The Department of War CIO Workforce Innovation Directorate (WID) is transforming how the federal government recruits cyber talent through an ambitious skills-based hiring pilot designed to address the nearly 7,700 cyber vacancies across DoD. By placing applicants in a cyber range to assess real-world skills rather than relying on resumes alone, the seven-week pilot has shown clear improvements in identifying top-tier candidates, eliminating unqualified applicants, and accelerating hiring decisions. In partnership with OPM, Civilian Personnel Policy, and DCPAS, WID has established the technical and data-driven foundation for scalable tools that reduce time-to-hire, improve talent quality, and strengthen mission readiness—demonstrating a powerful model for modernizing federal workforce recruitment.

The NYPA Robotics Program has fundamentally modernized utility operations by shifting high-risk, labor-intensive field work to advanced robotic systems, dramatically improving safety, efficiency, and mission readiness. By embedding robotics into daily workflows and co-developing use cases with field crews, the program eliminated hazardous climbs, reduced human exposure in high-voltage and confined-space environments, and replaced costly manual inspections with drone photogrammetry—saving $180K on a single dam project. Enterprise tools like Mission Manager and MediaHub streamlined flight planning, compliance, asset tracking, and 3D model access, supporting 671 missions and more than 136,000 images in 2024–2025 while enabling faster, more accurate decision-making. Through strong collaboration with engineering, IT, transmission, environmental, and external partners, NYPA built a scalable, compliant robotics ecosystem that improves data accuracy, accelerates emergency response, strengthens operational performance, and equips the workforce to safely leverage robotics at scale.

This human-centered transformation fundamentally modernized how customers interact with GSA Fleet by consolidating fragmented workflows from 19 legacy mainframe systems into a single digital platform, GSAFleet.gov, and embedding automation and self-service directly into everyday operations. By redesigning high-friction processes such as user access, approvals, reporting, and customer data updates, the team eliminated manual emails, duplicate data entry, and multi-system logins—saving tens of thousands of labor hours annually, including an estimated 22,750 hours from automated reporting alone. These capabilities now support more than 760,000 vehicles and 50,000 users, delivering faster access, clearer accountability, improved data accuracy, and a more responsive customer experience aligned with modern digital expectations. Built through close collaboration among fleet managers, GSA IT, OCFO, and industry partners, the transformation replaced reactive, case-based support with proactive digital service design, established shared ownership and governance, and ensured strong adoption without operational disruption. The result is a scalable, durable model for government service delivery that improves workforce efficiency, strengthens trust, and delivers lasting value to agencies and customers alike.

NASA’s Solutions for Enterprise-Wide Procurement (SEWP) has evolved from a 1992–1993 experiment into the federal government’s gold-standard acquisition program, delivering a centralized, secure, and mission-ready marketplace that dramatically accelerates procurement—reducing lead times by a factor of ten—and provides full visibility into approved technologies across government. In 2024, the SEWP team executed its sixth government-wide acquisition contract under unprecedented complexity, expanding into IT services and emerging technologies while managing more than 7,000 questions and 2,000 offers—volume unmatched by any comparable federal program. Through close collaboration with NASA HQ, OMB, SBA, federal agencies, and industry partners, SEWP VI set a new benchmark for clarity, scalability, and innovation, positioning NASA to issue awards ahead of schedule and once again lead the federal acquisition community in delivering a transformative, highly replicable model for mission support.

The initial Centralized Acquisition Services team fundamentally reshaped how the federal government acquires domestic common goods and services by operationalizing Executive Order 14240 and centralizing $1.5B in contracts from OPM, SBA, and HUD under GSA in just six months. Their rapid, compliant transition improved procurement lead times by 35–40%, generated $7.7M in documented savings, and established GSA as the governmentwide leader for consolidated procurement. To manage the unprecedented volume and pace, the team built an automated procurement routing tool that modernized requirements intake, assignment, and tracking—processing 293 packages in FY25 and saving an estimated 586 labor hours. Through extensive coordination across contracting, finance, IT, and program teams, they unified stakeholders across multiple agencies, piloted transfer workflows, solved roadblocks in real time, and delivered a seamless, risk-free transition ahead of the March 31 deadline. Their scalable framework now serves as the model for future agency onboarding, demonstrating how innovation, automation, and collaboration can transform federal acquisition at enterprise scale.

