IT Visionaries

Playing War: How Technology is Helping to Train the Military’s Next Great Soldiers

Episode Summary

Mark Dzulko, CTO and Director of Bohemia Simulations, explains how simulation tactics and augmented reality are helping military defense teams train the next generation of soldiers. IT Visionaries is brought to you by the Salesforce Platform - the #1 cloud platform for digital transformation of every experience.

Episode Notes

For years there has been a debate about whether video games are the next great learning tool, or gateways to desensitization due to violence and a lack of face-to-face interaction. The debate rages on, but regardless of the long-term side effects of video games, there are scenarios where they are being put to use in practical ways as it relates to military training.

“The idea of training soldiers using computer games was like, ‘There's no way a computer game can train my guys how to shoot. You have to go out into the mud and do it for real.’ And while there's some truth there, what we offered was like an accelerator for decision-making processes.”

Mark Dzulko had been serving in the military for 13 years when he recognized the potential that computer-based simulation tactics could have in the military. As the CTO and Director at Bohemia Simulations, Mark is now turning the potential into something practical. On this episode of IT Visionaries, Mark breaks down the difference between traditional consumer-based video games and Bohemia’s simulation device, plus, he explains how the company scaled despite having a limited customer base.

Main Takeaways

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