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Craig Martell

Chief Technology Officer, Lockheed Martin

Search every verified Craig Martell interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. In a September 2025 panel, Martell discussed the challenges of integrating advanced technology into military operations. He stated that the U.S. possesses strong technical capabilities but that "acquisition reform" is needed to overcome the "valley of death" that prevents technology from reaching warfighters. Martell also described his experience as the Pentagon's first chief digital and AI officer, where he merged four organizations and focused on a "hierarchy of needs" beginning with data quality McKendree. Martell commented on the future of defense, agreeing with Eric Schmidt that it makes sense to use autonomous systems instead of putting humans in harm's way. He cautioned against presupposing that AI is the answer to every problem, arguing that the question should be "what capabilities do we need?" rather than assuming the solution is AI. Martell also expressed cautious optimism about the reorganization of AI functions under the Pentagon's research and engineering office, saying it could allow for "economies of scale."

Recent appearances

  • Lockheed Martin Launches Its Quantum Innovation Center | Craig Martell at QWC 2026

    October 01, 2026 · 📺 Connected DMV

    Dr. Craig Martell, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at Lockheed Martin, used the Quantum World Congress 2026 stage to introduce the Lockheed Martin Quantum Innovation Center, or QuIC, a new enterprise-wide hub designed to accelerate quantum research, prototyping, integration, and workforce development across the company. Lockheed Martin formally launched QuIC on September 23, 2026. Martell described a quantum strategy spanning several timelines: sensing technologies approaching deployment, positioning, navigation, and timing systems that require additional engineering, and quantum…

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  • Can AI Create Great Music? | Craig Martell & Joe Branciforte

    August 14, 2026 · 📺 After Arts

    If a machine can write music indistinguishable from a person’s, what is the composer for? In this conversation, Craig Martell, Chief Technology Officer of Lockheed Martin and former head of AI at the Pentagon, joins composer and Grammy-winning producer Joseph Branciforte to explore what AI can—and cannot—replace in the creative process. They discuss whether music made by a machine can be meaningfully great, what makes human-made work precious, the difference between external and internal validation, and whether the value of art lies in the finished object or in the act of making it. An Afte…

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  • Unreliable Statistics at Scale (aka AI) with Craig Martell, Lockheed Martin's CTO

    July 13, 2026 · 📺 Typhoon Bearing

    Craig Martell has seen AI adoption from more angles than almost anyone: a Silicon Valley machine learning leader (LinkedIn, Dropbox), the first Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer (CDAO) of the Department of Defense, and now CTO of Lockheed Martin. He brings that rare Valley-to-Pentagon vantage to one question: what does it actually take to field AI you can trust when lives are on the line. Craig makes the case that AI is "statistics at scale" — gather data from the past to predict the future, and therefore guaranteed to be sometimes wrong. So the real work is defining the erro…

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  • Autonomous weapons, AI errors, and who’s responsible

    March 28, 2026 · 📺 Axios Live and Axios

    Lockheed Martin CTO Craig Martell joins Axios’ Colin Demarest for a conversation at the AI+DC Summit to break down the latest on AI in defense. Martell explains why AI isn’t a magical replacement for human thinking, but a system built on data, probabilities, and prediction—and why that distinction matters for everything from military autonomy to real-world decision-making. He warns that flawed data, changing environments, and misunderstood models can all lead AI systems to fail in high-stakes scenarios. The conversation dives deep into AI in defense, including autonomous weapons, accountabi…

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  • “AI is not Magical Pixie Dust.” Lockheed Martin CTO and Leader of Project Maven on AI and War

    September 25, 2025 · 📺 Nina Schick

    I am delighted to hosted this conversation with the architect of the Pentagon's AI strategy—and now the Chief Technology Officer ...

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  • The Exchange x AI+Autonomy: Dr.Craig Martell on Autonomy in Defense

    September 25, 2025 · 📺 Special Competitive Studies Project

    Lockheed Martin CTO Dr. Craig Martell breaks down what it takes to responsibly deploy AI in defense: clean data, continuous retraining, and human-machine teaming. Real-world autonomy, tested and evolving. #theexchange For more, visit: https://www.scsp.ai/exchange/ This Exchange will focus on AI+ Autonomy for national security, and continue our mission of bringing together pioneers and champions of innovation from the government, private sector, and scientific community to examine how to advance collaboration in pursuit of national security.

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Other executives at Lockheed Martin

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