Kristen Smith 
- Driscoll resigned as Army secretary in September
- The senior counselor role is newly created
- The Potomac Officers Club’s 2027 Artificial Intelligence Summit happens March 18
OpenAI has hired former Army Secretary Dan Driscoll as senior counselor for national security modernization, a newly created post focused on how advanced artificial intelligence can boost national security and cybersecurity for the U.S. and its allies.
The company said Monday Driscoll will advise leadership on policy and strategy choices that open up practical uses of AI for national security, working with governments, industry, academia and allied institutions to identify where operational needs, institutional change and emerging capabilities meet. He will also help internal teams understand how national security institutions operate.
“National security requirements are changing faster than at any time in the past fifty years. This technology will help them keep pace by cutting through paperwork, making sense of more information, and getting the right answer to the right person faster,” said Driscoll.
“I’m joining OpenAI to help the United States and our allies put this technology to work responsibly, for the people who keep us safe,” he added.
Driscoll’s appointment builds on work under Daybreak, OpenAI’s program to enhance cyber resilience and protect essential services.
Don’t miss the chance to have meaningful conversations with AI experts from the public and private sectors at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2027 Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 18. Register now!
Who Is Dan Driscoll?
Driscoll served as the 26th secretary of the Army from February 2025 until his resignation in September. He directed operations, modernization and resource allocation across an enterprise of nearly 1 million active, guard and reserve soldiers alongside more than 265,000 Army civilians.
Beginning in April 2025, he held the post of acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for a year.
He was commissioned as an armor officer in 2007, led a cavalry platoon in the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, New York, and deployed to Baghdad in 2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He later worked in investment banking and private equity, including as chief operating officer of a venture capital fund, and founded In Witness Advisory in 2024.
As secretary, Driscoll restructured the service’s acquisition organization, consolidating program executive offices and creating a reporting layer called portfolio acquisition executives, aimed at increasing acquisition speed by 30 to 50 percent. Under the Army Transformation Initiative, he canceled legacy programs in favor of newer systems, projecting roughly $48 billion in savings, and pushed to expand unmanned aircraft procurement. He signed a memo directing the Army to prioritize commercially available software over custom-built systems, and a statement of intent with NATO allies at Eurosatory in June to widen access to the Army’s UAS Marketplace.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School.
What Is the Wash100 Award?
The Wash100 Award, presented annually by Executive Mosaic since 2014, recognizes the most influential executives in the government contracting sector for leadership, innovation, achievement and vision.
Driscoll won his first in 2026, cited for streamlining the Army’s acquisition of emerging technologies and equipment.
“Earning a first-time Wash100 honor in 2026 marks a major achievement for Secretary Driscoll and underscores the early impact he has made as Army secretary,” Jim Garrettson, Executive Mosaic CEO and founder of the Wash100 Award, said at the time of the award. “Since taking on the role, Secretary Driscoll has emphasized readiness and modernization, and putting soldiers at an even greater advantage in combat, while reinforcing strong partnerships between the Army and industry.”
