Season 8: Still Here • May 12, 2026

Strategic, Cultural, Transformative

Shana Cosgrove talks to Dan Follird, Former CDAO at USSOCOM

Host Shana Cosgrove welcomes listeners to Outspoken and interviews Dan Folliard, whom she met at the NDIA Emerging Tech Conference, about accelerating adoption of AI and digital capabilities across defense through practical, solution-focused partnerships. Dan recounts 20 years in government service, including roles in the Secretary’s immediate office, helping stand up OSD’s Chief Digital and AI Officer organization, and serving as Chief Digital and AI Officer at SOCOM, where he focused on execution and translating technology value to senior and mid-tier leaders. They argue digital transformation is largely cultural, requires trustworthy data governance, and should prioritize collapsing slow decision cycles with probabilistic, timely answers. Dan advocates “relentless incrementalism,” greater IT investment, and treating data/AI as a strategic warfighting advantage, while also stressing public support, career frameworks, and maxims like being a “get stuff done” person.

Quotes

  • [5:03] “The distinction in my mind is, like you said, do we have a vector nationally? Do we have sort of that north star that we’re all swimming towards? – Dan Folliard
  • [7:43] “I left government service in December of 2024 and it followed a, a 20 year career, uh, civil service job uh, in DOD…” – Dan Folliard
  • [22:54] “This is a source of war fighting advantage. You need to put it on par when you think about investment relative to your other sources of war fighting advantage in your capability portfolio.” – Dan Folliard

Timestamps

  • [00:00] Welcome
  • [01:51] Meeting Dan at NDIA
  • [03:52] China vs US AI Race
  • [07:32] Dan Career Background
  • [12:01] Leading Digital Change
  • [15:37] Culture Beats Tech
  • [17:51] Data Governance Trust
  • [21:00] Time Is The Enemy
  • [21:59] Relentless Incrementalism
  • [24:24] AI Across Warfare Spectrum
  • [26:34] Handling Intense Personalities
  • [28:19] Learning From Mess Ups
  • [31:14] Career Frameworks And Maxims
  • [36:28] Life In North Carolina
  • [37:37] Final Takeaways And Wrap

Resources

Relevant Links

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Live well, Shana

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