Drew Cukor

Extracted Attributes

• Rank

  Colonel (Retired)

• Former Role

  Head of Project Maven at the U.S. Department of Defense

• Current Role

  Head of Data and Analytics at TWG Global

• Academic Metric

  h-index of 1 based on publications in software and intelligence analysis

• Key Achievement

  Pioneered the use of computer vision for military targeting and ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance)

• Military Branch

  United States Marine Corps (USMC)

Timeline

• Project Maven is officially launched by the Department of Defense with Cukor as a primary leader. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2017-04-01

• Google withdraws from Project Maven following internal protests, a major event during Cukor's tenure leading the program. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2018-06-01

• The Pentagon credits Project Maven with providing targeting support for airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen. (Source: Wikipedia)

  2024-02-01

• Palantir and TWG Global announce a joint venture led by Cukor to deploy AI in financial services. (Source: Palantir IR)

  2025-01-15

• NPR features a segment on Cukor's legacy and the release of Katrina Manson's book detailing his role in AI warfare. (Source: NPR)

  2026-03-26

Project Maven

Project Maven (officially Algorithmic Warfare Cross Functional Team) is a United States Department of Defense initiative launched in 2017 to accelerate the adoption of machine learning and data integration across U.S. military intelligence workflows, specifically in intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance as well as in geospatial intelligence. It initially focused on applying computer vision for processing images and videos for intelligence purposes. Currently, the program operates under the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and encompasses multiple applications across the Department of Defense spanning military operation targeting support, data integration and visualization for analysts, and training machine learning models on labeled datasets of military assets and infrastructure. It integrates data from drones, satellites, and other sensors to flag potential targets, present findings to human analysts, and relay their decisions to operational systems. The program originated under Deputy Secretary Robert O. Work after he raised concerns about China's advances in defense applications of artificial intelligence. Project leaders, Colonel Drew Cukor, USMC, and Lt. Gen. Jack Shanahan, framed the program as human-in-the-loop decision support inside the Department of Defense rather than as an autonomous weapons platform. Contractors supporting Maven have included Google, which withdrew in 2018 after internal protests, and follow-on integrators such as Palantir, Anduril, Amazon Web Services, and Anthropic (withdrew in 2026). The Pentagon credits Maven with providing 2024 targeting support for U.S. airstrikes in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, along with locating hostile maritime assets in the Red Sea.

Web Search Results

• Palantir IR

  Drew Cukor, TWG Global’s Head of Data and Analytics (former Head of AI Transformation at JPMorgan and Head of the Pentagon’s Project Maven), brings a track record of introducing AI to some of the world’s most complex organizations. At the Pentagon’s Project Maven, he helped shape AI-driven defense capabilities, and later at JPMorgan Chase, he scaled AI solutions across financial operations, integrating machine learning into one of the most intricate banking systems globally and resulting in JPMorgan being recognized as the top-rated bank in AI globally for three consecutive years. [...] Led by Palantir CEO Alex Karp and TWG Global’s Mark Walter, Thomas Tull, and Chief Data & Analytics Officer Drew Cukor—the joint venture brings together a team with a deeply established history of collaboration, spanning over two decades in deploying AI at scale across high-stakes defense, government, and commercial applications. Over the past year, TWG and Palantir have actively worked together to embed AI into TWG’s own companies, refining their approach and proving its impact. This is the next step in that effort—a battle-tested, operational AI offering designed to revolutionize financial services and insurance and accelerate industry-wide adoption.

• AI as a labor source: Drew Cukor on TWG's strategy | Chad Wahlquist posted on the topic | LinkedIn

  Feel free to champion this post as your own, positioning yourself as a pioneer in financial innovation and thought leadership. [...] to real business impact. We are only scratching the surface with what's possible with artificial intelligence. I'm excited to see where this goes over the next few years. [...] focus, and intent. 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦.

• America's first AI-fueled war is unfolding in Iran. Here's how we got here : NPR

  MANSON: Drew Cukor is this very absorbing retired Marine who I met, who was chief of this project called Project Maven. He wasn't the director. He was the doer, the leader of this effort to bring AI to the way that America makes war. And it started publicly, at least, as a very narrow effort. The idea was to bring AI to rifling through drone footage - copious video that the U.S. was taking in various countries around the world as part of what many military operators called their GWOT, the global war on terror. [...] MANSON: Drew Cukor is this very absorbing retired Marine who I met, who was chief of this project called Project Maven. He wasn't the director. He was the doer, the leader of this effort to bring AI to the way that America makes war. And it started publicly, at least, as a very narrow effort. The idea was to bring AI to rifling through drone footage - copious video that the U.S. was taking in various countries around the world as part of what many military operators called their GWOT, the global war on terror. [...] from outdated intelligence. And while the role of AI has not been confirmed, the Pentagon is still investigating whether Maven played any part. At the center of this story is a little-known Marine colonel named Drew Cukor, who spent decades fighting to bring AI to the battlefield and whose obsession has quietly changed the future of war. My guest today has been reporting on Cukor for years and how we got here. Katrina Manson is an award-winning Bloomberg reporter who covers cyber, emerging tech and national security. Her new book is "Project Maven: A Marine Colonel, His Team, And The Dawn Of AI Warfare." Katrina Manson, welcome to FRESH AIR.

• Drew Cukor | 1 Publications | 1 Citations | Related Authors

  Scispace (Formerly Typeset) # Drew Cukor Drew Cukor is an academic researcher. The author has contributed to research in topics: Software & Intelligence analysis. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 1 publications. ##### Author Tools ##### Chat about Author ##### Papers ## Intelligence Database Creation & Analysis: Tools Learn SciSpace Directories Extension & Apps Contact SciSpace © 2026 | PubGenius Inc. | Suite # 217 691 S Milpitas Blvd Milpitas CA 95035, USA soc2

• George Cukor - Wikipedia

  how to use her. Cukor directed her in several films, both successful, such as Little Women "Little Women (1933 film)") (1933) and The Philadelphia Story "The Philadelphia Story (film)") (1940), and disastrous, such as Sylvia Scarlett (1935). Cukor and Hepburn became close friends off the set. [...] Cukor was hired to direct Gone with the Wind "Gone with the Wind (film)") by Selznick in 1936, even before the book was published. He spent the next two years involved with pre-production, including supervision of the numerous screen tests of actresses anxious to portray Scarlett O'Hara. Cukor favored Hepburn for the role, but Selznick, concerned about her reputation as "box office poison", would not consider her without a screen test, and the actress refused to film one. Of those who did, Cukor preferred Paulette Goddard, but her supposedly illicit relationship with Charlie Chaplin (they were, in fact, secretly married) concerned Selznick. [...] Cukor quickly earned a reputation as a director who could coax great performances from actresses and he became known as a "woman's director", a title he resented. Despite this reputation, during his career, he oversaw more performances honored with the Academy Award for Best Actor than any other director: James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story "The Philadelphia Story (film)") (1940), Ronald Colman in A Double Life "A Double Life (1947 film)") (1947), and Rex Harrison in My Fair Lady "My Fair Lady (film)") (1964). One of Cukor's earlier ingenues was actress Katharine Hepburn, who debuted in A Bill of Divorcement "A Bill of Divorcement (1932 film)") (1932) and whose looks and personality left RKO officials at a loss as to how to use her. Cukor directed her in several films, both