Programme

January 14-15, 2026 

TalTech Conference Centre, Ehitajate tee 5, Tallinn, Estonia 
The conference is moderated by Mr. Neeme Raud

Programme is continuously being updated, stay tuned!

Wednesday, January 14

Location: Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) main building, address Ehitajate tee 5, Tallinn

08:00 – 09:00 Registration and Morning Coffee
09:00 – 09:20 Welcome and Opening Remarks
Prof Tiit Land, Rector, Tallinn University of Technology

Acad Mart Saarma, President, Estonian Academy of Sciences
09:20 –10:00 Keynote: Cognitive Dependence: Opportunities and Risks of AI-enabled Decision Support
Col (ret) Brad Boyd, Stanford University
10:00 – 10:40 Keynote: Who is in Control: Humans, AI or the Enemy? Decision- Making in Times of Zeitenwende, Prof Frank Flemisch, Fraunhofer FKIE, RWTH Aachen University
10:40 – 11:10 Refreshment break
11:10 – 11:50 Keynote: From Trenches to Algorithms: Why Powerful Technology Can Fail Without Brilliant Leadership, Prof Michael Neiberg, US Army War College
11:50 –12:20 Towards Military AI Cores: Human-Centric Automation for Allied Defence, Prof Wolfgang Koch, University of Bonn, Fraunhofer FKIE
12:20 – 12:50 AI in Military Decision-Making: From Knowledge to Effect, Prof Roy Lindelauf, Tilburg University
12:50 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 16:00 Parallel activity sessions

Demo session
Poster session
Frontline Defence Tech Innovations: Startup Pitch Battle

16:00 – 16:45 Panel Discussion: Conclusions of the day
Moderator Neeme Raud, Panelists: Day 1 speakers
19:00 – 23:00 Evening Reception at Seaplane Harbour
Doors will be opened at 19:00, address Vesilennuki tn 6, 10145 Tallinn

Thursday, January 15

Location: Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) main building, address Ehitajate tee 5, Tallinn

09:00 – 10:00 Arrival and morning coffee
10:00 – 10:30 Cyber Situational Awareness and Cyberspace Command & Control - Use of AI
LTC (ret) Silver Andre, CR14
10:30 – 11:00 AI Scenarios for the Near Future, Prof Tanel Tammet, Tallinn University of Technology
11:00 – 11:30 From Models to Minds: The Research Frontier of Synthetic Cognition
PhD, LtCol Peter Bovet Emanuel, Swedish Defence University
11:30 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 – 14:30 Parallel sessions

Title: Role of innovation in changing battlefields
Lead: Maj Janar Pekarev, Estonian Defence Forces, Deputy Commander of the Force Transformation Command
Mr. Raul Sõmer, Tallinn University of Technology, Research Administration Office defence and security consultant; Estonian Defence League, reserve officer
Mr. Raul Rikk PhD, Capability Development Director, Milrem Robotics
Title: Technology lifecycle in a fast-changing military environment
Lead: PhD Veljo Raide, Estonian Military Academy, Department of Applied Research
Title: AI Across the Battlefield: From Tactical Planning to Strategic Insight
Lead: Prof Roy Lindelauf, Ministry of Defence of Netherlands, Data Science Center of Excellence
LtCol Herwin Meerveld, Coordinator, Data Science Centre of Excellence, Netherlands Defence Academy
Capt Laura Mostert, Affiliate Researcher Data Science Center of Excellence
Thomas Quadt, PhD, Researcher, Data Science Center of Excellence, Netherlands Defence Academy

14:30 – 15:15 Panel Discussion: Military Decision-Making
Moderator Neeme Raud, Panelists: Day 2 Speakers & Parallel Session Leads
15:15 – 15:30 Conclusions, Announcement of the next conference date, End of the 2026 Conference