BigBear.ai (NYSE: BBAI) executive Ryan Legge spoke with reporter J.D. Durkin at the Association of the United States Army annual conference, outlining the company’s expanding military partnerships.
Legge described the company’s work with the U.S. Army as spanning two primary focus areas: enterprise-level decision support for senior leaders and tactical operations on the ground.
On the enterprise side, BigBear.ai is helping commanders convert complex, fast-moving information into faster, more informed decisions as battlefield conditions shift rapidly.
The company’s work also covers force management, readiness, and logistics, essentially addressing how the Army prepares troops, assigns missions, and accelerates deployment timelines.
One tool enabling that acceleration is a generative AI platform that consolidates multiple AI models into a single interface accessible to both senior leaders and frontline operators.
Legge emphasized that BigBear.ai brings more than just technology to the table, citing over 20 years of domain expertise working alongside the Army as a key differentiator.
When asked about the biggest opportunities at the intersection of artificial intelligence and the military, Legge pointed to the challenge of making AI trustworthy and reliable enough to meaningfully support warfighter decisions rather than simply automating routine tasks.
On the question of headwinds, Legge cited interoperability as the central challenge, referencing Army Chief Technology Officer Dr. Alex Miller as someone who has consistently raised the issue over the past year and a half.
Legge illustrated the problem with a scenario involving drone reconnaissance, explaining that soldiers currently operate drones individually, when what they really need is a system that commands multiple drones seamlessly as a unified force.
BigBear.ai is developing a platform called Conductor OS to address exactly that gap, designed to orchestrate AI models, data, and autonomous systems together rather than requiring separate, manual control of each asset.
Looking ahead over the next five to six years, Legge said the company will remain focused on generative AI capabilities and ensuring users, whether operators or senior commanders, can access the best available model to support faster, more agile decision-making on an increasingly complex battlefield.
