KCSI Digest - Jul 2026 | King’s Centre for the Study of Intelligence

July 2026 Digest

Contents:

Events
Call for Papers
Conferences
Recent Publications
Podcasts

Events:

Mission-Ready Insight: Impact of AI
13 July 2026
Intelligence and National Security Alliance, online

Join us online on Monday, July 13, from 1:00–2:00 pm ET for Mission-Ready Insight: Impact of AI, the final installment of our three-part series, The Future of the IC Workforce: Enhancing Intelligence Operations.

Underwritten by Booz Allen, this session features Eddie Pickle, Senior District Manager, Snowflake; Eric Zitz, Director, Booz Allen; and moderator Lindy Kyzer.Speakers will discuss how AI-enabled tools integrate data, accelerate analysis, and improve decision-making workflows. They will also share practical examples of how AI strengthens workforce effectiveness by delivering precise information, reinforcing trust and transparency, and supporting operational action.There will be ample time for audience Q&A.

More details here.

The Future of AI-Driven Cyber Defense
15 July 2026
Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington D.C., and online

Join the CSIS Economic Security and Technology Department on Wednesday, July 15th, from 9:30 am to 12:00 pm for a discussion on the growing role of artificial intelligence in cyber defense and what it means for the future of national security, critical infrastructure protection, and digital resilience. As cyber threats become more sophisticated and persistent, governments and industry are increasingly turning to AI-enabled tools to detect intrusions, automate threat analysis, strengthen network defense, and respond to attacks at machine speed.

The conversation will examine both the opportunities and risks associated with AI-enabled cyber defense, including questions around automation, escalation, workforce implications, infrastructure security, and the reliability of AI systems in high-stakes environments. Panelists will also explore how adversaries are leveraging AI to enhance offensive cyber operations, what this evolving threat landscape means for defenders, and how policymakers can balance innovation, security, and accountability as AI becomes more deeply integrated into cyber operations.

More details here.

Speed vs. Certainty: How far should intelligence go in trading rigor for real-time decision advantage?
21 July 2026
Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers, online

In an environment defined by rapid escalation, information saturation, and accelerating technological capability, intelligence practitioners are increasingly challenged by a fundamental tension: how to balance analytical rigor with the demand for speed. This roundtable will explore where the line sits between delivering timely intelligence and ensuring it is sufficiently robust to support high-stakes decisions.

The panel will examine how organizations are adapting tradecraft to meet real-time operational needs, including the growing influence of AI-enabled tools, streamlined analytic processes, and shifting expectations from decision-makers. The discussion will also consider the risks of acting on incomplete or uncertain intelligence, and how those risks are understood, managed, and accepted in practice.

Bringing together diverse perspectives from across the intelligence community, this session will surface practical experiences, competing priorities, and emerging approaches to achieving the right balance between certainty and speed in contemporary intelligence environments.

Focus

AI-enabled intelligence cycles
decision-making under uncertainty
risks of acting on incomplete intelligence
what “good enough” intelligence looks like in crisis environments

More details here.

Spy Chat with FBI Assistant Director Roman Rozhavsky
23 July 2026
International Spy Museum, Washington D.C. and online

Join us for an in-person Spy Chat. This will be a timely discussion of the latest intelligence, national security, counterintelligence, and espionage issues with a very special guest. Spy Museum Executive Director Chris Costa will lead the briefing. Costa, a former intelligence officer of 34 years with 25 of those in active duty in hot spots such as Panama, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, is also a past Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the National Security Council. He will be joined by Roman Rozhavsky, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Assistant Director of the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division.

Rozhavsky became an FBI special agent in 2006, working counterintelligence investigations and serving as a SWAT operator in the Houston Field Office. He was then promoted to supervisory special agent and oversaw the Houston Field Office's investigations into foreign adversaries' attempts to acquire critical US technology and information. In 2018, he was named unit chief of the China Technology Transfer Unit within the Counterintelligence and Espionage Division at FBI Headquarters, where he helped lead nationwide efforts to combat the threat posed by China's theft of sensitive US information and innovation. In 2019, Rozhavsky led the formation of the National Counterintelligence Task Force. In 2021, he was selected assistant special agent in charge over the Counterintelligence and Cyber Division in the New York Field Office and in 2023, he was promoted to the Senior Executive Service as the section chief for the Global Operations Section within the FBI's Counterintelligence and Espionage Division. His most recent role before becoming Assistant Director was special agent in charge of the Counterintelligence Division in the Washington Field Office.

