AI at the Edge Turning Promise into Mission Advancement (E268)

DoD Strategic Advisor

Mr. Folliard is a former career Department of Defense (DoD) civil servant, where he served for two decades. His most recent assignment was as the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Officer at U.S. Special Operations Command. As a direct report to the Commanding General, he was responsible for accelerating the Command’s transition to a data-driven enterprise and creating decision advantage from the headquarters to the tactical edge.

Mr. Folliard joined U.S. Special Operations Command from senior executive roles in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. He helped establish the Department of Defense Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, where he served as the organization’s first Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Folliard previously worked in the Immediate Office of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, where he was a Special Assistant and Senior Advisor directly supporting multiple Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries across several Administrations on strategy execution, enterprise governance, and the development of enterprise data analytics.

Prior to his work in the Immediate Office of the Secretary and Deputy Secretary of Defense, Mr. Folliard served in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. He was the Director of the Iraq and C-ISIL Coalition Team in the Middle East Office for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the campaign to defeat ISIL. He was also the Country Director for Pakistan in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian & Pacific Security Affairs. Mr. Folliard worked as a strategist for the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy, Plans, and Forces, where he contributed to defense planning efforts to support the 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance and the 2014 Quadrennial Defense Review.

Mr. Folliard was the lead civil servant on the DoD Transition Task Force in 2016- 2017. He also worked on detail to the Executive Office of the President as a program examiner in the National Security Division at the Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Folliard began his federal service as an intelligence analyst in the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (J2) and Defense Intelligence Agency.

He earned an undergraduate degree at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), where he was a Morehead Scholar, and a masters degree from Georgetown University. He is the recipient of the DoD Distinguished Civilian Service Award, the Paul H. Nitze Award for Excellence in International Affairs, four Secretary of Defense Meritorious Civilian Service Awards, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Meritorious Civilian Service Award, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Civilian Service. He was a term member on the Council on Foreign Relations.