Interpreting Mission-Critical Intelligence with AI

Marissa Beall is a chief data scientist helping intelligence agencies achieve critical milestones in transforming how they process sensemaking systems’ data to keep up with the changes and complexities of today’s world.

Here, Marissa discusses her work on the sensemaking systems team within Booz Allen’s national security business, her career journey to the firm, and how community support has been invaluable along the way, both as a data scientist and as a military spouse.

“There are three big issues with mission data today,” Marissa says. “It’s siloed, there’s a deluge of it, and it’s increasingly challenging to manage.”

She explains why national security data analysis has reached a tipping point. Thanks to recent, significant evolutions in technology and geopolitical shifts, the information intelligence agencies rely on for critical insights has gotten exponentially more plentiful and complex—just as the data landscape they’re responsible for monitoring has expanded in both depth and breadth.

“Physical threats are just a few of the things on an analyst’s radar,” Marissa explains. “They’re now also investigating pacing threats in all domains—space, maritime, air, ground, cyber—to maintain decision advantage over adversaries. For example, we have to pay attention to infrastructure development, weapons production, technology advancement, and much more to maintain that edge. So, we need new technology and new ways of doing our work. This is where AI comes in.”

AI tools come in a variety of forms: computer vision algorithms that more quickly and effectively identify objects or movement in video footage, process automation that adds speed and removes errors from manual tasks, and even applications that automatically format a spreadsheet to make it more user friendly. What they have in common is that they take time-consuming administrative work out of the analysts’ hands so these skilled professionals can focus their brainpower and critical thinking on mission areas that need our intelligence and deep expertise.

For analysts encountering this new way of work, “AI tools exist to help you do your job so you can cover more ground, faster and more accurately,” states Marissa. “There's going to be a point at which you just can't handle all the data and you're going to need assistance, or else you risk leaving potentially critical intelligence on the table.”

Marissa didn’t start her career with national security and AI in mind. “I moved to DC after getting an undergraduate degree in statistics and didn’t quite know what to do. While studying for my master’s degree, I met people who worked at Booz Allen and absolutely loved it, so I decided to give it a try myself.”

She started out as an operational research analyst. “But I was really craving to get back to my roots in statistics and coding,” she remembers.

So, she took part in Booz Allen’s Data Science 5K Challenge, “absolutely fell in love,” and continued her journey: learning Python and getting in touch with colleagues supporting intelligence clients. “And then my career took off in the direction I wanted,” she recalls.

Marissa has been supporting Booz Allen’s clients in the intelligence community ever since, tackling data analytics, AI-enabled tool and capability development, process automation and, most recently, a technical leadership position supporting a major contract. 

“My role as a technical director is to understand the client’s mission, understand their challenges, and identify different technologies and places where they can use technology to get some lift, like moving away from a lot of these more traditional manual workflows into something that's more automated,” she says. 

While the details of Marissa’s job involve cutting-edge innovation, she considers people the driving force behind it all. 

As one example, she considers herself well-versed in the mission aspect of solutions, but sometimes feels like she needs more information answering client questions about trending technologies and solutions.

“I just reach out to my colleagues within Booz Allen’s Chief Technology Office and ask about the latest in natural language processing or computer vision,” she says. “Booz Allen is about reaching out and collaborating, whether it’s with individuals asking each other questions or with entire program areas like data science that connect people to peers and new career opportunities.”

Marissa is at a point in her own career where she now serves as a mentor. Yet there’s one area of her life where these roles are reversed.

“I’m completely new to life as a military spouse,” she says. “My husband just deployed, and there are so many things I don’t know about. At Booz Allen, I’ve met so many great people—many who are at earlier stages of their careers—who have been helping me: with resources, healthcare, and finding balance. Through our Military Spouse community, Member Match program, and mentoring circles, I've been able to learn from others who have gone through similar experiences.”

“On the technical side and the personal side, Booz Allen has been there with me through all of these life changes,” she says.