In his first public appearance since resigning on August 31, former U.S. Army Secretary Dan Driscoll addressed a Kyiv audience on September 12, 2026.
Driscoll spoke at the Yalta European Strategy forum, an annual conference organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation focused on Ukraine’s role in Western security architecture.
He delivered a pointed warning about the current state of modern warfare, telling the audience there is “an inflection point in warfare” underway globally.
Driscoll argued that the world’s largest militaries “have not adopted the speed and the innovation that they need,” a critique that carries weight given his recent position leading the U.S. Army.
Driscoll appeared alongside Eric Schmidt, the former Google CEO who now heads Perennial Autonomy, an American defense firm with active operations in Ukraine.
CNN’s Fareed Zakaria moderated the discussion, which took place on the second day of the forum and drew significant attention from defense and policy circles.
Both Driscoll and Schmidt praised Ukraine’s wartime technological developments, focusing particular attention on a military software platform known as “DELTA.”
The DELTA platform allows military leaders to see a more complete picture of the battlefield by integrating data from radars, sensors, and soldiers operating in the field.
Driscoll went so far as to say DELTA surpasses any technology the U.S. military currently possesses, a striking admission from a man who recently oversaw the American ground forces.
He argued that as Ukraine expands its processing power and AI capabilities, it will have “an amazing opportunity for your nation to outrun the Russians, and out-innovate them, and out-partner so that you can crush them.”
Driscoll wore a tie embroidered with a traditional Ukrainian pattern during the event, a visible gesture of solidarity with the country at the center of the ongoing conflict.
An Iraq War veteran and former venture capitalist, Driscoll has long-standing personal ties to Vice President JD Vance, whom he met while both attended Yale Law School.
His resignation from the Trump administration drew widespread attention, and this forum appearance marks his formal return to public discourse on defense and geopolitical strategy.
