# Federal Cyber Leaders Prioritize AI Defenses

At the October 12, 2026 Cyber Leaders Exchange, federal and industry cybersecurity leaders emphasized stronger defenses against AI-enabled attacks, including better asset visibility, prioritized vulnerability remediation, zero-trust controls, and faster incident response. Defense-focused discussion highlighted a common operational picture across IT, operational technology, applications, and databases, while Revolutional’s Pete Harris urged buyers to demand accountability, auditability, and safeguards from AI-enabled cyber tools. These discussions signal likely areas of buyer scrutiny, but the articles identify no solicitation, contract award, funding opportunity, or procurement deadline.

- Contractors should be prepared to demonstrate interoperability, asset baselining, microsegmentation, phishing-resistant MFA, and timely vulnerability patching in solutions and service proposals.
- Companies offering AI-enabled cyber tools should explain how agencies can audit system actions, understand failure modes, and limit harm when automated responses are incorrect.
- Procurement teams can use these priorities to shape market research and technical evaluation criteria for observability, IT/OT integration, incident response, and workforce enablement; the signals do not establish formal mandates.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Information Technology, Defense & Military
**Topics:** Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 13, 2026

### Government Entities
- U.S. Department of Defense (DoD)
- U.S. Department of State (State Department)

### Vendors
- SolarWinds (Thought-leadership sponsor)
- Revolutional (Industry representative through Pete Harris)

### Key Quotes
> Whatever solution you choose, make sure there’s some interoperability and make sure it really starts with an operational requirement and then goes backwards.
> — Brian Chamberlain, Business Development Lead for the Federal Sector, SolarWinds

> If the AI, at 2 a.m., detects something and takes a reaction and it’s wrong, what’s the outcome of that?
> — Pete Harris, Head of Cyber Operations at Revolutional

### Sources
- [
        Cyber Leaders Exchange 2026: Federal, industry experts on best defenses against AI attacks - Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/cybersecurity/2026/10/cyber-leaders-exchange-2026-federal-industry-experts-on-best-defenses-against-ai-attacks) - Federal News Network
- [
        Cyber Leaders Exchange 2026: Defense cyber leaders need a common operational picture to defend the battlefield - Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/cybersecurity/2026/10/cyber-leaders-exchange-2026-defense-cyber-leaders-need-a-common-operational-picture-to-defend-the-battlefield) - Federal News Network
- [
        Cyber Leaders Exchange 2026: Revolutional’s Pete Harris on holding AI accountable - Federal News Network](https://federalnewsnetwork.com/cybersecurity/2026/10/cyber-leaders-exchange-2026-revolutionals-pete-harris-on-holding-ai-accountable) - Federal News Network