Jun 11, 2026 · 15 min · 8 segments
We just wrapped up our Hacking for Defense class at Stanford. This was the 11th year we’ve taught Hacking for Defense, and the impact of asymmetric warfare, (drones, off-the-shelf technologies, etc.,)…
This was the eleventh year we've taught hacking for defense and the impact of asymmetric warfare , disruptive technologies such as AI and commercial access to space, and a startup-friendly DOW acquisition system make it feel like a much different class than the previous classes.
I'll summarize some of the learnings about the use of AI at the end of this post.
This year's problems came from the Navy, Air Force, Army Research Lab, Defense Innovation Unit, IQT and NASA.
This quarter, Nine teams of 42 students at Stanford collectively interviewed 1,132 beneficiaries, stakeholders, requirements writers, program managers, industry partners, etc., while simultaneously building a series of AI-driven minimum viable products and developing a path to deployment.
We opened this year's final presentation session with a great talk about AI and defense, past, present, and future, with retired Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan.
There is a link to his presentation at steveblank.com. During the order, guest speakers in the class included Owen West, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, Mike Brown, partner at Shield Capital, retired Lieutenant General Joseph McGee, recent head of the Joint Staff J-5 for Strategy, Plans and Policy, and the Honorary Maurice Payne, Australia's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Each of the eight teams gave a final lessons learned presentation along with a two-minute video to provide context about their problem.
Unlike traditional demo days where teams show off, here's how smart I am and isn't this a great product, please give me money, the lessons learned presentations tell the story of each team's 10-week journey and hard-won learning and discovery.
It's a roller coaster narrative describing what happens when you discover that everything they thought they knew on day one was wrong and how they eventually got it right.
While all the teams used the mission model canvas, customer development and AI tools to build minimum viable products, each of their journeys was unique.
One, tell us what AI tools they used and two, their estimate of progress on the technology readiness level and investment readiness level.
This was the eleventh year we've taught hacking for defense and the impact of asymmetric warfare , disruptive technologies such as AI and commercial access to space, and a startup-friendly DOW acquisition system make it feel like a much different class than the previous classes.
I'll summarize some of the learnings about the use of AI at the end of this post.
This year's problems came from the Navy, Air Force, Army Research Lab, Defense Innovation Unit, IQT and NASA.
This quarter, Nine teams of 42 students at Stanford collectively interviewed 1,132 beneficiaries, stakeholders, requirements writers, program managers, industry partners, etc., while simultaneously building a series of AI-driven minimum viable products and developing a path to deployment.
We opened this year's final presentation session with a great talk about AI and defense, past, present, and future, with retired Lieutenant General Jack Shanahan.
There is a link to his presentation at steveblank.com. During the order, guest speakers in the class included Owen West, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, Mike Brown, partner at Shield Capital, retired Lieutenant General Joseph McGee, recent head of the Joint Staff J-5 for Strategy, Plans and Policy, and the Honorary Maurice Payne, Australia's Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Each of the eight teams gave a final lessons learned presentation along with a two-minute video to provide context about their problem.
Unlike traditional demo days where teams show off, here's how smart I am and isn't this a great product, please give me money, the lessons learned presentations tell the story of each team's 10-week journey and hard-won learning and discovery.
It's a roller coaster narrative describing what happens when you discover that everything they thought they knew on day one was wrong and how they eventually got it right.
While all the teams used the mission model canvas, customer development and AI tools to build minimum viable products, each of their journeys was unique.
One, tell us what AI tools they used and two, their estimate of progress on the technology readiness level and investment readiness level.
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