Just over two months after stepping down as the highest-ranking woman in Pentagon history, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks is taking a breather—but her eyes are still on the frontlines of global defense transformation. In a recent interview with MIT Technology Review, Hicks shared her views on China’s growing technological might, the future of warfare, and how she spearheaded initiatives to modernize U.S. military capabilities in an increasingly competitive world.
Having started her career in the 1990s, Hicks has witnessed the Pentagon’s evolution from Cold War diplomacy to counterterrorism and now to strategic competition with major powers. She returned to government in 2021 with a clear sense of the U.S.’s most urgent national security challenge: “There was one actor—the PRC (People’s Republic of China)—that had the capability and the will to really contest the international system as it’s set up,” she said.
According to Hicks, China remains the U.S.’s “pacing challenge”—a nation that can quickly develop military capabilities in areas such as missiles, stealth fighters, and maritime power. While she acknowledges China’s strengths, she points to systemic corruption and lack of real combat experience as significant unknowns.
“I would never want to underestimate their ability,” Hicks said, “but we have an advantage: a system of free minds, free people, and free markets. If we can realize it, we can out-innovate.”
One of the major concerns she tackled during her tenure was China’s lead in drone and unmanned systems manufacturing. The Pentagon’s Replicator initiative—launched under her guidance—was conceived to counter this gap by rapidly deploying thousands of low-cost autonomous systems. “The issue isn’t complexity. It’s just about getting enough mass of contracts to scale up manufacturing,” she noted, arguing that with proper funding and coordination, the U.S. can catch up.
Replicator also became a test case for shaking up the famously slow defense acquisition process. Traditionally linear, the system couldn’t keep pace with modern innovation cycles. “We aimed to shift to a parallel model: integrating hardware, software, policy, and testing all at once,” she said. “It’s not about ‘move fast and break things,’ but we can move faster without sacrificing accountability.”
At the center of this modernization push is artificial intelligence. Hicks sees AI—not just as a tool, but as an essential pillar of future military strategy. “The future of warfare will be about speed and precision—decision advantage. AI helps enable that,” she explained. One example was Project Lima, which explored use cases for generative AI. Early returns suggest its biggest immediate impact may be in logistics, human resources, and operations support, but its potential battlefield applications could be transformative.
Beyond technology, Hicks also touched on rising influence from Silicon Valley in national defense discussions. While she welcomes outside innovation, she cautioned against overreliance on powerful personalities. “It’s not healthy for any democracy when a single individual wields more power than their technical expertise or official role justifies,” she said, in what many may interpret as a nod to controversial figures like Elon Musk.
She also warned that U.S. immigration policies and domestic inclusion efforts will be critical to maintaining innovation leadership. “Programs like H-1B visas are really important,” Hicks said. “Cutting off talent pipelines is like eating our seed corn.”
As for the biggest challenge the Pentagon faces? Trust. “Whether it’s trust in government broadly or specific concerns like military spending, audits, or politicization, that issue manifests in everything DOD is trying to get done,” she concluded.
While Hicks remains officially off duty, her voice continues to influence U.S. defense strategy at a pivotal moment. Her insights, as shared with MIT Technology Review, offer a rare glimpse into the thinking behind the Pentagon’s evolving posture toward China, and the broader effort to future-proof America’s defense capabilities in an age of AI and geopolitical flux.
