From Lessons to Advantage: NLLC26 Looks to the Future

The second and final day of the NATO Lessons Learned Conference 2026 moved from Alliance-level concepts towards the practical challenge of making accelerated learning work across Nations and Armed Forces.

After a first day dominated by battlefield experience, AI, interoperability and the relationship between Audacious Training and Audacious Learning, Day Two focused on how those ideas can be translated into national practice.

The morning began with a look at the Practical Use of AI for National Lessons Learned, examining how Nations can move from NATO's collective approach to their own practical application of artificial intelligence in Lessons Learned. The discussion reflected an increasingly important reality. The challenge is no longer simply whether AI will influence how NATO learns. It already is.

The more useful question is how NATO and Allied Nations can use emerging technologies responsibly and effectively to help analysts identify patterns, connect information and bring relevant knowledge to decision-makers faster. AI will not replace professional judgement or the expertise of the Lessons Learned community. But used well, it can significantly expand what that community is capable of seeing, understanding and exploiting.

The final conference panel widened the lens further, looking at Large Scale Learning and Adaptation at Accelerated Speed.  This panel asked Nations to think one level above individual lessons and consider how entire Armed Forces can learn and adapt in response to world events. That distinction matters. A successful Lessons Learned system cannot depend exclusively on individual observations moving sequentially through a process. It also needs the ability to detect patterns, connect experiences across organizations and recognize when multiple lessons point towards a larger requirement for change. That means thinking beyond lessons management towards institutional learning and adaptation.

Audacious Learning does not end here.

Closing NLLC26, Commander JALLC, BGEN Cristinel Colibaba, noted some of the key themes coming out of the conference that need to be taken forward to drive transformation of NATO Lessons Learned. One important theme was that People remain at the heart of that transformation. Noting that just providing the technology does not provide the warfighting advantage, COM JALLC reminded the audience that the human in and on the loop remains critical to success of AI and technology integration in NATO Lessons Learned.

You can read more about the NLLC26 in our upcoming Factsheet which will be published on this website next week.​

​