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ATI sues SBA, claims O’Keefe video sidelined the tribally-owned business

Nick Wakeman — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:16:07 -0400

The Small Business Administration suspended ATI Government Solutions from government contracting around one year ago, and now the company has turned to the courts to force SBA to lift the ban.

SBA suspended ATI in October 2025 after conservative activist James O’Keefe released a video he purports to depict an ATI employee talking about how the company acted as a pass-through for other contractors.

ATI is owned by the Susanville Indian Rancheria tribe and was part of the 8(a) program.

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler used the O’Keefe allegations to suspend ATI and the tribe’s other subsidiaries from all government contracting under the Federal Acquisition Regulation.

ATI also was suspended from the 8(a) small business program. Loeffler used the allegations as an opportunity to criticize the 8(a) and claim that the program was rife with fraud and abuse.

ATI filed its lawsuit at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday and the 62-page document outlines what it says are weaknesses in the SBA case.

ATI claims SBA only relied on the O’Keefe video, which the company argues is obviously edited, and that the agency also never conducted its own investigation.

After the suspension, ATI went to the agency’s Office of Hearings and Appeals in May to try and get the suspension lifted. An administrative judge at OHA ruled that SBA fell short of several requirements needed to suspend a company.

The administrative judge said SBA made no effort to substantiate the allegations in the O’Keefe video and gave the agency until June 12 to submit a complete record of ATI’s suspension.

Before that deadline, SBA lifted the 8(a) suspension but did not lift the FAR suspension. The lawsuit alleges that at a July 23 meeting, seven SBA officials said they could not identify any concerns to justify the FAR suspension.

SBA missed three self-imposed deadlines to decide on lifting the suspension. The complaint says an SBA attorney told ATI’s lawyers that "someone else" had gotten involved and alleged it was Loeffler’s chief of staff Wesley Coopersmith.

Instead of deciding, SBA submitted a new document request of ATI on Aug. 21. ATI says it complied with the Oct. 1 submission deadline.

The suspension hit the FAR’s one-year limit this week. On Oct. 21, SBA told ATI it was extending the ban for another six months.

The regulation governing the extension of these bans requires a request from a prosecuting official. But ATI’s complaint says the Justice Department has never contacted the company.

ATI also defends its reputation. The company says it has turned over more than 12,500 pages of documents to SBA that refute the allegations, including records it says show the company met subcontracting limits and never operated as a pass-through.

Who O’Keefe claims was an ATI executive in his video was actually a short-term part-time employee who did data entry work, according to the complaint.

O’Keefe’s editing of the video created misleading allegations, ATI said. O’Keefe released his video on Oct. 20, 2025. Loeffler announced an investigation on X within hours of the video's release and SBA suspended the company the next day, the complaint says.

ATI said it has lost nearly $130 million in contracts that were cancelled and more than $500 million in prospective business. The majority of ATI’s 67 employees have been laid off.

ATI’s complaint asks for the FAR suspension to be declared unlawful. The company wants the suspension lifted and SBA prohibted from any de facto debarment of the company.

The company also wants is attorney fees and costs paid, and “an award of such other and further relief as this Court deems necessary and appropriate.”

SBA officials said they do not comment on active litigation..

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Veterans Affairs explores new data integration approaches

Ross Wilkers — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 17:07:26 -0400

The Veterans Affairs Department has started market research efforts to inform its work on a potential contract for acquiring technology integration and related support to help VA work with all the data it has.

VA’s current environment of mission data and integration products includes the VA Profile portal for veterans to access and manage their information online, and the VADIR service database system used by VA and military. VA’s Health Data Repository of clinical information is also a part of that environment.

VA is launching this new Mission-Oriented Services for Application Integration and Capabilities effort to close access and reliability gaps that impede both the reliability and authority of data, the department said in a sources sought notice posted Tuesday.

The department says its missions increasingly require real-time transactional application programming interfaces, bulk and analytical access suitable for data-lake and large-scale workloads, event-driven and streaming exchanges, and artificial intelligence-ready data products.

