Intervenants – Military Talks

Sofia ROMANSKY

Sofia Romansky is a strategic analyst at the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS) and the Project Coordinator of the Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (GC REAIM). Her primary research interests concern the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the social and military domains, specifically focusing on the centrality of the concept of ‘responsibility’, issues around narratives and disinformation in online spheres as hybrid threats, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sofia holds a Master’s in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Leiden.

Andre LOESEKRUG-PIETRI

Andre held leadership positions in private equity, industry, as an entrepreneur and in government (as former special adviser to the French Minister of Defense). He is currently Chairman & Scientific Director of the Joint European Disruptive Initiative (JEDI), precursor to a European advanced research projects agency (ARPA), bringing together more than 6500 leading scientists, startup founders and industrialists from 30 European countries - to accelerate the continent’s leadership in disruptive innovations, in climate technologies, lifesciences, Space, Oceans and Digital. Graduate from HEC, Kennedy School and IHEDN, he is Young Global Leader from the World Economic Forum, European 40under40, reserve Colonel with the French Air & Space Force, private pilot, and sits on the Innovation Board of the Munich Security Conference and of the Advisory Board of the Saarland 3 billion Euro Transformation Fund.

Jeroen VAN DER VLUGT

Jeroen van der Vlugt serves as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the Netherlands Ministry of Defence. He is responsible for the Defense strategy and policy on IT, cyber, data science and artificial intelligence (AI). In this role, Jeroen acts as the primary advisor for the information domain to the Secretary of Defence. As CIO, Jeroen is also a member of the Defence executive board reporting directly to the Secretary-General of Defence.
Previously, Jeroen worked as a partner for a strategy consulting firm leading the technology portfolio, and was entrepreneur in the field of datascience and innovation. Jeroen holds a master degree in Econometrics (University of Groningen).

Admiral Pierre VANDIER

Admiral Pierre Vandier was born on 26th October 1967 in Toulon. He joined the Ecole Navale in Brest in 1987 and specialised in naval aviation.

Following his initial training deployment Jeanne d’Arc, he was assigned to the escort and patrol vessel Commandant Bory, involved in operations during the First Gulf War in 1991 (operation Artimon and in support of operation Daguet).

From summer 1992, he undertook fighter pilot training in Salon de Provence, Tours then Hyères, subsequently joining the frontline force at Landivisiau on Super-Etendard (Flotille 17F then 11F). He carried out multiple combat missions in Bosnia (1995/1997 – operation Salamander) and in Kosovo (1999 – operation Trident).

Converting to Rafale in 2001, he took command of the Flotille 12F, the first squadron of naval Rafale, from 2002 to 2004. He delivered introduction to service test flying of the new naval fighter and carried out multiple combat missions in Afghanistan during mission Agapante in 2004.

Following training at the Joint Defence College (ICD – 12th session), he served as Deputy Commander of Operations of the aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle” (2005-2007), a period during which the embarked air group’s aircraft were once again used in support of the NATO International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.

In summer 2007, he took command of the frigate Surcouf which included operation Thalatine, the rescue of the hostages held onboard the yacht Ponant in the Indian Ocean.

After qualifying in atomic engineering at the beginning of 2009, he became a programme delivery officer in the capability planning division in the Joint Military Staff. He was specifically in charge of the Rafale programme, and the NH90 and Tiger helicopter programmes.

In summer 2011, he became chief of operations for the African zone (J3) at the Joint Military Operations Centre (CPCO). He directed the crisis unit for operation Serval in Mali from January to July 2013.

At the end of July 2013, he took command of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. It was deployed to the Indian Ocean twice, during winter 2013 on the mission Bois-Belleau, and in spring 2015 for mission Arromanches, during which the aircraft carrier supported operation Chammal in Irak.

In January 2017, he became coordinating authority for international relations (ALRI) at the Marine Nationale headquarters and was subsequently promoted to Rear-Admiral on the 1st September 2017. He was then designated deputy commandant for the Mediterranean maritime region, and commanding officer of the naval base in Toulon.

Appointed as Chief of the Military Cabinet of the French Minister of Defence on the 1st September 2018, he was then promoted to Vice-Admiral on 1st January 2020.

Selected to be Chief of the Naval Staff for the Marine Nationale, he will take the rank of Admiral on the 1st September 2020.

On September 1, 2023, he was appointed major general of the Armed Forces.

Admiral Vandier is an Officer of the French Legion of Honour and of the Maritime Merit. He holds the Cross of War in Foreign Theatres of Operations, the Cross of Military Valour, the Combatant's Medal, the Aeronautics Medal and the National Defence Gold Medal.

He is a member of the 65th session of the High Military Studies Centre (CHEM) and of the 68th session of the Higher Studies in National Defence Institute (IHEDN).

