Small Convos, Big Ideas

Friends and Colleagues, We invite you to join us for the first session of Small Conversations, Big Ideas, 10am-12pm EDT Saturday, October 17, 2026 at Industrious, 1 Thomas Cir NW STE 700, Washington, DC 20005. Weighing high-stakes technology and the balance between advantage and stability is nothing new to Washington's national security community. Many of you built careers on these questions long before they became talking points in the tech industry. AI raises them again, with far more at stake in both directions. Steered well, it could compress decades of progress in medicine, science, and economic growth. Steered poorly, it could concentrate power, weaken democratic institutions, and impose real costs on communities that never asked for it. Which way it goes depends on policy choices being made right now. A fast-growing field of AI policy and safety organizations, well-funded and hiring, is working on those choices in the agencies, on the Hill, and in negotiating rooms most of you know well. What it needs most is people who understand how policy is made in Washington. We think that is you. Small Conversations, Big Ideas brings together national security veterans already working on AI, colleagues curious about it, and people at the forefront of AI safety. We look forward to a conversation over a fancy cup of coffee.