedback… What we’re trying to do now is fix the process so that’s no longer a workaround — it’s just the way the process works.”

Miller underscored the Army’s central role in U.S. defense.
“When the world dials 911, the phone rings at Fort Bragg,” he said. “We are everywhere, all the time, every day, doing every mission the nation asks us to.”

The episode was recorded on August 12 at The House at 1229 in Washington, DC, and presented in partnership with the NobleReach Foundation, where CEO Arun Gupta introduced the 2025 cohort of NobleReach scholars.

The full conversation with Dr. Miller is available now on YouTube and across podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

SandboxAQ CEO Jack Hidary and Chad Sweet, co-founder and CEO of The Chertoff Group, attend the inaugural Washington AI Network CTO Session featuring U.S. Army CTO Dr. Alex Miller on August 12, 2025.
NobleReach Foundation CEO Arun Gupta (far left) and Tammy Haddad (far right) welcomed the 2025 cohort of NobleReach Scholars at the inaugural Washington AI Network CTO Session featuring U.S. Army CTO Dr. Alex Miller on August 12, 2025.
General Catalyst’s David Greenberg, Booz Allen Hamilton’s Joanna Guy and NobleReach scholar Virginia Partridge at the inaugural Washington AI Network CTO Session featuring U.S. Army CTO Dr. Alex Miller on August 12, 2025.