Tugdual CEILLIER

After graduating from the prestigious French engineering school the École Polytechnique in 2012, Tugdual completed his PhD in data processing applied to Stellar Physics at the Astrophysics Laboratory of the Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique (CEA). He then joined the Image Processing R&D Department at Airbus Defense & Space in Toulouse, where he transitioned to computer vision applied to satellite imagery. In 2016, he met cofounders Arnaud Guérin and Renaud Allioux and became the first employee of the startup then called Earthcube. As such, a was a key element in building the company products dedicated to detecting and classifying objects of military interest in very high resolution imagery. After being in charge of the AI department, he took the lead of its research activities and accompanied the development of the company through its fast growth, its rebranding as Preligens in 2020 and its acquisition by Safran in 2024. As AI Director at Safran.AI, he is now in charge of the technical supervision of both the Research & Innovation department and two of the most recent product lines.

Alice FRIEND

Alice Friend is the global Head of AI & Emerging Technology Policy at Google, where she leads a team covering governance and regulatory issues in global markets. A foreign and technology policy expert, she has a PhD in International Relations, and was previously the vice president for research and analysis at the Institute for Security and Technology. She served in several positions in the U.S. Department of Defense for four secretaries of defense across two presidential administrations, and is the author of Mightier Than the Sword: Civilian Control of the Military and the Revitalization of Democracy published by Stanford University Press. She was a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington DC, and an adjunct professor at Georgetown University and American University. Alice has published articles in the Washington Post, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, War on the Rocks, Lawfare, and Just Security.

Nikos LOUTAS

Dr. Nikos Loutas serves as the Director of Innovation at NATO’s Innovation, Hybrid, and Cyber Division. In this role, he leads initiatives to shape policies around emerging and disruptive technologies while driving the rapid adoption of cutting-edge innovations to ensure NATO retains its technological edge.

Julie TENENBAUM

Julie Tenenbaum works for the International Committee of the Red Cross as the Regional Legal Adviser for Europe based in Paris. After studying law in France, Belgium and England, she qualified as a solicitor in England. She worked in the legal field in London, with an emphasis on immigration and refugee law. She then joined the ICRC and worked as a protection delegate in Sri Lanka for a year and as Regional Legal Adviser for Southern and then Western Africa for almost four years. In that capacity, she advised national authorities on International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and on its national implementation. At the end of 2014, she took up the Regional Legal Adviser position for Europe and, since then, has been working on specific IHL issues as well as other legal issues of interest to the ICRC and relevant to the region.

Ben FAWCETT

Ben works at Advai, a Defence-tech start-up that targets the inherent weaknesses of AI to develop tools for robustness, security, and assurance. He is the Defence and Product Lead, where his primary focus is on developing a pair of technologies; one to assure operational AI, and the other to counter any AI encountered on the battlefield. Previously, he served as an Intelligence Officer in the UK's Royal Navy for nearly 14 years. His appointments focused on intelligence support to operations and planning within a range of Headquarters. His final job was at the Centre for Intelligence Innovation, where he focused on applying Artificial Intelligence techniques to the intelligence function.

Heidy KHLAAF

Dr. Heidy Khlaaf is the Chief AI Scientist at the AI Now Institute focusing on the assessment and safety of AI use within autonomous weapons systems and the national security apparatus. Overall, she specializes in the evaluation, specification, and verification of complex and autonomous software implementations in safety-critical systems. She has an extensive and broad range of expertise in leading system safety audits varying from UAVs to large nuclear power plants, and the construction of their corresponding safety cases. She has helped establish and pioneer the field of AI Safety Engineering, and is known for her work leading the safety evaluation of Codex at OpenAI, leading the cyber security evaluations for UK AISI, and unveiling the LeftoverLocals vulnerability.

Catherine TESSIER

Catherine Tessier is a senior researcher at ONERA, Toulouse, France, and she is ONERA's research integrity and ethics officer. She was a member of the French National Pilot Committee for Digital Ethics (2019-2024) and is a member of the French Defense Ethics Committee. She is an expert at the Global Commission on Responsible Artificial Intelligence in the Military Domain (GC REAIM).

Gregory C. ALLEN

With a BA in political science from the University of Washington and a double master's degree from Harvard University (master's in political policy and MBA), Mr. Allen first worked in the private sector, at consulting firm Avascent Group (specializing in the aerospace and defense sectors), then at iRobot (specializing in the design and sale of robots). In 2015, he joined the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, before working successively for Samsung Electronics, then for the American space technology company Blue Origin. He then served as Director of Strategy and Policy at the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center, the US Department of Defense's AI Center of Excellence, before joining the Wadhwani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies at CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies), where he is now Director. His master's thesis won the Belfer Center Award for Excellence in International and Global Affairs. He is also the author of "Artificial Intelligence and National Security", a study carried out for the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA), published by the Harvard Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.

