Benjamin Blakely, PhD, CISSP (senior member, IEEE), is a cybersecurity and artificial intelligence researcher at Argonne National Laboratory, a United States Department of Energy laboratory. He leads the Applied Research group within the Strategic Security Sciences division, driving innovation in critical areas of national security. With over 20 years of experience across private enterprises, government agencies, and academia, Dr. Blakely has demonstrated expertise in operations, research, and education. He has successfully built and led teams in information security, information technology, and data science, including supporting a software company through its initial public offering (IPO). His professional engagements also include serving as a subject matter expert for various United States departments, such as Energy, Homeland Security, State, and Defense. Dr. Blakely holds PhD and Bachelor of Science degrees from Iowa State University in computer engineering with minors in psychology and political science. He has contributed to education by designing and teaching courses at Iowa State, including "Legal, Ethical, and Professional Issues in Cybersecurity" and "Formal Methods of Software Verification." Currently, he shares his knowledge by teaching short courses on cybersecurity and artificial intelligence at the University of Chicago. He is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) through ISC² and a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) through ISACA (inactive certification). His research interests focus on applying artificial intelligence to risk management, safeguarding critical infrastructure, and developing systems capable of intelligent self-defense.