Patrick Johnson on Unlocking the Potential: Enhancing Cyber Workforce and Technology in the Department of Defense

Have no fear, your new wingman is here! AI is by your side and ready to help you multiply your abilities. Patrick Johnson, Director of the Workforce Innovation Directorate at the DoD CIO discusses how his team is working to further implement AI ethically and safely in areas such as human capital to expedite finding talent. Patrick also shares his passion for building cyclical pipelines to ensure that talent, and ideas, flow seamlessly between the government and private sector. Join us as we dive further into AI’s benefits and how government and industry can be cyber workforce innovation partners.Key Topics02:06 Lag in civilian workforce training upscaling needed.03:19 Balancing talent, training and automation for better security.08:22 Leaders understand AI as a force multiplier.12:15 Our motivations are different; utilizing AI for advancement.15:25 AI used for maintenance, scheduling, monitoring issues. Embracing technology.18:35 Questioning impact of technology on workforce integration.21:45 Knowledge, skills, ability, competency. Task-focused performance. Workforce coding. Qualification program ensures necessary skill sets. Tracking mechanism being developed. Vast department with skill spread.25:26 Real-time data for proactive leadership and action.27:05 Retention strategy includes talent competition and permeability.30:36 Improving marketing for civilian DoD jobs.33:49 It works for all sectors, find talent.40:19 Government employees and veterans bring valuable skills.41:27 Promote supply, train, partner for innovation.45:33 Virtual reality: future of government services and museums.The DoD's Cyber WorkforceCyber Workforce Improvement Is CrucialPatrick states that the Department of Defense's (DoD's) total cyber workforce, comprising military, civilian and industry partner contractors, is around 225,000 people. He notes that the DoD has the biggest gap in the civilian cyber workforce, which makes up about 75,000 people. According to Patrick, one of the key problems when bringing new cybersecurity technologies online is failing to adequately train the existing workforce on how to use and get value from those technologies. Training and Upscaling the Current Cyber WorkforceRather than pursuing full re-skilling of employees which can set them back, Patrick advocates for upskilling the current DoD cyber workforce. This involves assessing talent and capability gaps. Then providing the workforce with the necessary training to perform new technologies appropriately. Patrick states that partnering workforce members with automated processes like AI can help them become more effective by highlighting key info and threats.The Importance of Training and Upscaling in the Cyber Workforce: "Well, it's great to put new technology on the table. But if you don't take the time to train the workforce you have in the programs or the systems you're bringing online, you lose that effectiveness and you don't really gain the efficiencies or the objectives that you need to be."— Patrick JohnsonAutomation and AIAI Is Seen as a Partnership With the Human Cyber WorkforcePatrick views AI as a partnership with the human workforce rather than a threat. He emphasizes that AI should be seen as a "wingman or wingperson" that boosts productivity and acts as a force multiplier. Patrick explains that AI excels at rote, tedious tasks allowing the human workforce to focus more on creativity.AI Helps With Rote and Tedious TasksAccording to Patrick, AI is adept at attention-to-detail tasks that would be tedious for a human to manually perform. He provides the example of a cybersecurity analyst or defender whose productivity can be enhanced by AI highlighting anomalies in data...