Domino Data Lab COO: "The side that iterates fastest will win"
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Speed will determine what country or military becomes top dog, according to Thomas "TRob" Robinson, the COO at Domino Data Lab.
- "The side that iterates fastest will win. Theaters change, threats change. Look at the pace of the technology developed in Ukraine. The pace is going to require rapid redeployment of AI and software," he told Axios in an interview.
- "The Defense Department is already working to do 90-day sprints. We need day-to-day-sprint sorts of technology."
Why he matters: Robinson has years of experience with software, data, the workforce and the big-picture orchestration of it all. His company is also working with the U.S. Navy.
Q: When you hear "future of defense," what comes to mind?
A: A brilliant weekly newsletter. No, I'm kidding. But I am a subscriber.
- I don't know if this is antiquated or uncouth or that sort of thing, but I keep coming back to "Fourth Offset."
- I think the future of defense is software-defined warfare; the ability to get AI deployed on the battlefield; do it at the speed required; and well-governed for trust, so the warfighters actually use it.
- All the things that are interesting from a hardware perspective — like small autonomous vehicles — all require great capability for software delivery.
Q: When will wars be waged solely by robots?
A: Tongue in cheek? I think we'll have a fleeting moment as humanity watches the robots kill us all, if this ever happens. I think we've got to strive for the opposite.
- Humans are going to be needed, especially in defense; the decades of military expertise and know-how won't be replaced. Ethics is going to be a very challenging thing. It's already challenging enough for humans.
- We need humans and AI together, and it'll empower leaders to make faster, better decisions, without entirely replacing people.
Q: How many emails do you get a day, and how do you deal with them?
A: I did the analysis.
- I get 90-150. That's the rough sort of range. I get so many I don't need to engage on, but I want to see what happens next.
- I bought a tool I love 10 years ago called Boomerang. I'm sure some guy makes it in his basement. $60 a year. Lets me bring emails back. "What happened? Let me see." I think it's built into everything now, but I love it.
Q: What time do you wake up? What does the morning routine look like?
A: I am the proud dad of twin 2-year-olds, so this has changed over the last two years. I used to wake up earlier. Now I'm up at like 7 am.
- My wife and I both work in dual-use technology startups. We're both executives at dual-use technology startups. So we split handling the boys in the morning. I make the food. She gets them dressed.
- I'm checking email along the way. We're playing a little bit. But 7-9, we're all over the kids. Now I work out later in the day.
- But I'm the cook. I'm the quartermaster.
