The Next Frontier: Collaborative Autonomy in Defense Tech | The Pair Program Ep65
The Pair Program · 2025-07-08 · 54 min
Episode notes
The Next Frontier: Collaborative Autonomy in Defense Tech | The Pair Program Ep65 Autonomous systems are no longer science fiction, they’re reshaping national security. But while technology moves fast, policy, infrastructure, and trust lag behind. In this episode, we dive into what it really takes to build resilient, distributed autonomy for contested environments. Joining us are Emma Bates, Founder & CEO of Cachai, and Dr. Kimberly Sablon, CTO at Riverside Research, who bring experience from startups and government. Here’s what we cover: The myth of the “common operating picture” Why centralized autonomy breaks in contested environments Building resilient, distributed systems at the edge What startups need to succeed in defense Rethinking collaboration between humans and machines About Emma Bates: Emma is the Founder & CEO of Cachai, a software company enabling collaborative autonomy for edge systems. She’s a former defense strategist with experience at the Department of Defense, Army Futures Command, CSIS, and a Texas-based supercomputing startup. About Dr. Kimberly Sablon: Dr. Kimberly is Chief Technology Officer at Riverside Research.