The CIA needs a more technology-focused workforce and different intelligence targets to compete with China as artificial intelligence (AI) accelerates the pace of cyber operations, Deputy Director Michael Ellis said Sept. 8 at the Billington CyberSecurity Summit in Washington, D.C.
“The competition that we’re in with China right now is unlike anything the United States has ever faced before,” Ellis said, adding, “China has leverage over the United States that wasn’t present before.”
“So, because of that, the IC has to respond differently. CIA has to respond differently,” he said.
The current competition requires different expertise and different intelligence targets because much of the relevant information sits outside traditional government and military systems and within the private sector, Ellis said.
AI is adding another layer of urgency. Ellis said China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea remain the primary nation-state cyber threats, but the biggest recent shift has been the technology enabling their operations.
“What has really changed in the last two years is the speed and scale that AI brings to cyber operations,” Ellis said. “Cyberattacks that would have required hundreds of hours of manual labor just a short time ago now can be done in hours, if not minutes, through use of these advanced AI tools.”
Ellis added that AI can similarly strengthen defensive capabilities, making the competition increasingly dependent on technological advantage.
“The outcome of that competition will be dictated by who has the superior technology,” he said.
CIA is already putting advanced AI models into officers’ hands, Ellis said. As the agency increasingly pairs those models with real-world data, he said it expects to identify additional national security use cases.
In response to the changing technology environment, the CIA is also reshaping its workforce. Ellis said the agency needs more science and technology expertise, though he stressed that a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) background is not a prerequisite. However, “it sure helps make things easier,” Ellis said.
He added that the agency is meeting all of its hiring goals this fiscal year and bringing on its largest class of Directorate of Operations officers in 20 years.
“When I think about where we want the CIA workforce to be five years from now, it’s an elite workforce, it’s a minimal workforce, it’s one that has more technical background than it has today,” Ellis said.