NNSA Eyes Human-Machine Teaming to Boost Mission Efficiency

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) is assessing how its workforce can adopt human-machine teaming to improve mission outcomes and operational efficiency, Associate Administrator for Information Management and CIO James Wolff said Thursday at an AFCEA event.

“I want to move beyond just workforce efficiency and bring AI into the mission space. Things like cybersecurity, we can’t do that with humans alone. You have to do that with smart machines,” Wolff said.

Wolff said NNSA is deploying AI-driven predictive analytics to support machine maintenance and improve fault tolerance while reducing operator workload. That shift allows personnel to focus on higher-value tasks “rather than making sure a machine is operating optimally.”

As AI adoption accelerates across government, Wolff said agencies must build a more adaptable and resilient workforce. Increased automation will require roles to evolve as AI tools take on more routine functions.

Kayla Gunter, acting associate CIO and director of Federal IT Program Management, said in a separate panel the agency is looking to use AI to increase operational efficiencies; however, the workforce’s AI skills and perceptions of the technology need to change.

“We have to deliver results quickly and it has to make sense. We can deploy the technology, but we have to build the skill set too,” said Gunter. “AI isn’t necessarily going to take over jobs, but I think our jobs will shift. If it can do something faster and more efficiently than me, I want that.”

NNSA’s Progress on Cloud Modernization

NNSA officials also shared the agency’s cloud modernization progress. In 2022, Wolff told GovCIO Media & Research that NNSA was in the early stages of migrating classified data to a commercial cloud provider. He said Thursday the agency expects to implement a three-cloud solution on a classified network within the next year.

“We were looking forward to this several years ago. It started just fundamentally on asking if we have the right tools to access and protect the information, and do we have enough bandwidth,” Wolff said Thursday.

Modernizing cloud capabilities has also required expanded cybersecurity efforts. William Watkins, director of Federal IT Management, said cloud adoption introduces new threat vectors that demand stronger coordination across government and industry.

“A lot of that is just simply upskilling your labor force, bringing in the right vendors and industry partners to help us with some of that new technology,” said Watkins. “Modernization is not stopping. It’s moving at 100 miles an hour, and we have to find a way, not only to keep pace, but also protect our systems.”