Defense Logistics Agency chief says AI agents are a business change

Adarryl Roberts, chief information officer of the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA), said that agentic AI is a business change. It is not only an IT project. Agentic AI is AI that does tasks without a person at each step. Roberts spoke at Google Public Sector 2026. DLA moves 99% of the consumables of the US military.

What is new

Roberts says DLA must first prepare its data for AI. It makes one authoritative source of data, and not many systems. DLA moves its data to Google Cloud in phases. Roberts says that the agents will be governed.

The numbers

DLA manages $244 billion in active contracts and 5 million items. In August 2025 it signed a $48 million contract with Google Public Sector. The source gives no test results and no savings from agents.

What is not known

Roberts says that leaders must not wait for perfect data. DLA director David Sanford says that automation does not mean less work for personnel. The source gives no dates for the phases.

Insight: DLA takes back the data that it outsourced

Roberts says DLA gave much of its data work to contractors and did not understand its procedures. At this time it builds a data layer on Google Cloud. The chief technology officer of Dell also says that company knowledge is the edge, not the model. Maybe DLA wants to hold the knowledge, while it buys the cloud. Leaders: keep control of your data and your guidelines.