Brian Epley is a visionary CIO whose leadership at the Department of Commerce (DOC) has accelerated secure digital modernization, strengthened mission delivery, and advanced a unified, service-driven approach to technology. He has aggressively modernized cybersecurity protections across the DOC’s multibillion-dollar IT portfolio—safeguarding sensitive data and critical systems supporting agencies such as the Census Bureau and NOAA—while driving enterprise-wide transformation rooted in his prior strategic work at DOE. Since joining Commerce, he has rapidly implemented a cohesive modernization strategy that reduces technical debt, enhances operational agility, and ensures a secure, scalable foundation for mission delivery. Equally committed to the human element, Mr. Epley prioritizes intuitive, user-centered technology and a customer service mindset, making government services more accessible, effective, and responsive to the public and the businesses the department serves.

The team transformed DHCF’s fragmented compliance process into a unified, automated RegScale GRC ecosystem that delivers real-time governance, dramatically improves efficiency, and strengthens the agency’s ability to safeguard healthcare data. By integrating automated evidence collection, continuous authorization checks, and standardized workflows aligned with HIPAA, NIST 800-53, and OCTO requirements, they reduced manual review time by more than 60%, increased control assessment accuracy by 45%, and enabled tasks that once took weeks to be completed in hours. Their innovative redesign replaced paper-driven processes with dynamic dashboards and real-time control monitoring, allowing DHCF to anticipate risks rather than react to them. Through close collaboration across DHCF offices, OCTO security teams, and RegScale engineers, the team delivered a scalable, enterprise-grade compliance program that accelerates audit readiness, eliminates longstanding bottlenecks, and provides lasting transparency and data-driven decision-making across the agency.

JEXC2 Cybersecurity Operations significantly strengthened the Navy’s expeditionary mission by sustaining 123 deployed Information Systems, developing patches and hotfixes that resolved more than 11,000 critical and high-severity vulnerabilities, and executing four major Maintenance Releases to replace obsolete software and eliminate security weaknesses. Their efforts produced a 78% reduction in Patch System Integration Testing timelines, enhanced ATO risk management across eight authorizations, and delivered seven direct warfighter support visits that improved operational readiness at the tactical edge. The team’s innovative use of Model-Based Systems Engineering, including a new CAMEO-driven process for tracking system hardware, software, and network architecture, revolutionized traceability and enabled a stronger focus on resiliency and survivability. Through close collaboration with Program Offices, ship crews, the NSWCPCD Cybersecurity Community of Practice, and the Security Control Assessor Office, the team accelerated fielding of mission-critical capabilities and strengthened cybersecurity awareness across the fleet. Their work ensured a secure, resilient operational environment that directly supports effective Navy expeditionary operations.

Dr. Frank Ofori led the Department of State’s first-ever design, build, and accreditation of a classified AWS IL6 environment, delivering a fully hardened, zero-trust architecture 38% faster than previous on-premises timelines and enabling secure, scalable Assessment & Authorization operations across global classified networks. Rejecting years-long hardware procurement cycles, he pioneered a modern cloud-based approach that cleared a decade-long A&A backlog, negotiated the first State–AWS Direct Connect classified circuit—cutting latency for overseas posts by 88%—and engineered a Department-wide compliance-as-code framework now enforced across cloud and data center systems. Uniting five major organizations and a 28-person joint team, Dr. Ofori leveraged collaboration tools inside classified environments to transparently track more than 3,400 artifacts and achieve a full IL6 Authority to Operate ahead of schedule, under budget, and with greater capability than originally planned, setting a new standard for secure cloud innovation in the federal government.