More details here.

Call for Papers:

The Israeli Intelligence Studies Conference 2026: Intelligence under Pressure
Abstracts Due: 31 July 2026
Conference: 4 November 2026
Jerusalem, Israel

Intelligence institutions today operate under conditions of sustained and compounding pressure. Political actors increasingly seek to instrumentalize assessments to legitimize predetermined policy positions, eroding the analytical independence that underpins institutional credibility. A broader crisis of trust — between agencies and the publics they serve, between allied partners, and within government itself — has further complicated the conditions under which intelligence can be produced and acted upon. Meanwhile, the shift from strategic to tactical and operational support has strained agencies designed for a different era, while the proliferation of artificial intelligence and open-source data has disrupted longstanding methodological assumptions, creating new capabilities alongside new vectors for error and over-reliance. This conference explores the theme “Intelligence Under Pressure”: how agencies sustain analytical rigor, institutional independence, and operational relevance when the conditions for doing so are most adverse — and what is at stake for national security and democratic governance when they do not.

We encourage submissions addressing the following issues, but not limited to them:

• The politics of intelligence (e.g., intelligence-policy relations, intelligence oversight, state inquiries, public trust)
• Technological, methodological, and cultural dimensions of early warning & intelligence collection, analysis, and operations
• State intelligence relations with the private sector & civil society
• Legal frameworks and ethical boundaries
• Intelligence education for students & practitioners

We also invite nominations of excellent research in Intelligence Studies (IS) for the following awards:

• Best Book (or monograph dissertation)
• Best Peer-Reviewed Article
• Best Graduate Paper

* Please limit award nominations to manuscripts focusing/commenting on Israeli intelligence or written by Israeli-based scholars ** Manuscripts must be published/accepted/graded after August 2025 *** Manuscripts to be sent as PDF, and for graduate papers please include a letter of reference from supervisor(s) **** A single nomination per author is permitted

More details here.

Conferences:

AIPIO Annual Intelligence Conference: Intelligence in Action – Strategy to Delivery
26-28 August 2026
Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, Melbourne, Australia

Following the success of Intelligence 2025 in Sydney, AIPIO is proud to bring Australia’s intelligence community together once again for the 35th Annual AIPIO Intelligence Conference in 2026 to be held in Melbourne. In a world defined by accelerating risk, geopolitical uncertainty and rapid technological change, intelligence must evolve from informing awareness to driving purposeful action. This year’s conference explores how intelligence professionals transform strategic insight into real-world outcomes that enable decision-making, strengthen resilience and deliver mission success.

The Australian Institute of Professional Intelligence Officers (AIPIO) is committed to advancing intelligence as a recognized profession of national importance. Through collaboration, professional development and thought leadership, AIPIO strengthens the capability and connectedness of intelligence practitioners across Australia and beyond.

Intelligence 2026 is more than a conference — it is a forum for capability development, strategic insight, and shared professional standards that strengthen decision-making across the intelligence community.

Insight alone is no longer enough. Intelligence must guide strategy, enable action and deliver outcomes. This year’s conference examines how intelligence functions bridge the gap between analysis and execution: turning knowledge into operational effect across security, government and industry missions. From strategic foresight to operational delivery, Intelligence 2026 focuses on practical capability and performance: how intelligence improves decisions that matter. The found interconnected themes for the 2026 program include:

Operational Agility: Intelligence must move at the speed of decision-making. This theme explores adaptive tradecraft, real-time analysis, and the integration of AI and automation to improve responsiveness and clarity under pressure.
Partnerships: Partnership is now a strategic capability. Intelligence impact depends on trusted collaboration across agencies, sectors and borders. This theme highlights frameworks that break down silos and enable secure shared outcomes.
Impact and Integration: Intelligence must shape action, not observation. This theme examines how intelligence is embedded into planning, operations and risk management to influence outcomes and enable confident decisions.
Developing your Tradecraft: Professional mastery is essential. This theme strengthens analytical skills, structured thinking, leadership, and applied intelligence methodologies that adapt to evolving complexity.

More details here.