About this Event

Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Deterrence in the Indo-Pacific: Time, Scale, and Alliance Coherence.

Artificial intelligence is compressing decision timelines and reshaping deterrence in the Indo-Pacific. Beyond frontier capabilities, AI’s strategic impact will depend on deployment density, alliance interoperability, and supply chain resilience. As systems integrate into command networks, logistics, and defense production, stability will hinge on whether allied partners can align technology, infrastructure, and industrial capacity at scale — with Taiwan emerging as the central node in this evolving deterrence architecture.

About the Speaker

Mark R. Kennedy is director of the Development Research Institute at New York University and leads the Wahba Initiative for Strategic Competition, where he focuses on artificial intelligence deployment, capital markets, infrastructure strategy, and alliance coordination.

His work examines how AI is reshaping strategic competition through infrastructure, energy systems, semiconductor supply chains, and sovereign capital alignment. He argues that the next phase of deterrence will be shaped less by singular technological breakthroughs and more by the ability of allied systems to deploy and sustain advanced capabilities at scale.

Kennedy’s leadership spans business, public service, and higher education. As a senior officer of a Fortune 100 company, he operated in globally competitive markets where execution and capital discipline determined performance. As a Member of the United States Congress during a period shaped by 9/11 and accelerating globalization, he engaged in national security and economic strategy. He later served as president of two flagship public research universities — the University of Colorado and the University of North Dakota — leading research expansion, industry partnerships, and institutional transformation.

He serves as an appointed Civic Leader supporting the Secretary of the Air Force and is a Senior Fellow at CNA – Center for Naval Analyses. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Boston Global Forum’s Board of Thinkers.

Mark has engaged wide cross-sections of society in over 45 countries, including refugee camps, war zones, 60+ military bases and three aircraft carriers at sea.

Kennedy holds an MBA with distinction from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and has completed executive programs at Harvard’s Kennedy School, Graduate School of Education, and Business School.

🎟 Attendance options:
• Become a Honolulu International Forum member (includes access to future HIF events), or attend this event only:
https://pacforum.org/honolulu-international-forum/