The USSOCOM J62 Compliance Team revolutionized how the command identifies and mitigates cyber risk by developing the Cybersecurity Heat Map—an actionable, color-coded dashboard that highlights the highest-risk vulnerabilities across Components and TSOCs rather than overwhelming administrators with thousands of raw findings. Built initially in SharePoint and upgraded in 2025 to a more powerful Microsoft Power BI platform, the Heat Map integrates ACAS scanner data to provide drill-down views of missing patches, “fix-these-first” systems, and other critical compliance metrics, all at minimal cost. Since its deployment, network compliance has improved by more than 31%—with gains concentrated in the areas of greatest risk—and the tool is now briefed weekly at the J6 NETOPS forum to drive rapid remediation and leadership oversight. By giving globally dispersed units a clear view of cyber health and helping system administrators prioritize what matters most, the J62 team solved a long-standing vulnerability management challenge and significantly strengthened USSOCOM’s ability to maintain a secure, resilient operational network.

Jerald Jeffrey has demonstrated exceptional innovation and leadership in strengthening cybersecurity across the City of Winston-Salem by redesigning the new-hire cybersecurity program to include modern threats, acceptable AI use, real-world breach analysis, and best practices for securing devices—content now delivered 26 times annually and so effective it is being considered mandatory for all employees. His creative approach extended to Cybersecurity Awareness Month, where he deployed engaging, multi-vendor educational materials and reinforced critical habits like phishing vigilance through memorable messaging that helped shift the city’s security culture. Jerald also exemplifies outstanding collaboration, uniting department heads, vendors, and stakeholders, establishing a team-monitored rapid-response channel, and fostering trust and accountability following a major breach. Through proactive outreach, accessible communication, and a focus on shared responsibility, he has significantly improved organizational resilience, elevated security awareness across all departments, and strengthened partnerships across the broader community.

The team serves as the Navy’s primary engine for innovative cybersecurity solutions, rapidly incubating, testing, and deploying zero trust capabilities for Fleet Cyber Command and Joint Forces under U.S. Cyber Command. Through their CyberX process—which aligns sponsors, funding sources, and technologies in a unified data tool—they match mission needs with cutting-edge commercial and government solutions, advancing programs of record across the DODIN-N and delivering first-of-their-kind capabilities aligned to MITRE D3FEND for identity, application, data, device, and network security. Drawing on Silicon Valley experience and agile delivery methods, the team works in small, fast-paced increments to translate warfighter requirements and field capabilities within a single quarter rather than traditional multiyear cycles, accelerating tools for cyber operators in tactical and maritime environments. Their extensive partnerships span all Services, DIU, the Defense Industrial Base, academia, and over 150 vendors per quarter, enabling continuous technology scouting and rapid acquisition navigation. By bridging the “skills gap” that often stalls innovation, the team delivers transformative, non-kinetic warfighting capabilities and strengthens the Navy’s operational cybersecurity posture at speed and scale.

USPTO CISO Tim Goodwin has fundamentally strengthened the protection of millions of patent and trademark records by shifting the agency from reactive cybersecurity to a proactive, predictive defense model that safeguards one of America’s most valuable innovation assets. He led one of the most ambitious MFA transformations in the federal civilian space—eliminating SMS, email, and other vulnerable authentication methods and coordinating across 20+ product teams, cloud platforms, legacy systems, and more than 100,000 external customers to implement secure, modern MFA for all users. Goodwin also drove a sweeping DevSecOps evolution, launching an innovative internal campaign that empowered peer “cyber champions,” delivered new office hours, training, and collaboration channels, and enabled more than 100 development teams to adopt secure-by-design practices that remediate vulnerabilities earlier, protect mission systems, and ensure compliance. His leadership created a true culture shift: 14,000 employees now understand their role as the first line of defense, while 200 product teams embed automated security controls, standardized incident playbooks, and cloud-based misconfiguration detection directly into daily workflows. Through automation, collaboration, and strategic vision, Goodwin has reduced vulnerabilities, accelerated delivery, and built an enduring enterprise cybersecurity program that protects critical data and ensures uninterrupted mission operations for the USPTO.

