Following Bill Hagestad’s incredibly well received deep dive into PRC capabilities at OODAcon 2025, intentions and likely scenarios for future action, we invited him to this OODAcast to provide more context including insights relevant to any seeking to better contextualize the dynamics of today.

Bill Hagestad joins OODAcast to share the personal and professional journey that led him to become a leading analyst of the People’s Republic of China’s cyber, information, and cognitive warfare strategies. He describes his early Marine Corps career as an artilleryman and logistician, his decision to study Mandarin in China in the early 1980s, and how a post-retirement book contract on how China would use computers as a weapon system launched a second career focused on Chinese cyber operations. Bill also explains how his writing, website, and presence on Amazon, LinkedIn, and X provide multiple avenues for practitioners, executives, and analysts to engage with his work.​

The discussion then dives into his major books, including “Chinese Cyber Crime” “21st Century Chinese Cognitive Warfare,” “Chinese Militarization of Artificial Intelligence,” and “Chinese Information Warfare Doctrine Development” Bill outlines how these works document the evolution of Chinese doctrine across cyber, information, and AI-enabled operations, including early conceptualizations of psychological and cognitive warfare against targets like Taiwan and the broader region. He explains that PRC military and party thinkers are integrating AI, large language models, and automated agents into a broader concept of “informatization” and “intelligentization,” aiming to disrupt adversary OODA loops and win conflicts before opponents fully understand what is happening.​

Finally, Bill turns to the implications for business leaders and national security professionals, explaining how he supports Fortune 50 and other firms with board briefings, red-teaming, and tabletop exercises focused on PRC risk, supply chains, and corporate exposure. He offers pragmatic guidance for firms operating in China, from understanding political red lines and compliance expectations to recognizing how the PRC uses economic tools and the Belt and Road Initiative as instruments of “dissipative warfare” and economic colonization. Bill closes by urging leaders to focus less on “what’s next” in abstract and more on clearly seeing what China is already doing across diplomatic, informational, military, and economic lines of effort today.

Besides his books, Bill publishes extensively on his site at RedDragon1949.com