Giacomo PERSI PAOLI

Giacomo is the Head of the Security and Technology Programme at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR). His expertise spans the science and technology domain with emphasis on the implications of emerging technologies for security and defence. His recent work focused on artificial intelligence and cyber security. Before joining UNIDIR, Giacomo was Associate Director at RAND Europe where he led the defence and security science, technology and innovation portfolio as well as RAND’s Centre for Futures and Foresight Studies. He also served for 14 years as warfare officer in the Italian Navy. He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Rome, a master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Pisa, and a master’s degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy from the University of Trieste. He speaks English, French and Italian.

Nicholas BUTTS

Nicholas is a Director of Cybersecurity and AI Security Policy at Microsoft. In this role he’s responsible for Microsoft’s global policy efforts at the intersection of cybersecurity and AI. Before joining Microsoft, he held senior commercial roles at one of Europe’s leading AI startups, helping to develop applied AI solutions for defense and national security. Nicholas previously worked as Head of Global Government Relations and Trade at HP and started his career at A.P. Moller-Maersk and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Nicholas is also the co-author of an acclaimed book on the geopolitics of technology, Tech Cold War (Lynne Rienner, 2025). He was educated at Sciences Po Paris, Peking University, the London School of Economics, and Harvard University.

Vincent BOULANIN

Dr Vincent Boulanin is Senior Researcher and Director of the Governance of Artificial Intelligence Programme at SIPRI. He leads SIPRI’s research on issues related to the development, use and control of autonomy in weapon systems and military applications of artificial intelligence. His current work focuses on risks associated with the misuse of civilian AI research and innovation and on responsible innovation as a form of upstream technology governance. He regularly presents his work to and engages with governments, United Nations bodies, international organizations, and the media. He has briefed the UN Security Council on the impact of emerging technologies on international peace and security and presented before the UN Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems. Before joining SIPRI in 2014, he completed a doctorate in Political Science at École des Hautes en Sciences Sociales in Paris.

Henri SEYDOUX

Atypical self-taught and self-made entrepreneur, Henri Seydoux has a flair for innovation. He draws most of his products and personally supervises all projects as well as over 200 engineers working in the R&D department of Parrot. Henri Seydoux started his career in 1978, working as a journalist. It was during an interview with Roland Moreno, the inventor of the smart card, that he found his calling. When he was 19 years old, he gave up journalism and entered the world of computing and programming. He tinkered with software in a few start-ups and in his first company, specialized in 3D imaging before founding Parrot in 1994 and conceiving the first Bluetooth hands-free telephone for the car which sold over 40 million pieces. In 2010, Parrot created the AR.Drone, the first ever consumer drone and, in 2018, Parrot once again disrupted the consumer drone universe by redefining the standards with an ultra-portable, superefficient, and easy to use drone: the ANAFI. In 2022, Parrot launched a new revolution with the ANAFI Ai, the first 4G robotic UAV dedicated to professional missions (surveillance, inspection, 3D modeling).” Anafi USA drones are now used by US Army, UK Army, French Sweden and more than 20 other customers.

Arnault IOUALALEN

Arnault IOUALALEN holds a PhD in computer science (2012), after obtaining a double Master’s degree in computer science research (2007) and mathematical research (2009).Following research and teaching experience at the University of Perpignan, he co-founded Numalis in 2015, a Montpellier-based deep tech company specializing in software for validating the robustness and explicability of Artificial Intelligence algorithms using formal methods. A recognized member of high-level expert groups, he plays an important role at international level on trustworthy AI by being the editor of the ISO/IEC 24029 suite of standards, which defines the validation of AI robustness using formal methods. In addition, he contributes to the CEN/CENELEC repository on trustworthy AI, which forms the basis for the implementation of the European AI regulation, the AI-Act. His experience at the French War School, combined with his industry expertise, enables him to offer a unique and informed perspective on the use of AI in safety-critical applications. Dr. IOUALALEN’s recent appearances include the "AI in Homeland Defense / Sovereignty"; roundtable at WAICF; the "AI closer to combat"; roundtable at the Defense Innovation Forum (FID); the presentation of an AI use case in air-land combat at the CAT2035 conference; "AI in the fog of war" at EUROSATORY.

