GEOINTeraction Tuesday at Esri: A Conversation with USGIF’s New VPs

On March 24, members of the GEOINT community gathered at Esri’s Tysons office for a special GEOINTeraction Tuesday featuring USGIF’s newly appointed Vice Presidents: Jim McCool, Vice President of Tradecraft, and Sue Kalweit, Vice President of Programs. Moderated by Jeff Dawley, Director of Intelligence Business Development at Esri, the conversation explored their backgrounds, priorities, and perspectives on the future of GEOINT tradecraft, collaboration, and innovation.

A Conversation Grounded in Experience

The event opened with reflections on the venue itself—Esri’s location at the historic former AOL campus—and an acknowledgment of just how much the GEOINT tradecraft, workforce, and technology ecosystem have evolved.

Jim McCool: Tradecraft in an Era of Automation

McCool brings a career shaped by deep analytic experience across the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and the broader Intelligence Community. His work has spanned analytic standards, product evaluation, and mentoring teams ranging from small units to enterprise-scale organizations.

He focused on a central challenge facing the community: how tradecraft evolves as automation and artificial intelligence (AI) become embedded in GEOINT workflows. He described a future where GEOINT workflows will integrate increasingly automated processes—but where the community must remain vigilant about analytic rigor, source evaluation, and avoiding faulty assumptions that have led to past intelligence failures.

He challenged the audience with questions that will shape USGIF’s priorities:

• What does tradecraft look like in a world of automated detection and foundation models?
• Who needs to be “tradecraft fluent” in this new environment—analysts, data scientists, model developers, commercial partners?
• How do we maintain quality, speed, and trust in automated workflows?

Sue Kalweit: Bridging Innovation and Mission

Kalweit’s career spans Cold War–era analysis, senior leadership roles at NGA, and extensive experience in industry and consulting. A consistent thread in her work has been connecting imagery, spatial data, and intelligence to better support decision-making.

Her return to government as NGA’s Director of Analysis—was motivated by her passion for:

• Modernizing tradecraft
• Integrating multisource data
• Elevating collaboration between analysts and machines
• Bridging the gap between industry innovation and government adoption

She also led NGA’s culture and leadership portfolio, helping the agency transition from the counterterrorism era into an age defined by great power competition and artificial intelligence.

Today, as USGIF’s VP of Programs, Kalweit is focused on expanding community connectivity, fostering cross-sector collaboration, and helping the Foundation operate at “mission speed.”

Shared Priorities for USGIF

Both leaders outlined early aspirations for their roles—even as they remain deep in the “symposium vortex” of preparations for GEOINT Symposium 2026. Several themes stood out.

1. Empowering USGIF Working Groups

Both McCool and Kalweit emphasized that working groups are one of the most important engines for innovation within USGIF.

Current groups—including Machine Learning & AI, Modeling & Simulation, and Tradecraft—are already producing white papers, frameworks, and best practices. These are grounded not in theory, but in the real-world experiences of practitioners across government, industry, and academia.

McCool encouraged attendees to get involved:

“Working groups are where people doing the work come together. That’s where thought leadership begins—often informally—and grows into something that moves the entire community.”

2. Increasing Exposure to New Technologies and Markets

Kalweit highlighted the need to:

• Create more touchpoints between industry and government clients
• Bring emerging tech (especially AI, Foundational Earth Observation Models, and startup innovations) into the GEOINT conversation
• Support the community in navigating venture capital, dual-use innovation, and commercial space growth
• Expand international engagement, particularly in Europe and the Indo-Pacific

With Japan now holding the third-largest space budget, she noted major opportunities for USGIF members.

3. Helping Government Bridge Legacy Systems and Next-Gen Capabilities

Government customers are under pressure to adopt new technologies while maintaining mission continuity. Kalweit emphasized that:

“Industry plays a crucial role in helping government understand, adopt, and operationalize new capabilities without disrupting the mission.”

USGIF will aim to facilitate more dialogue around modernization pathways.

4. Strengthening Tradecraft in the AI Era

McCool returned repeatedly to this point: as workflows become increasingly automated, tradecraft becomes more—not less—important.

The challenge ahead is to define what “analytic rigor” looks like when models and humans are co-creating GEOINT products.

Upcoming USGIF Events

Attendees also got an early look at the Foundation’s upcoming activities, including:

GeoHuntsville (March 27)

A collaborative event bringing together USGIF, GeoHuntsville, government partners, and Space Command to discuss emerging mission needs.

GEOINT Symposium Sneak Peek (April 7)

A preview of major themes, speakers, and government priorities ahead of GEOINT 2026.

GEOINT 2026 (May 3–6)

Featuring expanded programming and a career fair in partnership with ClearanceJobs.com—an opportunity for employers to connect with the next generation of GEOINT talent.

Spatial EDGE: Japan (July)

International engagements strengthening ties with allies and expanding opportunities for USGIF members across the global GEOINT ecosystem.

A Community Moving Forward Together

As the event wrapped, both leaders emphasized their eagerness to hear from members, learn from ongoing efforts, and shape USGIF’s future with the community—not for it.

With massive shifts underway in technology, policy, and global security, the GEOINT community is entering a new chapter. The discussions at GEOINTeraction Tuesday made clear that collaboration, tradecraft modernization, and innovation will guide USGIF’s path forward.

We look forward to seeing the entire community at the Sneak Peek on April 7—and of course at the GEOINT Symposium, May 3-6, in Aurora, Colorado.