By releasing the request for information, VA is seeking industry feedback and ideas on how MOSAIC can help the department shape its future technical environment over the next five-to-10 years and potential acquisition approaches for this effort.

VA is particularly interested in responses that explain how AI agents, agent-to-agent interaction, real-time data, event-driven architecture, interoperability standards, automation and reusable data products could change the role of traditional APIs, middleware, point-to-point integrations and manual integration services.

The RFI includes a series of questions for respondents to answer across 10 general areas, including a comparison of managed services operating models versus platform-first.

Responses to the RFI are limited to 25 pages. Submissions are due by 3 p.m. Eastern time on Nov. 4.

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Defense, operations and corporate development leadership moves across the market

Ross Wilkers — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 16:01:57 -0400

Amyx

Melissa Beveridge has joined this IT-focused subsidiary of Tetra Tech as vice president of defense operations, a role she brings 15 years of experience to.

“Melissa will lead a portfolio of Amyx Defense programs supporting customers across the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community including DHA, DISA, DTRA, USTRANSCOM, and the Air Force with responsibility for program execution, customer engagement, employee development, financial performance, and organic growth,” Amyx wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Beveridge most recently spent eight years in operational leadership roles at Agile Defense.

Concept Plus

Jennifer Kiser has joined this IT solutions and services provider as vice president of Oracle services, a role she brings 25 years of experience to.

Concept Plus specializes in implementations of platforms from Oracle, where she most recently worked as a senior sales executive.

At Concept Plus, Kiser will focus on efforts to bolster delivery efforts and the company’s presence across the federal landscape.

Cykor

Phil Williams has moved up to chief strategy officer at this technology and professional services provider, which he first joined in 2022.

Cykor promoted the three-decade public sector veteran to vice president of growth in 2025. He joined Cykor in 2020 after a stint as a consulting services director at Perspecta. He is also a former networks manager for the Coast Guard.

Cykor announced his CSO promotion in a LinkedIn post.

Data Systems Analysts

Mike Donovan will move up on Jan. 1 to the chief operating officer role at this employee-owned technology and professional services provider, where he has been for two decades.

Donovan is succeeding current CEO Kathleen Kirk, who will retire from DSA in March after three decades there. In January, DSA's then-chief financial officer John Foley moved up to CEO after 17 years as CFO.

DSA also promoted 12-year company veteran Mike Emerle to chief financial officer and is realigning its intelligence and critical infrastructure protection organization into two units. Chris Guyton will lead the intelligence unit and Eoin O’Driscoll will oversee critical infrastructure protection.

GRVTY

Andy McEnroe has moved up to chief development officer at this defense technology integrator, which he first joined in the summer of 2025 as senior vice president of corporate development.

McEnroe will continue to lead GRVTY’s merger-and-acquisition program and key partnership function. Since he joined GRVTY, the company has grown from roughly 325 employees to 1,200 people.

Prior to GRVTY, he spent two decades at investment banks such as Guggenheim Securities and Raymond James.

Kymeta Corp.

Elizabeth Kimber has joined this maker of flat-panel satellite terminals as chief growth officer, a role she brings 37 years of CIA experience to.

Kimber has been a member of Kymeta’s board of advisers since 2024 and now oversees efforts to further expand its offerings across defense, intelligence and national security programs.

She joined Two Six Technologies in 2022 following her long career at the CIA, where her most recent role was deputy director of operations. She also served a stint as acting deputy director.

Loyal Source Government Solutions

Katie Herzog has joined this workforce and healthcare solutions provider as vice president and division manager of omni-channel health after a decade at CareSource.

Herzog will lead Loyal Source’s push to scale its offerings across government and commercial sectors by integrating clinical services, technology, workforce strategy and operations.

At CareSource, she focused on efforts to improve access and outcomes for underserved populations.

RavenTek

Darin Stolte has joined this professional and managed IT services provider as vice president of public sector services, a role he brings 32 years of experience to.

