Aptima is proud to announce our participation in Phoenix Challenge 2026, hosted by the US Department of War and the Office of Information Operations Policy. On Tuesday, March 24, Dr. Svitlana Volkova, Aptima’s Chief of Artificial Intelligence, will lead a panel discussion on the topic: “Determining Acceptable Risk for IO.”

Dr. Volkova will join experts from Arizona State University, the American Foreign Policy Council, and CACI to discuss one of the most pressing challenges in today’s Information Operations (IO) environment: how organizations define, assess, and manage acceptable risk in complex, AI-driven information landscapes.

As adversaries increasingly leverage generative AI to influence narratives and shape public perception, traditional IO training systems struggle to keep pace. Aptima is addressing this challenge through human-centered AI technologies that enable operators to simulate adversarial behavior, analyze population responses, and evaluate the cognitive effects of influence campaigns.

These capabilities are currently being integrated into Air Force and Joint training ecosystems, supporting mission rehearsal, wargaming, and continuous learning across exercises.

In preparation for the event, Dr. Volkova said, “Determining acceptable risk in Information Operations requires more than intuition, it requires validated models of adversarial behavior, population response, and cognitive effects. Our goal is to equip operators with proactive, evidence-based tools that allow them to test, assess, and refine campaigns before real-world deployment.”

Aptima looks forward to contributing to the conversation at Phoenix Challenge 2026 and advancing more rigorous, data-driven approaches to Information Operations.