Bridging the Gap: Pentagon Meets Silicon Valley

Raj M. Shah is a technology entrepreneur, venture capitalist, and former director of the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit. Christopher Kirchhoff is an expert in emerging technology and founder of the Pentagon’s Silicon Valley office. Raj and Christopher join the Armchair Expert to discuss how to reduce the risk of great power wars, the discrepancy between the private sector and military technologies, and how investing in military technology helps to maintain peace. Raj and Christopher talk about the resistance to changing defense policy, how drones are influencing military strategy, and what checks and balances exist in most military contracts. Raj and Christopher explain how US military technology is at risk of falling behind other countries’ innovations, what government bureaucratic roadblocks exist in developing new tech, and the optimism around young engineers solving the problems in military defense.

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