Giovanni Onwuchekwa, Terence Rountree, and the SCRIPTS Team delivered a first-of-its-kind, governmentwide acquisition solution for Supply Chain Risk Illumination Professional Tools and Services (SCRIPTS), providing federal agencies with a shared capability to screen, vet, and continuously monitor suppliers for cybersecurity, foreign ownership, compliance, and financial risk. Through the creation of multiple-award BPAs, the team replaced fragmented, agency-specific approaches with a scalable, secure model aligned with Executive Order 13873 and Federal Acquisition Security Council priorities. SCRIPTS is already delivering measurable impact: a GSA Agile Acquisition Unit pilot has enabled $5.1 million in orders, achieved line-item savings of up to 98%, and reduced acquisition timelines to an average of just nine days from final requirements to award. Built through close collaboration with the Department of Defense, FASC, legal and cybersecurity experts, small businesses, and internal GSA stakeholders, the solution supports both classified and unclassified environments and streamlines secure data sharing across agencies. SCRIPTS fundamentally transforms how the federal government manages supply chain risk, strengthening mission resilience while delivering lasting value through speed, cost savings, and enterprise-wide coordination.

Over the past year, Jason Belford led a comprehensive cybersecurity transformation that significantly strengthened the City’s operational resilience, security posture, and service delivery across more than 40 departments. He stabilized and accelerated vulnerability scanning—reducing turnaround from days to hours—migrated monitoring and detection tools to the cloud to lower administrative overhead, optimized log management to reduce data volume and licensing costs, and implemented a 24/7 managed detection and response capability that enables real-time threat response. Jason also applied AI-driven automation to modernize information risk assessments, cutting timelines from weeks to just 2–4 hours, standardizing evaluations, and improving audit readiness and decision-making. His leadership extended to deploying zero trust network access for more than 2,000 users, eliminating legacy VPN complexity, reducing login times from minutes to under two, and improving workforce productivity. Equally impactful was his collaborative approach—working with Legal, Audit, HR, Communications, and Emergency Management to modernize policies, develop and exercise a robust incident response plan, strengthen password and phishing defenses, and reinforce cybersecurity as a shared responsibility. Through technical innovation, operational discipline, and cross-functional leadership, Jason delivered lasting improvements in security, compliance, and the City’s ability to deliver secure public services.

The Littoral Warfare Research Facility (LWRF) RDT&E Lab has become a model of collaborative, mission-focused IT support by breaking down silos across NSWC PCD and partnering closely with other RDT&E labs to rapidly solve complex technical and cybersecurity challenges. By openly documenting and sharing solutions—such as resolving a cyber issue that blocked LABVIEW installation at another lab—and adopting best practices for remediation and patching from peer organizations, the team streamlined compliance processes and redirected effort toward direct mission support. LWRF also transformed how hardware and software are acquired by proactively managing commonly used tools, including enterprise MATLAB licenses and toolboxes, enabling rapid response to shifting project demands while eliminating duplicative purchases and unnecessary costs. Supporting approximately 140 scientists, engineers, and technicians across mission areas including Mine Warfare, Subsea and Seabed Warfare, and Maritime Special Programs, the team delivers highly customized IT environments built from secure baseline images and tailored to individual project needs. Through early coordination for new hires, deep technical expertise across multiple operating systems and hundreds of applications, and a customer-first mindset, LWRF ensures users have the tools they need on day one—directly accelerating research execution and strengthening the Command’s ability to deliver critical warfighting capabilities.

The DEA Zero Trust Initiative Team delivered a major advancement in identity security by leading the global rollout of PIV-I–enabled FIDO phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication, providing strong, passwordless authentication to a highly distributed workforce that previously lacked reliable access to PIV credentials. By eliminating weak legacy authentication methods and advancing a phishing-resistant, zero-trust identity model, the team met federal Zero Trust mandates while significantly reducing user friction and operational risk. Rather than treating PIV-I and FIDO as competing technologies, the team took a thoughtful, policy-aligned approach to integrate them in a way that works naturally for agents and staff in the field. Their collaborative mindset brought security, identity, and operational stakeholders together early, fostering alignment and accelerating adoption without shortcuts or added risk. Through forward-thinking design, clear communication, and durable partnerships, the team established a scalable, resilient identity infrastructure that strengthens DEA’s cybersecurity posture while enabling personnel to stay focused on critical enforcement missions.

