DEPARTMENT OF WAR CHIEF DIGITAL AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OFFICE ANNOUNCES HISTORIC TRANSITION, CLEAN AUDIT, AND ENTERPRISE MODERNIZATION MILESTONES

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, UNITED STATES

09.08.2026

Story by Madeline Buczkowski 

Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office

Following a year of unprecedented challenges and budget headwinds that initially threatened critical AI and data platforms, the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office (CDAO) executed a massive organizational and operational turnaround.

Over the past 12 months, CDAO successfully transitioned from an adverse to a clean audit rating on the War Data Platform (WDP) financial reporting controls, while simultaneously modernizing the Department of War enterprise data environment and delivering direct support to warfighters deployed for Operation Epic Fury.

Strategic Realignment and the Comeback

The foundation of this historic rebound began with CDAO’s realignment under the Department of War’s Chief Technology Officer and the leadership of Under Secretary Emil Michael. Executed following the rollout of the White House’s AI Action Plan, this shift established the necessary leadership direction and alignment for rapid reform.

This realignment enabled Deputy Secretary Feinberg’s strategic direction in January, pivoting the organization from a period of uncertainty into a laser-focused mission to deliver resilient, scalable enterprise solutions.

“We have proven that this War Department can achieve administrative accountability without sacrificing operational speed,” said Under Secretary Emil Michael. “The White House AI Action Plan called for a faster and more disciplined approach to AI adoption across government, and we are delivering. Over the past year, the War Data Platform was modernized and achieved a clean SOC-1 audit as we expanded secure frontier AI capabilities across the Combatant Commands to support the warfighter.”

Clean Audit, WDP Program of Record, and Platform Modernization

In a monumental administrative and technical achievement, the CDAO team reversed an adverse rating to secure aclean SOC-1 auditfor the War Data Platform in just one year. This audit covered portions of the system that support internal controls over financial reporting and is paramount to Secretary Hegseth’s priority for a clean Department audit by FY28.

WDP has been swiftly modernizing the platform since January, when Deputy Secretary Feinberg signed the Transforming Advana to Accelerate Artificial Intelligence and Enhance Auditability memo, prioritizing data readiness and agility in the platformby ensuringrapid discoverability andaccess tocriticaldata productsacross all functional domainsand all three networks. These modernization effortsincludeupgrading the Data Integration Layer,establishingsecure cross-domain pathways, and expanding infrastructure deployment into classified domains.Ultimately, the success of these efforts was proven in Operation Epic Fury, where WDP provided critical data readiness to the military departments, leveraging secure connections to enable rapid information sharing between mission partners for evacuation planning and logistics.

WDP partners with many of the best commercial providers, is actively competing requirements, and has over nine primes and industry partners delivering across the tech stack to ensure the platform aligns with industry standards. Recently, in a tremendous success for the Department, WDP awarded a new prime contract to Accenture Federal Services, whichdrives down overallcosts,speeds acquisitiontimelines,andsecures the most innovative technical approaches, products, and solutions available in industry. Consequently,WDP is now officially on track to become a formal Program of Record.

Accelerating Capabilities for the Warfighter

CDAO has maintained an aggressive deployment schedule to support global operations, including Operation Epic Fury. Key technological and operational milestones achieved during this period include:

• MSS Expansion:Successfully scaled Maven Smart System (MSS) across five distinct networks, delivering critical capabilities to all Combatant Commands.
• GenAI.mil Launch:Deployed the Department of War’s centralized hub for frontier AI platforms and models, artificial intelligence policy, training, and resources.
• Frontier AI Platforms:Deployed Google’s Gemini Enterprise with general availability and initiated the beta launch of two additional frontier AI platforms (Starshield AI’s Grok for Government and OpenAI’s ChatGPT Mil) with a full Authority to Operate (ATO), rapidly expanding the Department's access to secure generative AI capabilities.
• Enterprise Access to Frontier AI Models: Deployed programmatic API access to frontier AI models through GenAI.mil, making it available for all users in the Department, and paving the way for unceasing grassroots innovation.

This comprehensive turnaround from platform modernization to critical audit successes represents a massive victory for the administration and sets a new standard for data and AI integration across the Department of War.

• Date Taken: 09.08.2026
• Date Posted: 09.08.2026 13:02
• Story ID: 574091
• Location: WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, US