The Department of the Air Force (DAF) has formally launched its Data & AI Center for Excellence (CfE), marking a significant step toward enterprise-wide AI governance and accelerated adoption. 

The charter, signed by the DAF Chief Data and AI Officer, outlines three strategic goals: breaking barriers to AI adoption, delivering scalable technical solutions, and enhancing cross-functional alignment across the DAF ecosystem.

Governance of the CfE will be overseen by the existing DAF Data & AI Board, with support from cross-functional teams. The initiative builds on a recent DAF data call that identified key challenges to AI adoption across the force, with the new teams tasked to address these barriers.

DAF leaders emphasized that success will rely heavily on collaboration with industry and academia to provide expertise and accelerate mission-critical capabilities. The announcement comes just ahead of the DAFITC 2025 conference.