Amanda Gustave

Amanda Gustave

Enterprise AI & Data Product Leader · 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran

I take enterprise AI and data platforms from concept to fielded capability. As Chief Data Officer and Task Force Maven Lead at NATO SHAPE, I lead adoption of an AI-enabled decision platform across a 32-nation alliance by aligning stakeholders, setting data governance, integrating vendors, and building the data literacy that makes users trust the product.

★ 20-year veteranCDO · NATO SHAPETask Force Maven LeadPresident-Elect · MORSUSAFA ’06
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Amanda Gustave
service
20yrs
U.S. Air Force veteran
alliance_scope
32nations
NATO members served by the Maven Smart System NATO rollout
time_to_acquisition
~6months
Maven Smart System NATO acquisition (per NATO)
ops_assessment_scope
105countries
Air & space operations, USAFE-AFAFRICA
// profile.summary

About

20-year U.S. Air Force veteran, operations researcher, President-Elect of the Military Operations Research Society (MORS), and USAF Academy graduate (Class of 2006).

about.md

I'm a Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, in the Operations Research career field, with 20 years of service. My career has been about turning complex data into decisions, in roles at the Pentagon, at allied air operations centers in Europe and the Middle East, and now at NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium.

My work sits where data strategy, AI products, and organizational change meet. I've learned that technology is rarely the hard part. The hard part is governance, culture, and getting real users to adopt the tool.

enterprise_aidata_governanceontologyresponsible_aiadoptiondata_literacyvendor_integrationdecision_support
quote.txtsource: Women in Defense Tech, 2026

“True transformation is less about technology (it exists in full force) and more about culture and willingness to adopt.”

months_in_rolefrom LinkedIn dates · *ongoing
NATO SHAPE · CDO / TF Maven26*
Joint Staff · CDO J3526
USAFE-AFAFRICA · Ops Assess24
PACAF · CAG15
USAFE-AFAFRICA · CAO12
HQ AF · OR Analyst12
HQ AF · Space Analyst11
CENTCOM · CAOC9
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Featured projects & initiatives

Product-style outcomes from mission-critical environments.

NATO SHAPE · 2024–presentlive

Task Force Maven: Maven Smart System NATO

Chief Data Officer and project lead for fielding an AI-enabled warfighting and decision platform (built on Palantir's Maven Smart System) across NATO Allied Command Operations.

  • Platform launched at SHAPE in November 2024. NATO announced the acquisition in April 2025, about six months after work began.
  • Aligned SHAPE, the Joint Force Commands, troop-contributing nations, Allied Command Transformation (ACT), the NATO Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency), and the industry partner.
  • Drove data ontology, readiness tracking, and equipment-lineage use cases. Supports secure use of LLMs, machine learning, and data fusion.
  • Expanded the ecosystem with third-party integrations, including Dataminr AI going live on NATO Maven (2026).
  • Made human-in-the-loop oversight and AI/data literacy core to how users adopt the platform.
platform_rolloutstakeholder_alignmentontologyLLMvendor_integration
The Joint Staff · 2022–2024complete

Global Force Management data governance & Responsible AI

Chief Data Officer for Global Force Management (J35), the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs' principal data governance advisor on strategic force management covering 2.1M people.

  • Led data management and analysis that informed Secretary of Defense decisions and reports to Congress.
  • Oversaw digital transformation, data strategy, and Responsible AI policy development.
data_governanceresponsible_aiexecutive_reporting
USAFE-AFAFRICA · 2019–2022complete

Enterprise analytics & operations assessment

Chief Analytics Officer, previously Chief Global Operations Assessment Manager, at U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa, Ramstein.

  • Directed assessment of all air and space operations across 105 countries and $11B in DoD assets.
  • Set the analytic agenda and strategic priorities for a 21-member analysis division.
analytics_strategykpisteam_leadership
U.S. Central Command · 2017–2018complete

Counter-drone AI/ML at the CAOC

Operations Assessment Team Lead at the Combined Air Operations Center, Al Udeid Air Base, for Iraq, Syria, and Yemen air operations.

  • Developed a predictive AI/ML algorithm that improved data mining for counter-unmanned aerial vehicle detection, contributing to 20 successful strikes.
  • Defined measures of effectiveness and performance and surfaced sortie and weapons trends to optimize aircraft tasking.
machine_learningpredictive_analyticsMOE/MOP
pipeline.career() → current

Experience

20 years of U.S. Air Force service in Operations Research (15A).

  1. Aug 2024 – Present · Mons, Belgium

    Chief Data Officer & Task Force Maven Lead, NATO SHAPE

    Leads fielding and scaling of the Maven Smart System NATO and NATO's data strategy for the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR).

  2. Jun 2022 – Aug 2024 · Norfolk, VA / Pentagon

    Chief Data Officer, Global Force Management (J35), The Joint Staff

    Data governance, data strategy, and Responsible AI policy for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

  3. Jun 2021 – Jun 2022 · Ramstein, Germany

    Chief Analytics Officer, U.S. Air Forces in Europe & Air Forces Africa

    Set the analytic agenda and led assessments and process improvement.

  4. Jun 2019 – Jun 2021 · Ramstein, Germany

    Chief Global Operations Assessment Manager, USAFE-AFAFRICA

    Assessed air and space operations across 105 countries.

  5. Jul 2018 – Jun 2019 · Pentagon

    Strategic Space Analyst, HQ Air Force Studies, Analyses & Assessments

    Lead analyst on the first comprehensive study plan and analysis of alternatives for proliferating future space capabilities.

  6. Oct 2017 – Jul 2018 · Al Udeid AB, Qatar

    Operations Assessment Team Lead, U.S. Central Command (CAOC)

    Led air operations assessment and AI/ML for counter-UAV detection.

  7. Sep 2016 – Sep 2017 · Pentagon

    Operations Research Analyst, HQ Air Force

    Branch chief for research and analysis on the Air Force-wide violence prevention program. Designed an Air Force-wide survey and integrated metrics into the DoD framework.

  8. May 2015 – Aug 2016 · Hickam AFB, Hawaii

    Strategic Affairs & Key Leadership Engagement Officer, Pacific Air Forces

    Member of the four-star commander's action group. Managed 37 defense-industry visits and prepared 40+ senior foreign leader engagements.

  9. 2006 · Colorado

    United States Air Force Academy

    Graduate, Class of 2006.

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In the news

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Speaking & presentations

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Professional leadership

Military Operations Research Societyactive

President-Elect, Military Operations Research Society (MORS)

President-Elect and member of the Executive Committee of the Military Operations Research Society, the professional society for national security analysts. MORS leadership →