tech
February 4, 2026
Ajay Chakravarthy
Ajay Chakravarthy, Head of AI at Thales, explains how frugal AI, quantum computing and human-machine teaming will define defence systems
TL;DR
- Ajay Chakravarthy, Head of AI at Thales, has two decades of experience in AI, starting with semantics and ontologies.
- His career includes roles at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) and Counter Terrorism Policing, focusing on operational AI deployment.
- At Counter Terrorism Policing, he created the University Innovation Concept to connect academia with operational challenges.
- Thales' strategy, led by Chakravarthy, centers on TRUE AI (transparent, understandable, ethical) and frugal AI systems.
- Examples of deployed AI include Thales Neural Processor with the Talios pod in Rafale jets and Maritime Mine Countermeasures systems.
- Chakravarthy believes AI systems will always require human accountability and will not operate completely autonomously in mission-critical scenarios.
- Diversity in development teams is crucial for preventing AI bias, requiring input from psychologists, neurologists, and medical professionals.
- The future of AI in defence is seen in deployment-focused applications for resource-constrained environments.
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