David E.A. Johnson: Evangelizing Hybrid Intelligence to Combat Global Security Threats

USA Today

14-02-2025

Kody Boye
Contributor
Hear this story
For over 15 years, David E.A. Johnson dedicated his career to solving some of the world's most complex security challenges driven by criminal networks. In his time as the Executive Director of C4ADS (Center for Advanced Defense Studies), a nonprofit organization that combats global security threats, Johnson grew the center from two employees into a globally recognized think tank that has confronted countless international threats. He has stepped down from his role at C4ADS to forge a new path in the global security ecosystem.
A visionary change leader, David Johnson is also on the boards of the Afghanistan International Business Council and the Indo-Pacific Counterproliferation Initiative. He is also on the advisory boards of the Special Operations Association of America and Rescue Global. Having published several papers on the matters of open-sourced, hybrid, and high-context intelligence, he presented the value of impact networks at the recent GSOF Indo-Pacific Irregular Warfare Symposium in Hawaii. Johnson's approach to difficult problems revolves around harnessing the collaborative power of human intelligence and technology (like artificial intelligence) to 'constructively disrupt' current ineffective, bureaucratic efforts.
'Some see AI as a security threat,' he explains. 'However, it's a tool. When properly combined with human ingenuity to enable the human to teach the AI and the AI to teach the human in a 'hybrid intelligence,' it can empower individuals to tackle highly complex challenges.'
His journey to this conclusion starts at West Point in his military career. Commissioned in 1984, he spent 24 years cultivating a sense of duty that would come to define the rest of his life. His time in the US Army Special Forces cemented his duty of care, a life mission that comes from the Green Berets' motto: De Oppresso Liber ('to free the oppressed').
Johnson's service, spanning six conflicts and two wars, shaped his understanding of global systems and their vulnerabilities. This foundation drove his work with C4ADS, where he embraced the idea that geography and sovereignty are becoming increasingly less relevant in the fight for peace. 'There are billions of bytes and people flowing across borders, states are just the terrain across which social networks compete either legitimately or illegitimately. And criminal networks understand that being successful means moving their value from the illegal world to the legal one. This means that they leave a trail in transportation, communications, and finance systems, visible to anyone who knows where to look,' he explains.
To combat the threat that these globalized illicit actors pose to peace and security, C4ADS built a team of talented young analysts, representing some of the brightest minds funneled from around the world. The nonprofit, which has received the Platinum Seal of Transparency from GuideStar, has developed state-of-the-art tools for large-scale data lakes and optimizing intelligence techniques in publicly available information. This allows them to collaborate across industries, governments, and NGOs— and manage the delicate relationships they must maintain to engineer real impact in the lives of those affected by insecurity.
All this work empowers those seeking to fight criminal networks and it originates in the organization's leveraging of publicly available information. 'Awareness is not an impact,' as Johnson says. 'We're seeking to shape this globalized world we're in, to ensure that it's secure and prosperous for an open, pluralistic society.'
After 15 years in his role at C4ADS, even as the nonprofit bloomed in its impact, late last year, Johnson made the difficult decision to step down. 'It was time,' he says. 'Varun Vira is continuing to push the mission forward as C4ADS' Executive Director. This enables me to build impact networks that will scale that mission.'
He looks forward to uniting the many stakeholders of global peace and the systemic threats to maintaining it. His work is grounded in a three-layer model developed during his time at C4ADS: data management, analysis, and requirements. 'It's not just about finding the bad guys,' Johnson explains. 'It's about closing systemic holes and shaping the ecosystem for long-term impact.' Through building impact networks with private corporations, governments, and other NGOs, Johnson aims to shape an environment that sustains the process of surveillance, due diligence, and accountability.
'We need both a carrot and a stick. It is not enough to simply punish bad guys; we need to create opportunities for them to make their money legitimately.'
A central theme of his concept is to empower the private and civil sectors to drive innovation from the bottom up. By working by, with, and through others and developing tools tailored to helping people solve global security challenges, Johnson aims to open access to the power of hybrid intelligence.
David E.A. Johnson continues to disrupt the status quo of acquiescent information systems that lets global threats fall through the cracks and empower a new generation of impact-driven intelligence. 'The oath I took to defend the Constitution of the United States didn't end with me taking off the uniform. We're all here to create motion, synchronize around our strengths, and take what the world gives us and make something of it.'