Brad Searle led NAVAIR’s enterprise generative AI modernization by delivering the Navy’s first fully authorized GenAI platform in just eight months—cutting the typical 12–15-month ATO timeline nearly in half—while ensuring secure, traceable, and mission-aligned adoption at scale. By closing data-security gaps and deploying responsible GenAI infrastructure with advanced capabilities such as API access and model context protocols, he enabled safe use across engineering, logistics, acquisition, administration, and aircraft safety analysis, informed by more than 700 workforce use cases. Brad drove measurable efficiency gains, reducing annual-review processing time from up to two hours to as little as 20–30 minutes per employee, saving 30–60% of supervisor time. To build trust and transparency, he pioneered a cybersecurity benchmarking approach using adversarial testing to rapidly assess model risk, and applied GenAI itself to streamline complex ATO preparation by mapping hundreds of security controls in days rather than weeks. Through close collaboration with cyber authorizing officials, DON leadership, SYSCOMs, fleet and warfare center stakeholders, and key industry partners, Brad removed organizational and policy barriers, accelerated approval, and established a repeatable enterprise blueprint for responsible GenAI adoption—strengthening readiness and enabling scalable, secure modernization across NAVAIR and the Department of the Navy.

Cameron Dixon has transformed the .gov domain registration program into a modern, secure, and highly accessible digital service, cutting processing times by 50% and driving record customer satisfaction across all levels of government. As product owner, he led the full relaunch of the .gov registrar and the seamless migration of the program from GSA to CISA—maintaining uninterrupted service, reducing a backlog of more than 1,000 requests to under 100, and building an agile team that delivers continuous, user-focused improvements. Cameron’s leadership unified key stakeholders across CISA, GSA, OMB, Congress, state governments, election offices, tribal nations, and international partners, securing passage of the DOTGOV Act and expanding secure .gov adoption nationwide. Through his commitment to collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and direct customer engagement, he strengthened public trust in government digital services and set a new standard for operational excellence and mission impact in the federal digital landscape.

The CBP Team delivered a transformative improvement to procurement operations by designing and deploying the Congressional Notification (CN) Tool Automation, reducing entry processing time from over 90 minutes to just 16 minutes—an 80% efficiency gain—while achieving 99.9% data accuracy and eliminating redundant data entry through DHS ERA integration. Since launch, the tool has processed more than 621 CN entries and saved 45,000 administrative minutes, accelerating CBP’s responsiveness to legislative inquiries and enabling staff to focus on mission-critical work. Built in only four months by an all-volunteer, cross-functional team, the tool incorporates programmed approval workflows, automated recommendations, and a scalable, sharable codebase now recognized by the DHS Procurement Innovation Lab as a departmentwide best practice. Its success reflects exceptional collaboration between procurement and IT experts, mandatory adoption across CBP, and the establishment of a replicable model of innovation that strengthens efficiency, accountability, and stakeholder communication across DHS.

Bry Pardoe and the Commonwealth Office of Digital Experience (CODE PA) have transformed how 13 million Pennsylvanians access government services by unifying over 60 agency websites into a modern, user-centered PA.gov that provides seamless access to more than 1,000 services. In just seven months, they executed a massive consolidation effort that improved ADA compliance to 95%, incorporated extensive feedback from over 300 residents, and delivered a platform that has already generated hundreds of millions of page views. By aligning Commonwealth agencies around a services-first, agile approach and securing executive support for a new digital model, CODE PA replaced a fragmented, outdated system with a scalable, accessible, and intuitive experience that makes it easier for residents to find jobs, start businesses, access family services, or plan recreation—all in one place. This initiative sets a new national standard for state digital transformation and delivers lasting impact for the Commonwealth.

