About
I founded Emergent Autonomy in 2026 after retiring from RTI, where I served as Director of Research. The practice is a consultancy focused on driving innovation in Edge AI and Autonomous Systems, and the distributed software infrastructure that lets them operate in the field.
While Foundational AI Models are having a profound impact today, we will soon see accelerated deployment and adoption of Distributed AI and Small Expert Language Models — driven by cost, latency, and security (similar to what drove the migration to distributed computing in the 1990s). This will drive the need for distributed agentic systems. Emergent behaviors of autonomous systems will soon follow.
My work draws on more than 30 years of defense R&D experience. Early career: multi-agent systems, runtime software instrumentation, and sensor exploitation. Mid-career: real-time tactical networking and Navy combat systems integration. Most recently: a decade of research leadership across AI/ML, cybersecurity, distributed systems, and edge computing.
Across that career I’ve technically managed more than 50 DoD-funded research programs and won over $30M in research awards as principal investigator. I hold a Ph.D. in Computer Science and an active TS security clearance. Past work has involved collaborations with personnel from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Missile Defense Agency, DARPA, and DOE, alongside major defense primes, national laboratories, and university research groups.
I have deep expertise in securing funding, driving innovation, and transitioning market-discriminating solutions to the warfighter and to industry. EA partners with primes as a subcontractor and pursues independent IP through non-dilutive DoD research funding.
Research Areas
Defense AI and autonomous systems. Agentic architectures, Edge AI, domain-specialized Small Language Models (SLMs), GenAI roadmap development and integration, knowledge and context graphs for operational AI, and human-on-the-loop decision frameworks. The emphasis is on getting AI to operate reliably in contested environments, not on impressive shallow demos.
Real-time distributed systems. Publish-subscribe middleware, data-centric connectivity, and sensor fusion at operational latencies. The infrastructure work that determines whether a defense AI system performs in the field or only in the lab.
Data-centric security. Threat modeling for distributed AI systems, MBSE-driven cybersecurity, and classified information exchange in joint simulations. Compliance considerations (RMF, NIST 800-171, CUI) integrated into research designs from the start.
SBIR and STTR research execution. Principal investigator work end to end: scoping the technical question, proposal authorship, execution from Phase I through Phase II demonstration, and transition planning into Phase III.
How I Work
Engagements typically take one of three forms.
Product-Driven Collaboration that Advances the State of the Art. Working with others to secure, win, and execute on research that will result in valued solutions for the warfighter and that have the potential to be productized. This may include co-founding spin-offs with research partners when commercialization paths emerge.
Subcontract Research Support to Defense Primes. Embedded as a senior PI or subject matter expert within the prime’s existing technical team. Useful when a program needs deep domain expertise that’s hard to hire full-time, or when the prime would rather not staff up for a single proposal or program. I do the work I’m hired for; I don’t manage a team that does it.
Principal Investigator Work. End to end: scoping the technical question, writing the proposal, executing the program as PI, and planning transition. Open to teaming arrangements with primes that want a lead PI for proposals where they don’t have one in-house.
Contact
- info@emergentautonomy.com
- LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/paulpazandak
- Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota
Available for subcontract research engagements with cleared defense contractors. Teaming arrangements and NDAs welcome.
Capabilities and Areas of Experience
GenAI and small/large language models. Agentic AI architectures. Agentic systems. Real-time middleware (DDS). Publish-subscribe systems. Edge and containerized computing. Data-centric security. MBSE-driven cybersecurity. Classified information exchange. Electronic warfare. Sensor exploitation (radar, lidar). Air-to-ground tactical networking. High-assurance software. Smart grid and energy systems. Medical device security. Software certification.