As the Defense Department continues its modernization journey, a five-layer maturity model could provide transformational change and shift the department from its siloed systems to an integrated digital ecosystem that empowers action, improves mission speed and puts people at the center.

Jamison Braun, vice president of global public sector at Salesforce, said that model provides the template for “natural digital transformation.”

He laid out its five components during Federal News Network’s DoD Modernization Exchange:

• Leading with insights: Unlocking structured and unstructured data and enabling visualization of that data are the foundational steps of the model.
• Anything relationship management (xRM): “It’s not enough to just admire the problem or operational voyeurism. We need to be able to take action and solve a problem,” Braun said.

This layer enables does that. Whether it’s case management or filing for benefits, an agency must empower personnel to move beyond passive information and actively engage with data, he said.

• End-to-end human capital: From recruitment all the way to retirement, DoD needs to be able to engage service members and their families over a lifetime. This layer isn’t just about human resources systems. It’s about building a seamless, integrated experience and supporting people throughout their entire relationship with the organization.

“You need to create this engagement layer, this journey of people — and the way that our people are retained and engaged across the entire ecosystem,” Braun said.

• Supply and resource management (SRM): This layer is about operational execution and how DoD can use data to manage systems that support its mission, including supply chains, resource tracking, asset and inventory management.

“All the ways that we take care of systems. Think much bigger than IT systems. Think logistics and readiness and operational and aircraft generation equipment — all the ways that we execute the mission of the department,”  Braun said.

• Revolutionizing the work operating system: The culmination of the model is a connected platform that eliminates the need for constant app-switching.

“Stop being a swivel servant. Today, I’m over here in one application. I swivel to another application with a login and password. I jump to another application, and none of them are ever connected. If you can stay in that flow of work, wrap the first four elements of the maturity model into a work operating system — that’s where you really start to get business outcomes,” he said.

The first outcome of this model is clarity, Braun said. By leveraging data across silos and systems, DoD can eliminate “a lot of the fog” that exists in IT environments, he added.

Another major benefit is reducing the friction for employees. When data flows seamlessly across platforms and teams, it eliminates the need for repetitive tasks, duplicate logins and manual handoffs, Braun said.

And most important, the model will allow DoD to move faster. “It is critical for the speed of mission that we’re at. We have to give the right insights to the right decision maker as fast as possible,” he said.

Reimagining Defense communications

Today’s way of communication is still linear and hierarchical — an email passed down the chain of command, often taking days to get down to the tactical level.

“Imagine if we had a way to communicate, collaborate and document so that it could go right to every single person at the decision-maker level, where they had the insights that they needed, they had the relative background that they need for business continuity, and they can act on decisions. And everybody had three critical variables — trust, transparency and accountability — all in a system that becomes your business continuity,” Braun said.

This model also transforms how agencies approach human capital.

“Imagine if I could onboard somebody by leveraging that same work operating system, keep people in the flow of work, and they would have the entire continuity of the unit that they’re starting to onboard with. And imagine if we could leverage autonomous agents or artificial intelligence that synthesize and summarize years or decades worth of that information and give it to them in a very simple, easy to read and digest format. These are some of the things that the Defense Department can start to garner real efficiencies from,” Braun said.

Maturity stages of AI

Much like digital modernization, artificial intelligence can be understood in terms of maturity stages.

“I think we’re in the third wave of AI,” Braun said. Understanding where the Defense Department fits into that progression is critical.

The first wave of AI was centered on predictive analytics — analyzing historical data to identify trends and patterns.

The second wave, which many defense and federal agencies are in the midst of exploring, is generative AI, often experienced through chatbot-like tools.

The third wave, which is where some companies are already operating, is the autonomous agents. These systems don’t just assist but can take action, Braun said.

“Imagine that I can train an autonomous agent to look through all of the regulations, directives, periodicals, updated executive orders and immediately decipher what the right answer is — while establishing guardrails so to remove hallucinations and toxicity and things that would make it risky to answer the question. But then tie a bow around it so that it gets refined over and over and over again,” he said. “What essentially, I can do is I can then create this revolution of digital labor, where these autonomous agents can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which is what we can’t do as humans.”

Discover more articles and videos now on the DoD Modernization Exchange event page.

Copyright © 2025 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.