Growth and operations leadership moves across the market
A pair of key hires at venture-backed defense tech outfits feature and one of them most recently spent nearly three decades at a blue chip hardware giant. Aquia Heather Caudle has joined the cloud computing, cybersecurity and digital services provider as senior vice president of growth and strategy following a decade in other industry roles. Caudle […]
WT 360: GovCon’s new world order requires hard pivots
Davi Hayes, senior director for federal strategy at The Chertoff Group, summarizes the past 12 months of fundamental change across the market and what companies must have in mind as they adjust to today’s landscape. Decision authority shifts, the government acting like a venture customer and data transparency being the standard mode of operations are […]
CACI opens up more on its Arka acquisition and the path forward
In talking with Wall Street, CACI CEO John Mengucci gives an example of where Arka’s agentic artificial intelligence tech is in use today and its potential moving forward. CACI International steadily increased its space investments over roughly a decade, then the serial acquirer decided to break company records with its $2.6 billion purchase of Arka Group […]
Commerce goes direct to hyperscalers with $4.1B cloud pact
The department cites artificial intelligence, weather modeling and scale as reasons to narrow the competition. The Commerce Department is planning a 10-year, $4.1 billion blanket purchase agreement for cloud computing capabilities and only the big hyperscalers need apply. In a Sam.gov notice posted Thurday, the department said the BPA will only be open to native hyperscale cloud […]
White House accuses China of ‘deliberate, industrial-scale campaigns’ to steal US AI models
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy told federal agencies that the Trump administration will be enhancing its engagement with the private sector to counter foreign-led distillation campaigns designed to undermine U.S. AI advances. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy on Thursday accused China and other foreign entities of engaging in […]
HHS to rework $1B legal services contract after protests
Acacia Center for Justice and ICF challenged invoicing terms, background check requirements and a rule ending representation when unaccompanied migrant children turn 18. The Health and Human Services Department has agreed to rework parts of a solicitation for a $1 billion contract supporting legal services for unaccompanied migrant children. Acacia Center for Justice, an incumbent contractor, […]
Autonomous weapons will be ‘key and essential part’ of warfare, Joint Chiefs chair says
Chairman Dan Caine also said the U.S. needs to become a “better” buyer of advanced tools and tech for defense activities. NASHVILLE — Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine said Thursday that autonomous weapons are going to be a “key and essential part of everything we do” when asked about how such tools would fit into […]
VA seeks industry ideas for contact center tech upgrade
The agency is asking for artificial intelligence applications including conversational voice bots and chatbots with multilingual capabilities. The Veterans Affairs Department has started to canvas industry for ideas on how it can enhance the backend tech infrastructure that supports VA’s contact center operations, including calls and other means of communication. VA currently utilizes the NICE CXOne […]
DOD completes $1B investment in L3Harris missile solutions unit
L3Harris Technologies is keeping an 80% stake in the solid rocket motor production business, which is becoming a public company. The Defense Department has completed its $1 billion investment in L3Harris Technologies’ missile solutions unit ahead of a planned initial public offering of that business during the second half of this year, pending market conditions. DOD’s […]
Outcome-based strategies must come before outcome-based contracts
A new IBM Center for the Business of Government report says trust, governance and data need to be in place before the contracts can work. Outcome-based contracting has become a buzzword in the federal market as the Trump administration pushes to streamline procurement. They are saying the right things – buy results, not activities. The Revolutionary […]