Stolte will lead business development, operations and finance functions for RavenTek’s federal line of work.

He most recently worked in the chief operating and chief growth officer roles at Patriot Strategies.

Vamonos IT

John Marshall has joined this federal IT services provider as chief solutions officer and a member owner following service as deputy division chief of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ enterprise infrastructure division.

Marshall is also a 12-year veteran of Customs and Border Protection, where his most recent role was director of Microsoft 365 services.

Now at Vamonos, he will lead its solution architecture and technical strategy functions.

HII

Mike Petters, who led the shipbuilder from its 2011 spinout from then-parent Northrop Grumman to 2022, is returning to the company’s board of directors.

During his tenure, Petters oversaw HII’s acquisitions of government tech services providers over many years to form what is now the Mission Technologies segment. After stepping down from the CEO post, Petters remained as executive vice chairman of the board until January 2023.

HII’s board grows from 11 members to 12 with its addition of Petters. He will now sit on the board’s cybersecurity and finance committees.

L3Harris Technologies

Kimberly Fields, chief executive and chair of titanium maker ATI Inc., has joined the board of directors at this blue chip defense hardware company.

Fields has led ATI as CEO since 2024 and was appointed chair of the board of directors in May. She joined ATI in 2019 as an executive vice president after stops at IDEX Corp., ERVAZ North America, GE Energy, Alcoa, Boston Consulting Group and Owens Corning.

L3Harris’ board grows from 11 members to 12 with the addition of Fields, who is an independent member.

Vaxart

Dr. Raquel Bono, the former director of the Defense Health Agency, has joined the board of directors at this clinical-stage biotech company pushing to develop vaccines that can be delivered via the mouth.

The retired Navy vice admiral led DHA from 2015 to 2019, a period that included work on initial deployments of the MHS Genesis electronic health record.

She currently is a managing partner at Nava Edge and on the board of directors at Nava Edge.

State of Delaware

Greg Godbout has joined Delaware’s department of technology and information as chief technology officer, a role he brings two decades of public sector experience to.

Godbout is a former CTO and U.S. Digital Services lead for the Environmental Protection Agency. He was also the first executive director and a co-founder of 18F, a digital services unit within the General Services Administration.

His private sector roles have included separate CEO stints at Flamelit and AI for Natural Disasters.

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How to bring satellite interoperability down to Earth

Jean-François Morizur — Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:07:38 -0400

The United States Department of Defense has said that it wants the armed forces to use satellite networks that are owned and operated by several different companies. It makes perfect sense. If an adversary jams one network, troops could switch to another. If one supplier falters, the military can rely on others. But the ability of the United States to do this depends on whether or not they can move easily from one network to another from the ground.

The Pentagon has already made considerable progress towards this goal, not least through the work of the Space Development Agency. The SDA is developing the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture, which will comprise hundreds of satellites in low Earth orbit. The United States Space Force also intends to connect commercial satellite systems through its Space Data Network.

Together, these programmes could give U.S. forces access to far more satellites and suppliers. The next opportunity is to build on this progress by making ground equipment equally flexible.

Consider a forward base, where troops could have access to three, five or even ten satellite networks. If each requires its own terminal, antenna and software, personnel have to install and maintain every system. They must also learn how to use each one and keep it up to date.

On ships, aircraft and small bases, where space and power are scarce, this can become expensive. Every additional system may also need spare parts and its own supply chain. Beyond a certain point, adding another satellite supplier can give troops more equipment to support without necessarily providing much more useful capacity.

Considerable progress has already been made in radio-frequency communications, where some antennas can support several constellations. Different frequency bands and proprietary systems, however, can still require additional hardware.

Cost is one thing; what happens during an attack is another. Suppose troops normally use one commercial satellite network and an adversary jams it. Another company may have working satellites overhead, but the troops can't use them if their ground equipment can't connect to that company’s network. The value of having several networks therefore depends partly on how easily troops can reach them.

