Published Jul 22, 2026, 3:01 AM EDT
Dietrich Kuhlmann warns a veteran or service member's experience may not clearly translate on a resume submitted through an AI platform.
Ahead of national 'Hire A Veteran Day' on July 25, former U.S. Navy officer Dietrich Kuhlmann, who is now president and CEO of Navy Federal Credit Union, tells Military.com there's a talent gap between corporate hiring practices that use artificial intelligence to pre-screen candidates and veterans looking for work. "Technology is only as effective as the information it is built to recognize," Kuhlmann said. "Military experience can be misread or undervalued, especially when a candidate’s accomplishments are described through rank, command structure or military occupational terminology that does not always fit neatly into civilian job titles or screening tools."
President and CEO of Navy Federal Credit Union, Dietrich Kuhlmann, champions hiring veterans and urges other corporate leaders to do the same. (NFCU).
Kuhlmann knows the issues firsthand. He spent 35 years in the Navy as a career submariner, leading teams through demanding assignments where trust, accountability, and mission focus were paramount. Later in his career, he served in financial management roles at the Pentagon, which he said gave him a broader perspective on strategy, resource allocation, hiring practices and organizational leadership. His final military assignment was running the Navy's $800 billion, five-year capital allocation process. Kuhlmann now leads the world's largest credit union, serving more than 15 million service members, veterans and their families. "When I joined Navy Federal, I wasn't leaving those experiences behind. I was applying them in a different mission. The transition was about learning a new industry and a new vocabulary while staying grounded in the leadership principles that had guided me throughout my career of serving people, building strong teams, and continuously learning," Kuhlmann said. "Those principles translate whether you're leading sailors at sea or serving the military community and their families’ financial well-being."
