The Emerging Business of Cognitive Warfare: An India–Israel Opportunity

Can one of the world’s most innovative democracies and the world’s largest democracy build a strategic partnership in the domain of Information and Cognitive Warfare?

And if not, what is stopping them?

Information Warfare, Narrative Warfare, Psychological Operations (PsyOps), and Cognitive Warfare have traditionally been viewed through the lens of national security, defence, and strategic affairs. Consequently, they have remained domains shaped largely by governments, militaries, and intelligence communities.

But what if we begin to look at this domain through a different lens?

What if Cognitive Warfare is not only an emerging security challenge, but also an emerging business domain and market – one that will increasingly influence technology, media, governance, public policy, education, strategic communications, and innovation?

If that possibility exists, then perhaps the most important challenge before us is not technological, but conceptual. We need a new perspective to understand a new reality.

That perspective begins by recognizing a gradual transformation that has been unfolding across the global digital ecosystem for more than two decades – one that is changing not only technology, but the cognitive capabilities of the people who use it.

Changing Realities and the Cognitive Shift

The past few years have been marked by conflict, uncertainty, and rapid geopolitical change for both Israel and Bharat. Alongside conventional security challenges, both countries have experienced the growing influence of Information Warfare, Narrative Warfare, Psychological Operations (PsyOps), and Cognitive Warfare in shaping public perception, strategic communication, and decision-making.

These developments have revealed that future conflicts will be fought not only on physical borders but also across digital and cognitive spaces. While both nations have developed strong institutional capabilities, the changing nature of this domain calls for fresh thinking and new forms of collaboration.

The next phase of India–Israel cooperation should extend beyond traditional institutional partnerships. It should also encourage innovation, entrepreneurship, research, and industry around Cognitive Warfare as an emerging business domain.

This opportunity begins with recognizing a fundamental reality: AI is not only transforming technology – it is also augmenting the cognitive capabilities of the people who use it. Today’s users and observers can analyze information faster, challenge narratives more effectively, and participate in influence ecosystems with unprecedented speed and scale.

Building strategies for this new cognitive environment will require more than stronger institutions. It will require a new ecosystem – one that brings together governments, industry, academia, startups, and independent research to shape the future of Cognitive Warfare together.

The Spirit of Acceptance

There is a fundamental difference between recognizing a changing reality and accepting it.

Today, there is broad recognition that Artificial Intelligence, social media, and digital platforms are reshaping the information environment. Governments, security agencies, businesses, and technology leaders acknowledge that public perception, narratives, and influence have become central to modern competition and conflict.

Recognition, however, is only the beginning.

The real challenge lies in embracing the Spirit of Acceptance – the willingness to rethink established assumptions, redesign strategies, and build new frameworks that reflect the realities of an AI-driven cognitive environment.

Many institutions recognize that the nature of Information Warfare and Cognitive Warfare is evolving, yet continue to approach these domains through conventional structures and legacy thinking. The world has changed faster than many of the frameworks designed to understand it.

For India and Israel, this is more than a strategic challenge – it is a strategic opportunity. A shared spirit of acceptance can move cooperation beyond traditional security collaboration and towards building a new ecosystem of research, innovation, entrepreneurship, and business around Cognitive Warfare.

Once this Spirit of Acceptance is embraced, change extends beyond institutions – it reshapes assumptions, priorities, strategies, and the very way we understand influence and decision-making.

Failing to recognize this shift is not merely an oversight; it is a strategic error.

AI is redistributing cognitive capability. Access to knowledge, analysis, and creative problem-solving is no longer confined to governments, intelligence agencies, or specialized institutions. The strategic advantage is gradually shifting from who possesses information to who can think, adapt, and act more effectively with it.

The greatest challenge, however, is not technological – it is conceptual and institutional. Too many organizations continue to interpret an evolving cognitive landscape through legacy assumptions and conventional frameworks. Until they embrace the Spirit of Acceptance, they risk responding to tomorrow’s cognitive realities with yesterday’s strategies.

Recognizing this emerging reality, the Cognitive Warfare Agency (CWA) was established as an independent research initiative to study the evolving intersection of AI, Cognitive Warfare, and strategic communication.

Its mission is to develop research, frameworks, and collaborative initiatives that help governments, institutions, businesses, and international partners prepare for an increasingly cognitive future. It is with this spirit that CWA hopes to contribute to the next chapter of India–Israel cooperation in this emerging domain.

India and Israel have collaborated extensively in defence, cybersecurity, homeland security, agriculture, water, and innovation. Cognitive Warfare could become the next frontier of strategic cooperation.

But the question before us is:

Can governments, industries, research institutions, and innovators evolve at the same pace as the cognitive evolution of AI-augmented users and societies?

Much has been said about the potential of the AI market. But are we equally prepared to recognize the emergence of a new market shaped by AI-augmented users, where cognitive capabilities themselves become a strategic asset?

Understanding this shift is no longer optional. It offers India and Israel a unique opportunity to co-create the future of Cognitive Warfare – not only as a strategic and security imperative, but also as an emerging domain of innovation, entrepreneurship, and business.