Clark County CIO Bob Leek and the Digital Services team have transformed the county’s digital infrastructure by unifying more than 3,500 web pages, 28,000 digital assets, and content from over 40 departments into a modern, accessible, citizen-first platform that serves 2.3 million residents and 40 million annual visitors. Their rapid modernization replaced outdated systems with a streamlined, mobile-first site that achieved a 93+ accessibility score, 100% PageSpeed performance, and more than 900,000 users within the first 15 days of launch. By restructuring the website around user needs rather than departmental silos, standardizing branding, and prioritizing intuitive navigation, the team restored public trust and made government services easier to find and use. Through extensive collaboration with county leadership, IT teams, state partners, and industry experts, they created a scalable, consistent digital ecosystem that strengthens service delivery today while setting a durable foundation for future citizen-centric innovation.

Dr. Manivannan has been a driving force in advancing AI/ML, digital engineering, and emerging technologies to improve readiness, sustainment, and capability across Naval aviation. Moving beyond assessments into actionable enterprise change, he connected offices and divisions that had not historically collaborated, helping the workforce recognize the tangible value of AI-driven tools. He partnered extensively with small businesses to mature AI solutions that reduce maintenance costs, increase aircraft availability, and introduce digital twin capabilities for corrosion and drivetrain issues—several of which are now transitioning across the organization. Mani also took a rotational assignment with the DoN CIO to shape Generative AI policy and establish guardrails for responsible adoption, ensuring alignment with higher-level guidance. In addition, he brought together stakeholders on strategic topics such as quantum, microelectronics, multipurpose processors, and digital engineering, establishing a new Microelectronics Community of Interest that strengthens knowledge-sharing among industry, academia, and government. His leadership has illuminated critical challenges, accelerated innovative solutions, and meaningfully elevated the Command’s technological readiness and strategic decision-making.

Jose Orellana has played a pivotal role in modernizing the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration’s (ABCA) digital footprint, transforming how the agency serves both staff and the wider DC community. Bringing private-sector expertise into government, he quickly earned the trust of colleagues by coupling IT excellence with exceptional customer service, ensuring technology solutions were not only secure and efficient but also intuitive and accessible for end users. Jose has helped digitize core agency operations, streamline service delivery, and strengthen ABCA’s technical infrastructure, reducing friction for staff and improving the experience for residents and businesses who rely on timely, accurate licensing and regulatory services. His proactive self-training, adaptability, and commitment to continuous improvement have elevated ABCA’s IT environment, positioning the agency to better meet modern public expectations and support the District’s mission with resilience and innovation.

The nominee was instrumental in launching and institutionalizing Operation Stormbreaker, a transformative DevSecOps initiative that fundamentally reshaped the agency’s ability to deliver mission-critical software at speed and scale. By replacing slow, siloed development and security processes with an integrated, continuous pipeline, the nominee cut software delivery timelines by an extraordinary 17x—compressing months-long cycles into weeks or even days—and eliminated the prolonged ATO waiting periods that historically delayed capabilities for 12–18 months. Their vision reframed cybersecurity from a final approval gate into an ever-present, automated function, enabling an authorized landing zone, embedding “shift-left” security practices, and forcing long-standing organizational barriers between engineering and security teams to fall away. This imaginative and resourceful redesign established a permanent, enterprise-wide model for rapid, secure adaptation, ensuring warfighters can field cutting-edge technology faster and more safely than ever before. StormBreaker now stands as a pivotal competitive advantage in the digital battlespace, delivering lasting operational readiness and mission impact across the Department.

Under the strategic leadership of Dr. Alesia Stanley, Analysts Angela Borum and Kimberly Tellez drove a transformative digital modernization across RD Arizona’s four programs, strengthening service delivery for rural communities across 14 counties. Borum partnered closely with program directors, loan specialists, and field staff to design Power Apps and real-time dashboards rooted in day-to-day operational needs, replacing fragmented manual processes with streamlined digital workflows that cut errors, improved consistency, and accelerated productivity for the 20-person workforce. Tellez integrated siloed financial, programmatic, and geospatial data using Tableau and mapping tools, delivering unified analytics that gave staff clear visibility into how much funding was deployed, where investments were occurring, and how programs were performing—deepening coordination with municipalities, hospitals, colleges, housing organizations, and rural partners. Together, their work doubled information accessibility, reduced manual workloads by 60%, and accelerated processing by 50%, directly advancing the President’s Management Agenda priorities for data-driven decision-making and improved customer experience. This collaborative transformation enabled RD Arizona to efficiently manage more than $606 million in obligations across 1,597 transactions over the past two fiscal years, delivering more responsive, transparent, and mission-aligned support to rural communities statewide.

