The subtitle of this excellent new book is How the Pentagon and Silicon Valley Are Changing the Art of War. Not written by journalists but by two insiders, Raj M. Shah and Christopher Kirchoff. Here you can read about Eric Schmidt, Brendan McCord, Anduril, Palantir, and much more.
I’m not done with the book yet, for now here’s one short episode, which sets the stage for much of what follows:
It turned out that before Silicon Valley technology could be used on the battlefield, we had to go to war to buy it. We had to hack the Pentagon itself – its antiquated acquisition processes, which prevent moving money at the speed of Silicon Valley. In Silicon Valley, deals are made in days. The eighteen-to-twenty-four-month process for finalizing contracts used by most of the Pentagon had not begun. No startup CEO trying to book money can wait for the earth to circle the sun twice. We needed a new way.
And this bit:
Ukraine has avoided blackouts in part because its over-engineered power grid boasts twice the capacity the country needs – ironically, the system was originally designed by the Soviets to withstand a NATO attack.
The authors understand both the worlds of technology and bureaucracy well, kudos to them. It will be released in July.
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