On 08 January 2026, the JALLC welcomed Mr Andrius Kubilius, EU Commissioner for Defence and Space, who was accompanied by General José Nunes da Fonseca, the Portuguese Chief of Defence and Dra Sofia Moreira de Sousa, European Commission Representative in Portugal.

The visit provided an opportunity to brief the Commissioner on the JALLC’s role within NATO and how the Centre supports the Alliance through its core activities: evidence-based analysis, lessons learned, and training and outreach. The briefing was followed by an engaged and wide-ranging question-and-answer session, reflecting strong interest in the Centre’s work and future direction.

During the discussion, the Commissioner showed particular interest in how the JALLC is leveraging artificial intelligence and new technologies to improve analytical efficiency and productivity. In response, the Commander JALLC highlighted several ongoing initiatives aimed at integrating AI into analytical workflows and report production, noting current experiments, prototype tools, and evolving processes. The Commander also outlined the vision for the new NATO Lessons Learned Tool, emphasizing its role as the future backbone of NATO’s Lessons Learned capability, with its anticipated rollout in 2027.

A significant part of the exchange focused on learning lessons from Russia’s war against Ukraine, including how those lessons are being captured, analysed, and translated into meaningful insights for the Alliance.  COM JALLC was able to clarify how various ACT and JALLC workstrands are ensuring that these valuable lessons are enhancing exercise realism, contributing to doctrine development, and ensuring NATO forces are prepared to face any future challenge.

The Commissioner also explored how Lessons Learned inform NATO and national capability development and acquisition, underlining the importance of timely, credible analysis in shaping future defence investments.

The visit underlined the growing importance of close alignment regarding Lessons Learned across institutions and highlighted the JALLC’s contribution to ensuring that lessons from today’s conflicts directly inform NATO’s readiness for tomorrow.