FMCSA IT delivered a historic breakthrough with the launch of Motus, the USDOT Registration System, successfully ending a 15+ year cycle of fragmented, failed registration efforts by replacing decades of technical debt with a unified, secure digital platform for the trucking industry. Motus provides a true one-stop shop that consolidates registration and compliance activities into a single Company Account Page, dramatically improving user experience, operational efficiency, and data quality through a “collect once, use many” model with real-time validation. The platform secures the front door of the motor carrier ecosystem through robust fraud-resistant capabilities, including identity proofing and business verification in partnership with IDEMIA and Thomson Reuters, and seamless data integration via the TruData platform to maintain a single source of truth. FMCSA IT achieved this transformation through agile delivery, deep collaboration with registration process owners and legal teams, and unprecedented transparency with industry stakeholders—hosting multiple industry days and roundtables to incorporate feedback and enable a phased, successful rollout. The result is a user-vetted, fraud-resistant, high-performance system that strengthens FMCSA’s mission, protects the integrity of the motor carrier ecosystem, and sets a new standard for federal digital service delivery.

The DOI Office of Grants Management (PGM) has transformed federal financial assistance oversight through pioneering AI solutions that dramatically improve efficiency, compliance, and mission delivery. By automating internal controls testing for more than 8,000 project descriptions, PGM reduced review time from 546 hours to just 4, saving over $36,000 in labor costs; additional AI tools for pre-award eligibility checks and budget reviews cut thousands of manual hours to near-zero, reducing annual workloads by more than 3,000 hours and generating over $1.3 million in combined annual savings. These scalable tools—capable of validating SAM.gov data in 30 seconds, cross-checking SF-424A budgets, and embedding federal cost principles—enhance accuracy, reduce risk, and allow staff to focus on higher-value oversight. Through close partnership with Microsoft, DOI’s CIO, and federal innovation leaders, PGM navigated complex technical and policy challenges to securely deploy AI, earning national recognition and drawing interest from DOJ, DOT, NIH, OSTP, and QSMO. Their work has established PGM as a governmentwide leader in AI-enabled grants management and set a new standard for operational excellence across the federal financial assistance ecosystem.

CBP’s Targeting and Analysis Systems Program Directorate (TASPD) has transformed operational decision-making at U.S. ports of entry by integrating advanced AI and machine learning into systems that support millions of security decisions each year. Through cloud-based analytics, predictive modeling, automated anomaly detection, and early adoption of Generative AI, the team dramatically accelerated intelligence synthesis and frontline response. In the past fiscal year alone, AI-enabled targeting supported the interdiction of more than $100 million in narcotics, disrupted multiple human trafficking networks, identified thousands of pounds of illegal drugs, doubled cargo narcotics seizure-exam rates, and reduced investigative lead times—while GenAI reduced the resources required to produce key leadership reports by 80%. TASPD also pioneered the migration of mission-critical analytics to secure, scalable cloud platforms, cutting through complex trade and travel data to surface the highest-risk threats with speed and precision. Equally impactful is the team’s commitment to collaboration, breaking down silos across federal and international customs, trade, and intelligence partners to improve cross-border situational awareness and unify responses to complex risks. By embedding AI into daily operations and fostering a culture of innovation and partnership, TASPD has delivered lasting improvements in threat detection, operational resilience, and homeland security mission performance.

