As the combat cloud is actualized as an operating paradigm, the Joint Force will process immense amounts of data and information rapidly. Data and information will be not only the most coveted tools for achieving mission success but the greatest weapons in themselves. Information management and force connectivity will become key mission priorities underpinning the ability of the Joint Force to quickly and seamlessly transition between low intensity, permissive conflicts to high intensity, contested, multi-domain operations. Within this future operating paradigm, the embedded application of AI across the planning and operations cycles will be vital for allowing the Joint Force to operate inside the observe, orient, decide and act (OODA) loop of adversarial decision-making, maneuvers and effects.

The dynamics of command and control and the mission command will be fundamentally altered as planning and operations processes are evolved with increasing levels of automation and the accelerating absorption of autonomous systems into force structures. Communications between the ranks will become more fluid and more rapid but also less frequent as the Joint Force becomes a self-synchronizing system-of-systems – man, machine, manned, unmanned, autonomous, sensors and effects – operating across the operational domains. This new way of warfare will need transformational leaders to embrace and inspire change in an AI-driven world where decision-making is delegated to the lowest levels possible. New ways and means of working and operating will be needed to cultivate warfighters that can think, fight and win across height, breadth and depth of future battlespaces.