The Navy is encouraging small businesses to create tools to make data from the Maven Smart System, and similar platforms, more accessible, a top service official said Tuesday during his keynote address at the 2025 Navy Summit.
Vice Adm. Karl Thomas, deputy chief of naval operations for information warfare, N2N6, and director of naval intelligence, said the number of people who have Maven as part of their data fabric and the foundry of their operations centers is growing and that “everyone” is using Maven. This, he said, is pushing the Navy to ensure that they’re all operating from the same “pane of glass,” or operating picture.
Having the data be truly accessible is “job one” with this potential effort, according to Vice Adm. Thomas.
“Making sure the data isn’t vendor locked [and] the data is available no matter who has developed it, the tool that we may need for whatever mission,” he said.
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What Is Maven Smart System?
Maven is a DOD AI tool that is designed to process imagery and full-motion video from unmanned aircraft vehicles. It brings together sensors, AI and machine learning to improve battlefield operations, including logistics planning, targeting and predicting supply needs for deployed forces.
DOD announced in June it was providing Maven to thousands of users across the world, Federal News Network has reported. Maven takes data from a variety of sources, such as intelligence databases, social media feeds, satellite intelligence and publicly available data, and uses a single interface that allows operators to make decisions after accessing and analyzing that data.
Vice Adm. Thomas said the Navy is starting with ship maintenance data and will eventually use ship readiness statistics with AI to make better decisions about the battlespace. He said the Navy will take maintenance data and training information and use Maven to change how it thinks about maintenance and predictive maintenance on its ships.
Who Makes Maven Smart System?
DOD officials earlier this year increased an existing contract ceiling for Maven, developed by Palantir, by $795 million in preparation for an increase in demand over the next four years, according to DefenseScoop. The original contract, worth $480 million, was a five-year ID/IQ award issued in May 2024.
Project Maven was created in 2017 with the goal of providing flagship AI capabilities to DOD. Project Maven moved to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency in 2023, where it became the Maven program of record.
Maven contributes the software capabilities, cloud infrastructure and AI that enables DOD’s Chief Digital and AI Office’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2, initiatives.
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