This is precisely the kind of problem that the SDA has already helped to solve in space. By publishing a common optical communications standard and making it available to companies, the agency has helped to create an ecosystem of compatible optical communications terminals.

Different suppliers can build equipment to the same requirements, making interoperability a foundation of the PWSA rather than an afterthought. It’s an achievement, and one that offers a model for ground networks.

Satellite companies need not build identical networks. Different designs give the military more choice and reduce its dependence on any one technology. But common standards can allow equipment from different suppliers to work together, without requiring the networks themselves to be identical. The same principle could help ground stations connect to several satellite networks.

The next step is to extend this approach to the ground. Indeed, wherever possible, one ground station should connect to several networks. Operators shouldn't have to install new hardware whenever the military adds another satellite provider. Nor should they need a team of specialists to move from one network to another during a crisis. Troops should be able to make the change quickly with equipment already in place.

Encouragingly, the SDA is already exploring greater flexibility on the ground. In September, the agency asked industry how it could make the PWSA ground network more open, so that equipment from different suppliers could work together more easily. It is also buying ground stations for later stages of the programme.

These are welcome developments and provide an opportunity to extend the benefits of interoperability to connections with other military and commercial satellite networks.

Optical ground stations hold particular promise because, unlike radio-frequency equipment, which depends on hardware designed for particular frequency bands, optical ground stations can be designed to accommodate a range of optical waveforms without replacing their underlying optical hardware. This could make it easier to connect to different satellite systems as technology and operational requirements change.

There is another advantage to concentrating on the ground: equipment on Earth can be upgraded, replaced and adapted far more easily than hardware already in orbit. As new suppliers enter the market and technology improves, operators could gain access to new networks without having to replace their ground stations.

The United States has sound reasons to spread military communications across many satellites and suppliers. When there are more networks, it’s far harder for an enemy to cut communications and the Pentagon has more ways to add capacity.

The SDA has already demonstrated what common standards can achieve in space. Its work offers a valuable foundation for the next stage: developing flexible optical ground networks that can connect military users to an increasingly diverse range of satellites.

By extending the principle of interoperability from orbit to Earth, the United States can make still greater use of the investments it is already making in space.

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FirstSource III protesters lose bid to revive $10B DHS contract

Nick Wakeman — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:11:19 -0400

A federal judge has put the proverbial nail into the coffin for $10 billion FirstSource III, an IT hardware contract the Homeland Security Department awarded and then canceled.

DHS made one round of awards for the contract in September 2024. More than a dozen companies filed protests at the Government Accountability Office and 30 firms eventually filed at the U.S. Court of Federal Claims to challenge the award decisions.

With the protests, DHS could not begin using FirstSource III. The contract essentially was frozen.

Then things got more complicated. President Trump signed an executive order in March 2025 directing agencies to consolidate purchases of common goods and services through the General Services Administration's schedules and government-wide contracts.

Judge Edward Meyers paused the proceedings for 60 days to allow DHS to determine how to move forward with FirstSource. DHS' Strategic Solutions Office began reviewing the department's contract portfolio and recommended canceling 11 contract vehicles, including FirstSource.

DHS’s chief procurement officer wrote that the department was already using other government-wide contracts with no negative impact on operations.

After DHS cancelled FirstSource III in mid-2025, 23 remaining protesters amended their complaint.

They dropped their challenges to the evaluations and instead argued that the executive order does not require the cancellation or elimination of agency-specific contract vehicles. With the awards gone, the protesters sought only reimbursement of their bid-and-proposal costs.

They also argued that DHS was canceling FirstSource to avoid the litigation of the original bid protests.

But the protesters conceded the record contained no evidence that DHS considered the protests when it decided to cancel.

“While plaintiffs are correct that E.O. 14240 did not compel the cancellation of this procurement, that is not the issue before the court,” Meyers wrote in his ruling. “The question for the court is whether E.O. 14240 provides a rational basis for the cancellation of FirstSource III. It does.”

The protesters also argued that DHS did not follow its own market research when it was developing the FirstSource III solicitation.

