OMB convenes agencies, industry to talk AI for cyber defense - Federal News Network

CYBERSECURITY OMB convenes agencies, industry to talk AI for cyber defense OMB wants agencies to lead the way in adopting AI for cyber defense, including continuous event monitoring, forensics and incident response. Justin Doubleday@jdoubledayWFED March 26, 2026 5:25 pm           The Trump administration is prioritizing ensuring the government leads on adopting artificial intelligence for cyber defense, according to a top Office of Management and Budget official. The use of “AI-enabled cyber tools” is specifically called out in the new national cybersecurity strategy. The White House’s top cyber official has said the administration will launch a series of pilot programs to harden government networks under the new strategy. White House officials in recent weeks convened a roundtable featuring “representatives from industry as well as agencies who are at the cutting edge of cyber defense, to talk about how we can really operationalize AI for cyber defense,” Nick Polk, branch director for cybersecurity within OMB’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, said during a Thursday webinar hosted by the Digital Government Institute. “This is something where we have really decided that we want to take the mantle and have the government lead in this space,” Polk added.         Federal and industry experts explain why visibility, crypto agility, and execution — not just new algorithms — will define quantum readiness in this new ebook. Download today! He acknowledged that using AI for cyber defense has “multiple different meanings depending on who you ask.” “We want to really focus on how agencies can use AI capabilities to do the day-to-day continuous event monitoring and forensic and incident response necessary to defend their networks,” Polk said. OMB is engaging with the private sector across a range of use cases, he added. “We’re always interested in those capabilities that can help agencies, whether it means allowing agencies to more quickly detect potential anomalous activity, look at historical telemetry and identify patterns that may have slipped through the first time,” Polk said. “Or allow their [security operations center] analysts who were maybe looking at very low-level event logs to move towards more impactful or more complex work in their career development.” Federal agencies have been exploring using AI for cyber defense for several years. Meanwhile, in a Thursday afternoon news release, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard announced her office is working on the “policy framework, governance, and standards necessary to accelerate AI adoption for cybersecurity and other critical technology” across the intelligence community. Software security approach Polk also discussed OMB’s move in January to rescind the Biden administration’s software supply chain security requirements. They had required agencies to collect software security attestation forms from vendors before purchasing third-party software.         Sign up for our daily newsletter so you never miss a beat on all things federal Polk said the move was part of a push led by Federal Chief Information Officer Gregory Barbaccia to examine the outcomes of technology investments across government and whether existing policy is leading to “demonstrable cybersecurity outcomes.” He said the Trump administration determined the rescinded policies were “too rigid” and prevented agencies from taking a “risk-based approach” to securing different types of software. “Whether it is software that needs additional assurance, agencies were precluded, in many cases, from taking those additional assurance measures because they were focusing so much on the compliance exercise,” Polk said “On the flip side, agencies were spending a lot of resources working on collecting attestations for software that may not be as critical, [such as] the conference room scheduling system.” Polk said agencies can still use the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s secure software attestation form. But he said OMB has been encouraging agencies to use “less burdensome” methods in cases for software that is less risky. However, Polk said OMB is also telling agency chief information officers and chief information security officers to encourage their vendors to actions that demonstrate secure-by-design principles. “We think that vendors who advertise that they use a robust DevSecOps practices, who advertise that they take necessary steps to secure their development ecosystem, who advertised they provide an [software bill of materials] on request, we strongly believe that that will make them more competitive when government agencies go and look for software that meets their mission needs and is both and is also secure,” Polk said. Copyright © 2026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.           Justin Doubleday Justin Doubleday covers cybersecurity, homeland security and the intelligence community for Federal News Network. Follow @jdoubledayWFED Sign up for breaking news. Related Stories NIST cyber center to launch OT ‘visibility’ project CYBERSECURITY Read more What federal leaders need to know about Iran’s cyber campaign COMMENTARY Read more Quantum readiness: Preparing for a resilient future COMMENTARY Read more Related Topics ALL NEWS ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE CYBERSECURITY CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY GREGORY BARBACCIA NATIONAL CYBER STRATEGY NICK POLK OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET SOFTWARE ATTESTATION SOFTWARE SECURITY TECHNOLOGY TULSI GABBARD Around the Web Experts Tested 17 Hearing Aids. Their #1 Pick Will Shock You hear.com Dementia and Memory Loss Have Been Linked to a Common Habit. Do You Do It? 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