Decision Advantage - Jonathan Pan

Latest Episodes:

Keith Brawner: Modeling and Simulation | Decision Advantage #15 Apr 27, 2026

Show notes

Keith Brawner, PhD is the Program Manager of the USC Institute for Creative Technologies UARC and Senior Engineer, Artificial Intelligence Area, Soldier Effective Directorate, U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command - Soldier Center.

In this episode, Keith provides an overview of the importance of modeling, simulation, entertainment, games, and synthetic environments for the Army.

00:58 - Introduction, military simulation and entertainment

03:21 - University affiliated research center

04:54 - Core competencies of ICT

06:30 - Defining simulation, modeling, and wargames through communities

11:28 - List of major modeling and simulation stakeholders/communities

13:30 - DEVCOM Soldier Center

15:30 - "All but war is simulation"

17:50 - Virtual reality

20:10 - How does AI fit into modeling and simulation

23:45 - The importance of terrain

26:45 - Ender's Game

30:57 - Exciting technology developments

Serj Kazar: Adapting Commercial MLOps for Intelligence and Defense | Decision Advantage #14 Apr 26, 2026

Show notes

Exia Labs CTO Serj Kazar provides an end-to-end blueprint for building modern MLOps architecture for the military and intelligence community based on commercial systems and best practices.

Doug Small: C2 vs. C5ISR, Separating the Decision from the Tools | Decision Advantage #13 Apr 26, 2026

Show notes

Rear Adm. Doug Small is a native of Birchwood, Wisconsin. He is a 1988 graduate of Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Physics. He also holds a doctorate degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.Small’s operational tours included mechanical division officer and main propulsion assistant on USS Camden (AOE 2), in which he deployed in support of Operation Desert Storm, as well as combat systems officer (plankowner) on USS Iwo Jima (LHD 7). During Operation Iraqi Freedom he served as the first technical director of Joint Crew Composite Squadron (JCCS) 1, assembled by the Navy to assist with defeating then-prevalent radio-controlled improvised explosive devices (IED).

An engineering duty officer since 1997, Small had a number of tours in acquisition, starting at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division and then the Missile Defense Agency. Moving to the Program Executive Office for Integrated Warfare Systems (PEO IWS), Small was the electronic warfare assistant and then the major program manager for above water sensors (PEO IWS 2), overseeing the development of improvements for the Navy in electronic warfare and radar. Following this tour he served as the executive assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition.

Small’s first flag assignment, in 2016, he was the program executive officer for Integrated Warfare Systems, where he led the team responsible for development, delivery, and sustainment of all surface navy combat and weapon systems. He assumed command of the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command in August 2020, leading a global workforce of 11,000 civilian and military professionals who design, develop, install, and support Navy’s networking, communications, information, and cyber capabilities and systems.Small’s personal awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, Legion of Merit, and Bronze Star; unit awards include the Army Meritorious Unit Commendation and various campaign and service awards.

Small retired Aug. 9, 2024.

#decisionadvantage #decisiondominance

Exia Labs Congressional Briefing: Working with Taiwan & Allies to Counter PRC Aggression | Decision Advantage #12 Apr 26, 2026

Show notes

Panelists:

Philip Yu, U.S. Navy Rear Admiral (ret) U.S. Navy, Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Indo-Pacific Security Initiative, Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security
Dr. Michael A. Hunzeker, Director, Taiwan Security Monitor at George Mason University
Fanny Chao, Non-Resident Fellow, Research Institute for Democracy, Society, and Emerging Technology

Moderator: P.J. Huang, co-founder, General Resilience

Exia Labs Congressional Briefing: Gaming and AI for Defense Strategy | Decision Advantage #11 Apr 26, 2026

Show notes

Panelists:

Jonathan Pan, CEO of Exia Labs and Visiting Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University
James Ryseff, Director of Defense, Special Competitive Studies Project
Moderator: Judy Kurtz, Columnist, The Hill; Correspondent, DC News Now and Sunrise on the Hill

Serj Kazar: Warfighting Data Layer | Decision Advantage #10 Apr 26, 2026

Show notes

Exia Labs CTO Serj Kazar provides an end-to-end blueprint for building a modern data ecosystem for the military based on commercial systems and best practices.

Stuart Williams: Sustainment at the Tactical Edge | Decision Advantage #9 Oct 11, 2025

Show notes

Stuart is a career Army officer with over 25+ years of distinguished service, blending deep expertise in logistics, sustainment, and strategic planning. Most recently, he commanded the Army Field Support Battalion – Charleston (AFSBn-CHS), home of the Army’s Prepositioned Stocks (APS-3) program, where he led a 600-person organization responsible for maintaining and deploying combat power positioned aboard ships worldwide.

