NAVSUP leaders and Naval Postgraduate School align on actionable AI for supply, logistics, and business ops
Senior civilian and military leaders from Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP) headquarters, Weapon Systems Support (WSS), and Business Systems Center (BSC) met Feb. 26, 2026, at Naval Support Activity Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, for an AI Leadership Forum. The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) AI Task Force delivered foundational AI briefings and led small-group working sessions to turn ideas into real initiatives across supply, logistics, weapon systems, and business technology operations.
Rear Adm. Ken Epps, NAVSUP commander and Chief of Supply Corps, set the tone: "I love the promise of how AI will ultimately enable and accelerate smart thinking." He urged leaders to model responsible AI use to improve decisions, performance, and day-to-day execution-then help their teams follow suit.
From concept to action
Tishia Miller, NAVSUP WSS AI Innovation Team lead, framed the Forum as part of NAVSUP's response to 2025 Executive Order 14179, "Winning the Race America's AI Action Plan." The event pushed leaders to view NAVSUP's operations through a warfighter-centered lens, identify capability gaps, and match them with AI strategies to gain decision advantage across the supply chain. Her message was clear: move fast on practical tools that help operators act sooner with better data.
NPS AI Task Force lead Randy Pugh focused on reducing hesitation around the tech. "AI can assist in making the NAVSUP workforce more efficient and more effective by offloading some of the more time consuming, rote tasks," he said. The goal: free people to think critically, solve complex problems, and tackle higher-value work.
High-impact AI opportunities for operations teams
- Demand forecasting and inventory positioning to cut stockouts and excess.
- Readiness-aware spares planning that ties maintenance signals to parts availability.
- Lead-time prediction using supplier and shipping history to improve ETAs and promises.
- Anomaly detection for procurement, invoicing, and spend to reduce waste and rework.
- Automated case triage for help desks, supply discrepancies, and tech data requests.
- NLP assistants for policy, tech manuals, and part cross-references to speed research.
- Dynamic routing and mode selection to balance cost, time, and mission criticality.
- Obsolescence and risk scoring for parts, vendors, and contracts to prioritize action.
90-day path to pilots
- Pick two use cases with clear metrics (e.g., fill rate, backorders, cycle time, OTIF).
- Form a small cross-functional team (ops lead, data engineer, SME, security, legal).
- Map the data you have vs. need; close gaps with minimal integration first.
- Prototype with synthetic or low-risk data; keep a human in the loop.
- Run an A/B test in one unit or region; measure impact weekly.
- Document decisions, guardrails, and handoffs; plan for scale only after proven lift.
Guardrails that keep momentum and trust
- Augment people, don't replace them-operators remain accountable for final calls.
- Track data lineage, access, and retention; review model outputs for bias and drift.
- Security-first: protect sensitive sources, minimize exposure, and log usage.
- Change management: train end users, gather feedback, and iterate fast.
About the partners
The NPS AI Task Force researches, develops, and deploys integrated AI solutions for military applications to enhance warfighter effectiveness and ensure decision advantage across Navy operations.
NAVSUP WSS provides program and supply support for the weapon systems that keep naval forces mission ready. With sites in Philadelphia; Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania; Norfolk, Virginia; and Tucson, Arizona, NAVSUP WSS supports nearly 300 ships, 75 submarines, and over 3,700 aircraft worldwide.
NAVSUP BSC delivers IT and information management solutions focused on logistics and financial-related products and services for the Navy, Department of Defense, other federal agencies, and international customers. Learn more at NAVSUP Business Systems Center.
Headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, NAVSUP employs more than 25,000 military and civilian personnel. The Enterprise drives supply chain management, acquisition, operational logistics, and Sailor and family care with mission partners to generate readiness and sustain naval forces worldwide.
Next steps for operations leaders
- Nominate one ops-owned AI pilot this quarter with a measurable mission impact.
- Stand up a lightweight review board for data, security, and legal sign-off.
- Train front-line teams to use AI as a teammate-clear prompts, clear checks, clear outcomes.
Want structured upskilling for your team? Explore the AI Learning Path for Supply Chain Managers or browse practical use cases in AI for Operations.
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