VA Previews Enterprise AI Contract to Support 540,000 Users Across Six Rollout Waves
The Department of Veterans Affairs is preparing an October solicitation for a three-year Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Support Services contract. The firm-fixed-price award will deploy commercial AI tools and custom integration to support 540,000 enterprise users across six planned waves.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has issued a Request for Information detailing a structured procurement strategy for its upcoming Enterprise Artificial Intelligence Support Services contract. Targeted for a final solicitation release in October, the potential three-year, firm-fixed-price award focuses on third-party integration, deployment, and operational support. Under the proposed procurement model, the VA will separately acquire core commercial AI products from a primary software vendor immediately prior to awarding this third-party contract to a single enterprise integrator. The selected contractor will then partner with the core product supplier to execute a phased rollout across six distinct waves, ultimately scaling AI capabilities to 540,000 provisioned users department-wide.
The scope of the third-party support contract spans the full development and operational lifecycle, including requirements refinement, enterprise architecture, custom application development, testing, security, accessibility remediation, and post-deployment iteration. The VA's intended AI functional suite targets enterprise operational capabilities such as conversational assistance, enterprise knowledge retrieval, document and data analysis, automated business document generation, software coding assistance, and agentic task execution. While the department prioritizes commercial off-the-shelf AI products, the contract allows for custom application development when commercial surfaces are unauthorized or technically unsuitable.
For government, defense, and industry leadership, the VA's strategic approach serves as an operational blueprint for enterprise-scale federal AI adoption. By decoupling core AI software acquisition from systems integration and support services, the VA aims to preserve vendor flexibility while enforcing accountable, outcome-based deliverables through a firm-fixed-price vehicle. Furthermore, the plan to deploy agentic execution and operational AI across a massive workforce of 540,000 users signals a decisive shift from isolated agency pilot programs to full-scale operationalization of artificial intelligence across federal enterprise environments.
Vendors interested in competing for the contract must submit responses by October 7 at 10:00 a.m. Eastern time. The VA is specifically soliciting industry input on conducting a hands-on technical challenge as part of the source selection evaluation, along with feedback on staffing models, pricing structures, and subcontracting requirements. Systems integrators seeking to capture enterprise federal AI opportunities must demonstrate robust capacity for multi-vendor collaboration, security remediation, and large-scale deployment. (Source: Nextgov/FCW)
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