Roundtable Discussion
AI and national resilience: opportunities for strategic advantage in an era of rapid tech change with Jim Mitre, Senior Vice President and Chief Research Officer at RAND
Date: Wednesday, 7 October, 2026
Location: Winthrop Hall, The University of Western Australia
Event summary
On 7 October, 2026, the Perth USAsia Centre was pleased to host a roundtable discussion with Jim Mitre, Senior Vice President and Chief Research Officer at RAND, on the opportunities and challenges AI presents for national security and resilience.
As AI capabilities rapidly advance, governments across the region are grappling with both the prospects and pitfalls presented by emerging technologies. AI is increasingly influencing defence planning, cyber security, supply chains, critical infrastructure, information integrity, and the distribution of geopolitical power. At the same time, concerns around disinformation, autonomous systems, cyber threats, and technological dependence are prompting new debates about governance, standards, and regulation.
This discussion explored what a rapidly evolving AI environment means for Australia and other middle powers, and how they can build resilience, strengthen sovereign capability, and secure long-term strategic and economic advantage in an increasingly contested region.
Key insights from the discussion included:
- Opportunities for Australia: Australia has opportunities to strengthen its position in the AI ecosystem through investment in compute infrastructure, AI talent development, frontier model evaluation (including through safety institutes), and leveraging its renewable energy advantages.
- International competition: Intensifying competition between major powers is reshaping the global AI landscape, prompting middle powers such as Australia to focus on areas of comparative advantage, leverage, and strategic resilience. Building sources of leverage may help Australia to ensure access to leading AI technology and strengthen its role in emerging governance and regulatory developments.
- Governance: The future of AI governance will depend on the ability of countries to identify shared interests and pursue practical forms of international cooperation, despite broader geopolitical tensions and challenges within existing multilateral institutions.
- Safety and regulation: As AI capabilities advance, there is a growing call for governance frameworks, safety mechanisms, and international guardrails. A key challenge will be how to ensure regulatory settings keep pace with technology advances – managing risk without constraining innovation.
- Social licence: Maintaining public trust and social licence will be critical to the long-term adoption of AI, underlining the importance of transparency, accountability, and community engagement.
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Guest Speakers
Jim Mitre, Senior Vice President and Chief Research Officer at RAND
Jim Mitre is senior vice president and chief research officer at RAND. He oversees all U.S.-based research and analysis, quality assurance, and the recruitment and oversight of RAND’s research staff.
Mitre was the inaugural vice president and director of the RAND Global and Emerging Risks division, which delivers rigorous and objective public policy research on the most consequential challenges to civilization and global security. Prior to that, Mitre served as the director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Program.
Before joining RAND, Mitre spent over a decade serving in multiple roles in the Department of Defense where he had responsibility for defense strategy, strategic analysis, scenario development, and force planning. He served as a senior advisor to the deputy secretary of defense for data and artificial intelligence, principal director and acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development, and as the executive director of the 2018 National Defense Strategy. Mitre was a presidential management fellow in the Office of the Secretary of Defense and served in Kabul, Afghanistan, and Nairobi, Kenya.
Mitre has also spent time in the private sector as the chief strategy officer at Govini, an early-stage national security technology company, and, at the onset of his career, co-founded a private counterterrorism research organization, the SITE Institute.
Mitre holds a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and a B.B.A. from the University of Michigan Business School.
Venue
Winthrop Hall
The University of Western Australia
35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley WA 6009
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