EDGE AI Defense Symposium

Securing the Next Generation of Edge AI

Solving Together What No One Has Solved Alone Trusted edge AI deployment at scale is one of the defining challenges of our time — and it remains unsolved. Not just in defense. Not just in government. Across every industry pushing intelligence to the edge, the same fundamental questions persist: How do you build AI that works when connectivity fails? How do you create a supply chain you can trust? How do you move from promising technology to a reliable, fielded capability at scale? The commercial world is wrestling with these questions in real time. So is the DoW. The difference is that defense operates with a level of urgency, mission stakes and accountability that sharpens every one of these challenges and demands answers faster. The EDGE AI FOUNDATION's Defense Symposium brings these two communities together in a structured, substantive dialogue designed to accelerate what neither can achieve alone. Convened at Johns Hopkins University, one of the nation's foremost defense research institutions, this is not a typical defense conference. It is an invitation-only working session between senior government leaders and selected representatives of the world’s most innovative edge AI ecosystems. The invited academic and industry representatives were chosen because they are solving the most challenging problems for critical AI — at the hardware level, the software stack and the systems integration layer. All of them are here because they want to understand what it will take to advance the field together. What We Will Work On Invited attendees will engage directly with the findings and recommendations of the EDGE AI FOUNDATION's Defense Working Group, a senior industry body convened to develop actionable recommendations for fielding trusted edge AI at scale. The day is structured for candid, substantive exchange, not passive listening. Key themes include: Edge First Over Cloud First — the operational imperative for AI that performs in DIL environments. Blue Edge AI — modeling a trusted, sovereign supply chain for AI-optimized hardware on the proven success of the Blue UAS program. The Path to Scale — what acquisition reform and new partnership models must look like. The Research Frontier — Johns Hopkins researchers on where edge AI R&D is headed. Who Should Attend An invitation-only event for selected senior DoD and defense agency officials, program managers, acquisition professionals, and policy leaders serious about accelerating commercial edge AI adoption, commercial edge AI hardware and software companies ready to engage with defense as a serious market opportunity. The evening reception provides additional time for the conversations that matter most.