Growing geopolitical tensions are fueling greater demand for commercially sourced intelligence, but NATO must modernize its outdated systems to enable faster and less restrictive intelligence sharing, according to Maj. Gen. Paul Lynch of the British Royal Marines and NATO leadership.
Lynch, NATO’s deputy assistant secretary general for intelligence, explained that the alliance’s 32 member nations currently rely on temporary fixes and exceptions to exchange commercial data effectively.
He said NATO requires updated policies governing data usage, revised security classification standards, improved contracting structures, and clearer rules on information release — changes he described as “unglamorous” but essential for improving military decision-making.
Speaking Monday at the annual GEOINT Symposium organized by the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, Lynch emphasized that today’s security landscape demands rapid coordination and unified action.
“The last year has shown that the global security environment remains highly contested, and success depends on combining collective purpose with rapid execution,” Lynch said.
The symposium drew numerous defense and intelligence companies, including U.S. military contractors involved in monitoring Russian naval movements in the Bering Strait, tracking Chinese military drills, and assessing damage to Iranian nuclear facilities after Operation Midnight Hammer.
Lynch encouraged intelligence experts at the event to support NATO in redesigning its intelligence-sharing systems.
He noted that managing commercial intelligence becomes even more challenging when artificial intelligence is involved.
“It’s no longer just a question of who can share information,” Lynch explained. “It’s about determining which AI models should be used, what data they are trained on, the assumptions behind them, the level of confidence they provide, and the operational context in which they are applied.”
He argued that NATO and its partners need a unified AI platform and interface that can be shared across both commercial and national intelligence networks.
NATO has already implemented hundreds of standardization agreements in areas such as air defense, maritime surveillance, and data formatting.
According to Lynch, the alliance has historically been effective at establishing governance standards, but the challenge now is whether it can apply the same discipline to artificial intelligence before technological advances outpace existing regulations.
Lynch also highlighted the alliance’s recent increase in defense spending. Under pressure from President Donald Trump, European NATO nations and Canada achieved the alliance’s long-standing target of allocating 2% of GDP to defense spending last year — the first time the benchmark had been reached since it was introduced in 2014. Overall defense spending increased by roughly 20%, he noted.
At last year’s NATO summit in The Hague, member nations further committed to raising defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035.
“Just three years ago, such a target would have sounded unrealistic,” Lynch said, adding that NATO is now investing in security at a level not seen in decades.
Still, he cautioned that expanding defense capabilities without strengthening intelligence systems creates “capability without awareness.” He stressed that military investments are only valuable if the intelligence generated reaches the right people, in the correct format, and at the necessary moment.
