Unlocking the Potential of GenAI for Streamlined Federal Contracting

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, the federal government is increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance various aspects of its operations. One area that stands to benefit significantly from generative AI (GenAI) is the acquisition process. 

LMI’s tailored acquisition solutions enable customers to make informed decisions for acquisition program management and contracting. Combining our legacy of more than 60 years of federal expertise with our innovation ecosystem, we minimize time to value and accelerate mission success for our federal contracting customers.

The Challenge

At LMI we recognize the inherent challenges posed by the complexities of the acquisition lifecycle. Government organizations often find the acquisition process time-consuming, complex, and cumbersome, with traditional methods of creating requests for information (RFIs), requests for proposal (RFPs), and other procurement documents being resource-intensive.

Research and Writing vs. Prompt and Review

Government acquisition professionals work incredibly hard to gather all necessary information for procurement. During pre-award, contracting specialists may find themselves buried trying to interpret and respond to hundreds of RFIs. Once a contract is in place, a contract administrator may spend weeks gathering information and preparing a response to support requests for equitable adjustments (REAs). While human oversight will always be needed, these are all tasks that GenAI can streamline, turning days of research and writing into minutes of prompting and reviewing. Let’s take a look at some of the capabilities of GenAI and think about potential applications during the acquisition lifecycle. 

Key Features of GenAI Solutions for Government Acquisitions

Collections

A collections feature provides a centralized repository where multiple sources can be consolidated for simplified data mining and content analysis. This centralization helps in maintaining an up-to-date, accurate repository of information crucial for efficient contracting. Users are also able to create collaborative collections to be shared amongst and across teams. 

As a contracting officer, imagine a tool that uses your own repositories to sift through historical procurements, regulations, precedents, and local office policy to populate determinations and findings (D&Fs) and justifications and approvals (J&As) in the template of your choosing.

Collections empower contracting managers to effectively manage their organization’s knowledge base, ensuring that all team members have quick access to the most relevant and current information for their contracting needs.

Collections would and should include procurement regulations and references such as the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR); applicable FAR supplements; and local office policies for research, compliance, and references. All outputs are coupled with source document citations for human verification and validation.

Chat

A chat function allows you to interact with GenAI just like you would with a real person. Each question builds on the previous question and allows for compartmentalized learning within that conversation. Now, instead of hunting through SharePoint or PDFs, you can ask all your questions in a single location and leverage GenAI to locate relevant documents and provide an answer that includes the citation of source documents.

Maximizing Efficiencies

Automated Data Collection. An LLM can be configured to automatically collect data from various external sources, such as vendor databases, industry reports, and government websites. This automation reduces manual data entry, minimizes errors, and ensures that contracting officers have access to the most current and accurate data.

Pre-populated Templates and Forms. Pre-populated templates and forms simplify the creation and submission of required documentation, further reducing lead times and administrative burdens.

As a contracts specialist, imagine having a market research report prepared for your validation rather than spending several days researching procurement documents and sifting through databases and contracting files yourself.  

Centralized Data Repository. Consolidating multiple data sources into a single, easily accessible platform simplifies data mining and analysis and ensures that acquisition professionals have the most up-to-date information at their disposal.

Advanced Search Capabilities. Advanced search functionality allows users to quickly and accurately locate specific data points, contracts, or vendors and receive citations that show where the data came from. Users no longer have to open many different systems to get answers, as the AI goes into each system to find the information needed. 

As an acquisition professional, combine GenAI’s collection and chat capabilities to instantaneously conduct research, provide verifiable citations, and ensure cross-domain compliance rather than pouring through acquisition policy and acquisition.gov. 

Maintaining Security and Access Control

Access Controls. GenAI allows for role-based access controls, ensuring that only authorized users have access to sensitive data and functionality. Some information (e.g., policies) can be shared with everyone while other information (e.g., proposals) are only available to the team working on that acquisition.

Encryption. Using advanced encryption techniques protects data both in transit and at rest, ensuring that sensitive information remains secure.

Audit Trails. An audit trail functionality enables contracting officers to monitor user activity and maintain a detailed record of all changes to data and system configurations. This transparency promotes accountability and ensures the accuracy and integrity of data.

Introducing LIGER™

To both address the complexities of traditional acquisition processes and support streamlined contract management strategies, LMI’s GenAI toolkit, LIGER™, is here to help.  

• LIGER™ helps users navigate the complexities of government contracting, offering quick access to institutional knowledge, simplifying compliance with evolving regulations, and enhancing decision-making efficiency.
• LIGER™ reduces the manual effort in information retrieval and compliance checks. This simplification leads to faster, more-informed contract writing and management in the federal acquisition lifecycle.
• LIGER™ employs advanced encryption methods, access controls, and regular security audits to protect sensitive information. By ensuring that data remains accurate, secure, and easily accessible, LIGER™ helps contracting officers make informed decisions with confidence.

When you choose LIGER™, you have access to LMI’s team of acquisition experts as well as comprehensive training on and ongoing support for LIGER™ through embedded tutorials, live office hours, and dedicated technical assistance.

LIGER™ is a versatile and powerful platform that can significantly enhance the efficiency, effectiveness, and security safeguards required for federal acquisition processes. By leveraging LIGER™’s robust features for market research, data-gathering, workflow management, and cybersecurity, contracting officers can streamline their processes, reduce lead times, make more-informed decisions, and better serve their stakeholders. Embracing LIGER™ as a core component of your federal contracting strategy can lead to improved outcomes and a stronger competitive position in the ever-evolving landscape of government acquisitions.

LIGER™ – The New Speed of Possible™