Every soldier a software builder: Governing the Army’s new digital workforce

Over the past decade, the Department of Defense has tested internal software development through efforts like the Air Force’s Kessel Run, the Army Software Factory, and the Marine Corps Software Factory. Those efforts showed that military personnel can build useful software when given the right tools and infrastructure.

In its push to make better use of data, the Army fielded powerful digital platforms as a service across the force, such as Palantir’s Army Vantage and the Department of Defense’s GenAI.mil. These programs were meant to improve analysis and decision-making. But they also did something else: They gave soldiers built-in tools to create their own software, including AI agents. The Army no longer has to depend almost entirely on outside contractors to build software. Soldiers across the force can now build tools inside approved Army platforms.

This new capability creates a new problem. Without a clear way to manage it, the Army risks ending up with overlapping tools, duplicated effort, and promising projects that fade as quickly as they appear. The Army has created a powerful engine for innovation, but it still lacks a clear way to identify what works, support it, and scale it across the force.

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