The accelerating pace of artificial intelligence (AI) development is reshaping the landscape of cyber defense. This project investigates the potential of AI to enhance or even autonomously conduct cyber defense missions. Using the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence’s Locked Shields (LS) exercise as a real-world testing ground, we explore how emerging AI technologies can be evaluated and matured for operational use. This talk and demo presents ongoing research led by the CYD Campus and its partners, highlighting efforts to build an AI-driven Blue Team capable of supporting human defenders—or operating independently—to secure critical infrastructures. We demonstrate early-stage prototypes running in a cyber range, share insights from recent LS exercises, discuss the challenges and opportunities of AI in cyber defense, and outline the path toward fully autonomous cyber defense capabilities.

About the speaker

Roland Meier

Scientific Project Manager at armasuisse

Dr. Roland Meier is a scientific project manager at the Cyber-Defence Campus of armasuisse in Switzerland. His main research interests are the security of computer networks and automating cyber defense. Prior to joining armasuisse, Roland obtained his doctoral degree from ETH Zurich in 2022.
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