The IT Modernization & Innovation Division (MEA) is a governmentwide leader in responsible, high-impact AI adoption, enabling agencies to operationalize emerging technologies in direct support of mission delivery. Through its leadership of the AI Community of Practice—the largest in the federal government—MEA provides centralized training, policy alignment, and knowledge-sharing that advances AI maturity across federal and SLTT agencies. A signature innovation is MEA’s pre-procurement AI/Data Tool Sandbox Environment, which allows agencies to conduct hands-on testing of advanced tools before acquisition, dramatically reducing procurement risk and ensuring cost-effective, mission-ready solutions. MEA’s creative and agile approach extends to shaping the broader technology landscape through authoritative white papers on emerging capabilities such as AI Avatars and Agentic AI, establishing best practices and guardrails for responsible adoption. Built on strong collaboration with agency partners and private-sector innovators, MEA’s work breaks down silos, accelerates informed decision-making, and delivers lasting value by enabling smarter, faster, and more secure adoption of AI and data technologies across government.

The USPS OIG Provider Overbilling Detection System (PODS) team delivered a groundbreaking AI/ML solution that transformed how the Postal Service proactively detects and investigates healthcare fraud within the nation’s largest federal civilian workforce. Trained on 14 years of physical therapy and chiropractic billing data, PODS automates a previously manual, time-intensive process by predicting expected reimbursement ranges and flagging anomalous claims with full transparency and explainability. Built entirely in-house through close collaboration among data scientists, criminal investigators, healthcare experts, and workers’ compensation specialists, the system integrates seamlessly with existing analytics tools and was rapidly adopted by Special Agents. PODS has already flagged $302 million in potential overbilling across 1,242 providers and 9,500 claims, with external validation confirming that 100% of flagged providers had anomalous billing and 61% linked to existing OIG cases. Informed by continuous feedback and real-time improvement, PODS has generated multiple investigative packages, enabled new fraud investigations, and validated prior efforts that resulted in $330 million in cost avoidances and $31 million in criminal recoveries. By breaking down silos and sharing methodologies with law enforcement partners, the PODS team delivered a scalable, mission-enhancing capability that strengthens investigative efficiency, improves resource allocation, and safeguards Postal Service funds at enterprise scale.

GSA’s Enterprise Intelligence Division has transformed governmentwide procurement through pioneering use of AI, machine learning, and automation that accelerates technology purchasing while delivering measurable taxpayer savings. The team applied AI-powered analytics to modernize legacy contract management processes, generating $3.2 million in savings, improving vendor negotiations through 12 IT pricing studies, and reducing procurement delays with AI-driven labor market research. Their innovations include automated vendor communications that save more than 120 hours annually, real-time contract compliance monitoring to identify non-performing vendors, and executive dashboards that provide unprecedented visibility into governmentwide contract performance and cost-saving opportunities. By introducing first-ever AI text analysis to match labor categories across agencies, building adaptable cloud-based analytics tools, and delivering reusable AI frameworks now adopted across government, the team replaced months of manual effort with weeks-long agile delivery cycles. Through close collaboration with the White House, DoD, BLS, and senior GSA leadership, they broke down data silos, standardized cross-agency analytics, and built a sustainable, trainable data infrastructure that reduces expert dependency and ensures long-term value. Their work sets a new standard for intelligent, transparent, and efficient federal procurement.

This team transformed the U.S. Coast Guard’s enterprise use of data by successfully deploying the Surveyor Integrated Data Environment (IDE) into production, achieving Initial Operational Capability on time and fully meeting all requirements while replacing a 16-year-old legacy business intelligence system. Leading a 20-person team, they rapidly delivered 22 data feeds and more than 28 advanced analytics products using a modern, integrated stack—including Confluent, Collibra, Databricks, and Qlik—driving immediate enterprise-wide adoption. By institutionalizing a Data Mesh approach, the team empowered distributed data teams across 12 domains to deliver trusted “gold data” products with clear lineage, auditability, and reuse, integrating data from more than 60 source systems and onboarding over 100 users. Their agile, resourceful execution established a scalable digital foundation supporting major modernization efforts such as BI transition, ServiceNow implementation, Identity and Access Management modernization, and operational use cases for Coastal Sentinel—securing an additional $5 million investment under Force Design 2028. Built on deep collaboration, disciplined governance, and a shared language between technical and operational stakeholders, this effort broke down silos, accelerated adoption, and laid the groundwork for more than 20 distributed data teams, ensuring lasting mission impact and data-driven readiness across the Coast Guard.