Shashank JOSHI

Shashank Joshi is Defence Editor at The Economist, where he covers national security, intelligence, nuclear and military affairs. He is also a Visiting Senior Research Fellow at the Department of War Studies King’s College London. Prior to joining The Economist in 2018 he served as Senior Fellow at the Tony Blair Institute, a Senior Research Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), where he now serves on the Advisory Board, and Research Associate at Oxford University’s Changing Character of War Programme. He holds degrees from Cambridge and Harvard, where he was a Kennedy Scholar from Britain to the United States. He has also been a participant in the Summer Workshop on the Analysis of Military Operations and Strategy (SWAMOS) at Cornell University. He lectures regularly at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom and has given evidence to the foreign affairs and defence committees of the House of Commons. He recently co-chaired the review board for the AI-Cybersecurity Essay Prize Competition run by the Munich Security Conference and Binding Hook. His recent special reports and cover stories for The Economist have covered intelligence and technology, lessons from Ukraine, the return of sea power, European defence and AI and war.

Bertrand RONDEPIERRE

Bertrand Rondepierre is General Manager for the Agency for Artificial Intelligence in Defense (AMIAD). He leads the execution of the Ministry's Al strategy and is responsible for ensuring the acceleration of Al deployment at scale, from weapon systems and operational superiority up to everyday use cases.

From 2018 to 2023, he was program manager at Google, first within the Europe Research teams during Google Research's expansion in Europe. He then joined Google's Brain team at the forefront of Al Research and managed a portfolio involving process optimization, research impact measurement as well as research projects in the early days of Generative Al. Before leaving Google, he worked on the Google DeepMind merger and ended up program lead of the Al for future product portfolio under Zoubin Ghahramani.

Before joining Google, from 2017 to 2018, he worked with Cédric Villani, a member of French Parliament tasked by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe to design and write down a strategy to get France to be a leader in Al. He is one of the authors of the report Al for Humanity that led to President Emmanuel Macron' 2018-2024 national Al strategy.

Bertrand Rondepierre started his career at the French Armament Procurement Agency (DGA) where he launched key AI programs.

Bertrand Rondepierre graduated from Ecole polytechnique and holds both an engineering degree from Télécom Paris and a master degree from Ecole Normale Supérieure of Paris-Saclay, in applied mathematics and machine learning.

Fateh KAAKAI

Fateh KAAKAI is a graduate engineer from the Ecole Centrale de Lille (class of 2003) and holds a PhD in automatic control from the University of Besançon (2007). Fateh has been with the Thales Group for over 15 years, where he currently works as an expert in safety and trustworthy AI. Within Thales CortAIx Labs (formerly Thales Research & Technology), he participates in research and standardization activities related to trustworthy AI in the civil and military domains. He co-chairs the EUROCAE WG114 standardization group, which aims to publish the first standard for the certification of AI-based critical aeronautical systems. He has been detached for 2 years (2021 and 2022) to the French national program "Confiance.ai" to work on secure architectures for monitoring AI models during execution. He was Thales' representative to the EASA (European Union Aviation Safety Agency) from 2018 to 2020. His previous industrial experience includes 7 years in aviation where he participated in the development of air traffic control centers, and 5 years in railways where he participated in the automation of metro lines. He holds 5 patents and is co-author of a book on abstract interpretation of software, as well as several scientific journal articles and international conferences.

Loïc CANTAT

Loïc Cantat is an engineer in artificial intelligence and image processing, and a graduate of the École des Mines d'Alès. With fifteen years’ experience in a variety of industrial projects, including military systems, he joined IRT SystemX in 2016, where he heads the Data AI team. He is currently the work coordinator of the Confiance.ai program, driving scientific and technical initiatives aimed at strengthening trust in AI systems, in collaboration with academic and industrial partners. Following on from this program, he is involved in the specialised Master in trustworthy AI, in the creation of a foundation to ensure the sustainability of the results, and in a spin-off currently underway to industrialize them.

Frédéric GRELOT

Frédéric Grelot began his career at the French Space Agency, working on satellite computer platforms. In 2012, he joined the French Ministry of Armed Forces; cyberdefense teams, specializing in reverse-engineering systems and viruses. Recognizing AI's potential in defense, he initiated AI exploration within the DGA in 2016-2017, leading years later to the creation of the AMIAD. From 2017 to 2019, Grelot led a team of 25 reverse-engineering analysts while studying AI. In 2019, he co-founded GLIMPS, specializing in AI- powered malware detection. As Scientist Lead, he oversaw research and promoted GLIMPS through interviews and conferences.

In 2023, Grelot moved to Toronto to establish GLIMPS' first international office, before coming back to France at the end of 2024, when he returned to the Ministry of Armed Forces as an AI expert analyst. Beyond his career, Grelot is committed to ecological sustainability, especially regarding his technical activities.

Sébastien HENWOOD

Sébastien Henwood is an expert in AI for the French Armed Forces’s Ministry’s Agency of AI for Defense (AMIAD). Holding a PhD on the topic of AI’s robustness to hardware unreliability, he joins the Agency in 2024 where he now works on the topic of trustworthy AI.

Speakers

Amiral Pierre VANDIER