Agile Defense Tapped to Build Agentic AI for Pentagon’s CDAO
WASHINGTON — Agile Defense has been selected to support the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office in developing agentic AI capabilities, the company announced via PR Newswire.
The contract positions Agile Defense as a partner in the Department of Defense’s push to integrate autonomous AI agent systems into military operations. The CDAO, which serves as the Pentagon’s principal authority for digital and AI initiatives, has increasingly focused on agentic AI — systems capable of operating with greater autonomy to complete complex, multi-step tasks without continuous human direction.
The award reflects growing federal interest in agentic architectures, which have gained traction across the private sector and are now being adopted by national security agencies. Agentic AI differs from conventional AI tools by enabling systems to plan, reason and execute sequences of actions independently, a capability the Defense Department views as critical for maintaining technological superiority.
The CDAO, established in 2022 under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, has served as the central hub for the Pentagon’s AI strategy, overseeing data management, analytics and AI adoption across all military branches. The office has increased its focus on next-generation AI capabilities as the technology matures and peer adversaries invest in similar systems.
Agile Defense, a Virginia-based defense technology firm, specializes in digital transformation and cybersecurity services for federal agencies. The company’s portfolio includes work across multiple defense and intelligence community clients.
The contract comes amid growing Pentagon interest in AI-driven autonomy. The Defense Department’s fiscal year 2026 budget request included increases for AI-related programs, and the CDAO has been tasked with scaling AI adoption across the department’s sprawling enterprise.
The deployment of agentic AI in defense applications raises questions about human oversight, testing and evaluation standards, and the pace at which autonomous systems can be safely deployed in sensitive national security contexts.
