JANUS' Kishan Shetty Talks Serious Gaming and I/ITSEC
09/17/2025
The Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation, and Education Conference (I/ITSEC), the world's largest event dedicated to modeling, simulation, and training (MS&T) is coming to Orlando, Fla. December 1–4, 2025, and JANUS' own Kishan Shetty will be there in his capacity as a member of the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge (SGS&C). Kishan, JANUS' Director of Training and Readiness Solutions, joined SGS&C in 2015 at the urging of a former colleague. "At the time, JANUS was delivering gaming applications for the Army, NIH, and the FBI, and (he) had exposure to I/ITSEC and encouraged me to join," says Kishan. "I participated in 2015 as an evaluator. SGS&C is always looking for external partners to evaluate. In 2016, I joined a committee and I've been a part of SGS&C ever since then." In 2019, Kishan served as SGS&C's Industry Chair and has continued to support the challenge every year.
SGS&C is essentially a subcommittee of I/ITSEC that showcases the use of gaming technology for the I/ITSEC community. At I/ITSEC, SGS&C serves to bring cutting-edge serious gaming applications to the forefront with a goal of growing understanding of the various application options that exist for those who work in the education, training, simulation, defense, medical rehabilitation, or any real-world applicable skill development area. Annually, SGS&C requests submissions for serious games from government, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and students. "We might receive submissions on new ways to use technology to teach math to sixth graders, or that can train VA nurses on how to use a crash cart, or to train doctors on how to interact with certain patient populations," Kishan says. "And of course for government applications in the defense industry, like a serious game that trains warfighters in the various aspects of logistics, tactically loading a C-17 or operationally getting supplies to the right place at the right time—games that help train a Soldier's thought process on how to apply logistics to real world scenarios." Kishan adds that SGS&C really loves it when they receive submissions from high school or college students. "The military service schools usually submit something. We love seeing young warfighters early in their careers leveraging the latest and greatest technology to better educate and better train, and this is something we love to encourage."
Kishan expects to see more serious games working to incorporate AI. "We saw a couple of games that integrated AI with large language models last year and expect we'll see more AI integration in gaming this year. Maybe more vibe coding will be present this year as well." Vibe coding is AI-assisted software development that allows gaming developers to use natural language to instruct large language models (LLMs) to generate code. Essentially, developers use AI to help them create a game. "We're expecting vibe coding to further democratize the industry," Kishan explains. With the use of AI, it no longer takes a large dedicated team to develop serious games and makes it easier for individuals to develop competitive gaming models. "Those college kids, for example, can really break into the industry."
At JANUS, Kishan and his team have used serious gaming to develop applications like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)-funded wildfire preparedness app they developed last year for the Boise, Idaho fire department. "We integrated serious gaming into that app," Kishan says. JANUS will have the app available on the I/ITSEC show floor in December for anyone interested in checking it out. Serious gaming is making serious headway in many aspects of MS&T and that will be more evident than ever at this year's I/ITSEC.
Though I/ITSEC will be full of papers, tutorials, demonstrations, professional development workshops, and more, Kishan is most excited to see attendees interacting with the serious games showcased by SGS&C. The submissions selected by the committee will be available for those attending to try. "People can come by and play any of the games we have available. Each attendee also receives a voting card and can vote on their favorite games," Kishan says. The last day of the conference might be the one Kishan is looking forward to most. "SGS&C presents its conference awards on the Thursday of the conference. Awards like 'Best Government Audience Game,' 'Best Student-developed Game,' and the coveted 'People's Choice Award' will be announced. It's the culmination of SGS&C's year and one that always gives those who serve on SGS&C's committee the motivation they use to fuel their efforts for the next year."
Be sure to stop by JANUS' I/ITSEC booth, Booth #1184, to check out how JANUS is incorporating serious gaming into its cutting-edge technology solutions. While you're there, visit the SGS&C booth to try some of the exciting new games on the horizon and cast your vote for the best of the best.
