- The USAF has business for industry in using AI to tag the service’s data, said Col. John Ohlund
- The service is entering a transition period for its Advanced Battle Management System
- Learn more partnership opportunities from Ohlund at the 2026 Air and Space Summit!
The U.S. Air Force has business opportunities for industry in helping the service use AI to better tag, or categorize, its data as it enters a transition period for its Advanced Battle Management System, according to a top officer.
Col. John Ohlund, USAF ABMS cross functional team lead, told ExecutiveGov in an exclusive interview ahead of his appearance at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Air and Space Summit on July 30 that the service wants to improve its data tagging to better categorize data that it ingests. Ohlund said there will be business opportunities for industry in data tagging in categories such as medical, air power and planning.
A key upcoming ABMS initiative is to improve how it transfers data from sensors to operators as the USAF wants to turn ABMS strategies into actual capabilities.
“We’re going to continue to see more engagement across the Air Force for companies that have a data background, or for ways that they can help move data through architecture,” Ohlund said.
Get new insights on the evolution of AI in warfare from Ohlund during the From Data to Decision: Advancing Multi-Level Security With AI/ML for the Modern Warfighter panel discussion at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Air and Space Summit on July 30! Examine accelerating sensor-to-decision timelines through data-centric architectures and open architectures enabling rapid air and space integration. Few seats remain—secure yours today!
What Is the Advanced Battle Management System?
The Advanced Battle Management System is a portfolio of systems and capabilities as part of a next-generation command and control system. It has a goal of allowing USAF and Space Force systems to share data and enable faster C2 decision-making. ABMS is part of a larger service initiative called the Department of the Air Force Battle Network, which is the USAF’s contribution to the Department of War’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, program.
The USAF is increasing its focus on capability development for use of AI in combat, especially with operator trust. Ohlund said this is because AI tools are starting to reach the hands of operators. The service now wants to start issuing contracts to better expose operators to AI models.
Ohlund said the USAF has a number of ABMS milestones scheduled for 2027. These include adding new features, tools and capabilities for AI in combat, in addition to transitioning from prototyping to actual development and deployment of AI capabilities to warfighters. Ohlund said the USAF is also working on adding new additional capabilities to ABMS, including cloud-based C2.
“It’s been quite exciting to start to realize how all these systems can come together,” Ohlund said. “As C3BM gets more and more deliveries, we’re seeing how the potential architecture is starting to shape up.”
What Is the Air Force’s ABMS Budget Request?
The Air Force requested $1 billion for ABMS in its FY 2027 budget request. This would be a 19 percent increase from the $871 million provided in FY 2026. The USAF anticipates requesting $3.7 billion for ABMS through FY 2031.
Want to learn about upcoming USAF requirements in AI before your competitors? Make sure to attend the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Air and Space Summit on July 30. Our all-star keynote speaker lineup of the top federal technology officials in air and space will explore top emerging technologies like long-range kill chains and data-centric architectures:
- Tom Ainsworth, Air Force acting assistant secretary for space acquisition and integration
- Anthony Baity, Air Force assistant deputy chief of staff for logistics, engineering and force protection
- Brig. Gen. Mark Bigley, Space Command current operations division chief
- Gen. John Lamontagne, Air Force vice chief of staff
- Dr. Eliahu Niewood, Air Force director for integrated capabilities and director of studies and analysis
Buy your ticket now before it’s too late!
Who’s Speaking at the 2026 Air and Space Summit?
Let’s explore the backgrounds of the esteemed GovCon technology executives who will speak on the From Data to Decision: Advancing Multi-Level Security With AI/ML for the Modern Warfighter panel discussion at the 2026 Air and Space Summit on July 30.
Col. John Ohlund
ABMS Cross Functional Team Lead, U.S. Air Force
Col. John Ohlund has served in a variety of leadership positions in his USAF career. He previously spent nearly four years with the 805 Combat Training Squadron, culminating as commander from 2022 to 2024. He has served as assistant director of operations for the 621 Air Control Squadron. He also spent three years as both an operations officer with Cruise Missile Support Activity-Atlantic and an air battle manager instructor at the USAF Weapons School.
Steven Butow
Senior Advisor to the Director and Executive Committee Member, Defense Innovation Unit
Steven “Bucky” Butow has extensive Pentagon leadership experience in science and technology. He joined DIU in early 2015 as an early plank owner, helping to establish the organization’s operating locations in Silicon Valley, Boston and Austin, Texas. He was selected as DIU’s first Space Portfolio Director in 2016.
Prior to joining DIU, Butow was the vice chief of the joint staff, California Military Department, with responsibilities including cybersecurity, incident awareness and innovation. He also served in active duty as deputy director of the Joint Search and Rescue Center for U.S. Central Command in 2005 and as chief of personnel recovery for U.S. Air Forces Central in 2007.
Dr. Merrick Watchorn
Acting Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, Department of War (pending confirmation)
Dr. Merrick Watchorn has had a long career in cybersecurity in industry, academia and the Department of War. In addition to recently becoming acting deputy chief information security officer for the DOW, he served as chief cyber, quantum and cognitive information services architect for the USAF from 2024 to 2026.
Watchorn was a senior solutions architect at HII from 2021 to 2024. He was senior executive director for analytics and advance research at MANTECH Labs from 2018 to 2020. Watchorn was chief cybersecurity analysis, cloud and data science subject matter expert and technical fellow at SAIC from 2014 to 2018.
Randy Fields
Chief Technical Officer, Ultra I&C
Randy Fields’ expertise is deeply rooted in the intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance domain with over two decades of experience in the defense and commercial software industry. He served in the Navy for 10 years as a cryptologist, where gained valuable experience as both an enlisted member and as an officer.
Fields spent 14 years at Northrop Grumman, culminating as a software engineering manager and systems architect. He also served as vice president and general manager of Cubic Digital Intelligence, responsible for an international C5ISR products and services business.
Sarah Cleveland
Senior Director for Federal Strategy, ExtraHop (moderator)
Sarah Cleveland served 20 years in the USAF in a variety of high-tech positions, culminating as commander of the 709th Support Group, before joining ExtraHop in 2023. She also served as senior director (J6 and G6) of C4 Cyber from 2017 to 2020, director for C4 operations in the USAF Combined Air Operations Center from 2016 to 2017 and commander of the 55th Communications Squadron from 2014 to 2016.
