Richard L. Farnell
In January 1991, coalition forces dismantled Iraq’s command-and-control network with remarkable speed. That success did not rest on a single breakthrough technology or superior platforms. It rested on something more decisive: shared understanding across organizations, functions, and national boundaries. Leaders and staffs had unified mental models—rooted in doctrine, institutional experience, and an understanding of the problem—enabling disciplined initiative and decentralized execution without constant coordination. The result was operational coherence at speed.
Three decades later, leaders must figure out how to maintain shared understanding as artificial intelligence reshapes how organizations sense, decide, and act in a joint operation. AI accelerates collection, analysis, and dissemination of information. But as the joint force integrates AI tools and seeks to leverage these unprecedented advantages, the goal is not solely about adoption, but rather ensuring that speed produces coherent action rather than divergence. Data flows continuously. Decisions are pushed closer to the tactical edge. Yet research and operational experience suggest that speed alone does not improve outcomes. AI can accelerate error, amplify disagreement, and reinforce misalignment when trust in the machine outpaces shared understanding among human decision-makers. Therefore, leaders must govern these processes and provide frameworks for their staffs to keep shared understanding intact while moving at machine speed.
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