His career has spanned tactical, operational, and strategic levels. Stuart has commanded at company and battalion levels, deployed multiple times to Iraq, Korea, and Europe, and served in elite assignments including Regimental S4 for the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) and SAMS planner for the XVIII Airborne Corps. He holds master’s degrees in business administration, Military Arts and Science, and Military Operations, and is a graduate of the School of Advanced Military Studies.

#decisionadvantage #decisiondominance

02:18 - Stuart introduction

07:17 - School of Advanced Military Studies overview

11:14 - Why sustainment is such a critical, but overlooked component of Army operations

16:41 - How is the role of the logistician evolving in an era of contested logistics

21:41 - Why should people pay attention to sustainment at the tactical edge, not just headquarters?

26:20 - AI-enabled sustainment at the tactical edge

29:56 - How Stuart defines "AI" for defense

32:45 - Where sustainment is going in the next 5-10 years

36:00 - Great books for sustainment

37:10 - Superbowl prediction!

Referenced in the show

-https://www.amazon.com/Logistics-Falklands-War-Expeditionary-Warfare/dp/1473899044

-https://www.amazon.com/Engineers-Victory-Problem-Solvers-Turned/dp/0812979397

-https://armyuniversity.edu/cgsc/sams/sams

Kent Park: The Paradox of Combined Operations | Decision Advantage #8 Oct 06, 2025

Show notes

Colonel Kent Park has served in the U.S. Army as an Infantry officer for over 25 years. Most recently, he was the Joint Base Commander of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, leading one of the Army’s largest and most complex installations. During his career, Park commanded at every level and deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan in support of combat operations. Park served in key strategic assignments, including U.S. Army Pacific and Combined Forces Command, Republic of Korea, where he advanced U.S.–ROK military cooperation and combined defense planning.

A graduate of West Point, the U.S. Army War College, and Harvard Kennedy School, Colonel Park has shaped Army modernization, installation management, and international security policy. His leadership has spanned combat operations, strategic planning, and institutional reform, reflecting a career dedicated to national defense and the profession of arms.

00:12 – Introduction

01:10 – The next major war

02:35 – The paradox of combined operations: combined, fast, precise

04:06 – Why segregating different national armies into separate areas doesn't work

04:27 – Interoperability challenges as the root cause of failure of combined operations; types of interoperability

07:20 – Examples of cultural interoperability

08:53 – Solutions for interoperability challenges

13:36 – Crisis action SOP

17:50 – What's needed at the tactical echelon to help with cultural interoperability

Referenced in the episode:

-https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45319/the-charge-of-the-light-brigade

-https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Balaclava

Serj Kazar: The Technology Behind Decision Dominance | Decision Advantage #7 Oct 06, 2025

Show notes

Serk Kazar is Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Exia Labs.

00:12 Decision advantage definition

01:43 What technology is required to generate feasible courses of action

02:43 Spatial awareness proof of concept

Referenced in this episode:

https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.08545

https://mapeval.github.io/

Brian Steed: Narrative War | Decision Advantage #6 Sep 06, 2025

Show notes

Brian L. Steed is a retired US Army lieutenant colonel with more than thirty two years of civilian and uniformed experience in artillery, armor, cavalry (reconnaissance and security), international engagement, and professional military education. He is a practitioner, student, and writer of military theory, Middle East culture, and history.

The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

00:22: Brian introduction

01:33: 9/11 story

05:23: Foreign area officer, Middle East experience

09:30: Debating the center of gravity for ISIS

10:45: Big ideas of Narrative War

13:40: Narrative space as a geological metaphor: space, terrain, landscape, shape

16:33: Narrative War well

20:13: Narrative War is how our opponents fight

21:20: The narrative environment: transient, enduring, societal

25:25: Narrative entrepreneur, governments, and political campaigns

27:55: Explaining how the Taliban navigated the Afghan societal narrative

31:26: TikTok as a mechanism to make Americans hate and fight each other

31:53: All war issues are domestic

33:39: Currencies of Narrative war

36:60: Proactive story vs. counter-narrative

37:53: Operations orders as stories

41:04: Rules of Social Conflict

44:26: Consolidation of gains

46:52: Narrative Space Terrain

51:20: Narrative strategy: Domestic, Expeditionary, Third Party, Great Power

54:05: Narrative strategy during IPOE and Mission Analysis

59:00: Brian's contact information

Referenced in this episode:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tip_O%27Neill

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Mosul_(2016%E2%80%932017)

https://www.newsweek.com/gavin-newsom-breaks-through-trolling-trump-his-own-meme-game-2114281

https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Media/News/Article/607722/three-approaches-to-center-of-gravity-analysis-the-islamic-state-of-iraq-and-th/

https://www.understandingwar.org/jaysh-al-mahdihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fX_NZtMDd3A

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