The US Department of Defense’s artificial intelligence (AI) rollout isn’t experimental anymore — it is operational and scaling rapidly.
In less than five weeks, users at the Pentagon built more than 103,000 AI agents using Google’s Gemini-powered Agent Designer on the GenAI.mil network.
Usage has also surged, with over 1.1 million sessions logged and roughly 180,000 weekly interactions, according to Breaking Defense.
Making Agents Through ‘Vibe-Coding’
The move marks a clear shift from basic chatbots to “agentic AI,” or systems designed to execute tasks rather than simply respond.
Within the department, these agents are being used to draft after-action reports, analyze imagery, process financial data, and organize large volumes of information, though all outputs still require human review before official use.
A key driver of adoption is accessibility. Through so-called “vibe-coding,” users can build agents using natural language instead of traditional programming.
This no-code approach is enabling faster tool development at the unit level, reducing reliance on dedicated engineering teams.
“This is a very exciting time,” Robert Malpass, the Pentagon’s deputy chief digital and AI officer for intelligence, told Breaking Defense in an interview.
“Anybody across the Department can start to build out and work with advanced AI in their own context,” [customizing] the specific way that they need that information processed, displayed, and built out into an operational workflow.”
AI as Key Asset
The rollout comes as operational demands increase across the military, including during heightened tensions linked to the US-Iran conflict, referred to as Operation Epic Fury.
Jacob Glassman, deputy assistant secretary for science and technology foundations within the Pentagon’s Under Secretary Office for Research and Engineering, described AI as a force multiplier, cutting routine workload and increasing productivity under pressure.
“We are now at a point where we are in a constrained environment…[a] highly pressurized environment because the conflict in Iran is touching most of us in the department almost every single day,” Glassman explained in a separate interview with DefenseScoop.
“Well, now we have agentic AI… this is making us incredibly more efficient, incredibly more agile, and it’s really allowing us to focus. We’re supplying the tool to our workforce. We’re encouraging them to use it, they’re pressured to use it, and they’re innovating on their own.”