That research from 2020 supported DHS’s original rationale for FirstSource and the value of an agency-specific contract. DHS argued then that its own vehicle would reduce acquisition lead times and leverage its buying power.

But Trump's consolidation order has undermined that stance.

“DHS concluded that available government-wide contract vehicles would ‘ensure no critical gaps in vendor accessibility, minimizing the strategic reliance on FirstSource III as a standalone contract vehicle,’” the judge wrote.

The protesters continued to point to the 2020 market research, but Meyers said the research does not reflect how the current procurement landscape has been changed by the executive order.

DHS’s review of its portfolio also found that FirstSource III was redundant. Of the 15 companies that won FirstSource III awards, 14 are available through NASA SEWP or GSA schedules. DHS can reach the 15th through joint ventures.

DHS has been buying through other vehicles such as NASA SEWP and GSA Schedules since FirstSource II expired in September 2024, without disrupting operations.

Much of the protesters’ case, however, centered on DHS’s claim that canceling FirstSource III would avoid $10 billion in costs — the contract’s full ceiling — even though the department still plans to buy the same equipment through other vehicles.

GAO has agreed that DHS overstated cost avoidance from its contract cancellations.

But Meyers said he did not need to settle that question. He wrote the contracting officer who made the cancellation decision based it on redundancy, not cost avoidance, and nothing in the record shows the $10 billion figure reached her.

“In the end, the court concludes that DHS had a rational basis to cancel FirstSource III,” Meyers wrote. He also denied the protesters’ request for bid and proposal costs.

Rest in peace, FirstSource.

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GSA, SBA target more 8(a) firms for audits

Nick Wakeman — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 15:02:19 -0400

The General Services Administration and the Small Business Administration are auditing nearly 700 companies that have also been suspended from the 8(a) contracting program.

SBA’s assessment of the companies found that 689 firms have not “demonstrated compliance,” but they continued to win set aside contracts valued at up to $5.5 billion.

“GSA is partnering with SBA to root out fraud, eliminate abuse, and restore accountability to federal contracting,” GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst said in a release Wednesday. “Those who manipulate the system, defraud taxpayers, and steal opportunities from legitimate small businesses will be held accountable.”

Forst said that if the audits discover suspected fraud, the cases will be referred to the Justice Department.

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler said her agency has spent the last 21 months identifying and suspending companies from the 8(a) program.

“Every firm we identified will now face deeper scrutiny from GSA over the taxpayer-funded contracts they secured,” she said.

The 8(a) program has been a prime target of the Trump administration as it tries to root out what it sees as illegal diversity, inclusion and equity efforts.

In January, SBA suspended 1,000 contractors from the program because they had not complied with a December 2025 request for financial documents. In March, SBA removed 628 of those suspended companies from the program.

SBA also booted another 154 8(a) companies in February for failing to meet “economic disadvantage” eligibility requirements.

All told, the number of 8(a) companies has gone down by more than 18%.

In June, SBA agency proposed eliminating any race-based edibility presumptions and opened the door for white-owned firms to join the program.

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NASA launches $425M hydrosphere research support recompete

Ross Wilkers — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:29:22 -0400

NASA has opened the window for industry to start working on and submitting proposals in pursuit of the five-year, $425 million recompete of a contract focused on fundamental and applied science research into Earth's water bodies.

The Hydrosphere, Biosphere & Geophysics Support Services II contract is set up to cover the full range of research offerings that span data product development and validation, instrument development, and numerical modeling activities.

HBG II is reserved for small businesses and hybrid in nature with the ability to issue cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price task orders, NASA said in its Wednesday notice to release the final solicitation.

Science Systems and Applications Inc. won the incumbent contract in 2020 and has received $484 million in task order obligations since, according to GovTribe data. The contract is slated to sunset on March 31, 2027.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center uses the contract to acquire industry support for conceiving, developing and applying both field-deployed and laboratory-based technologies to address societal issues.

The request for proposals cites example issues such as water resources, weather forecasting, natural disasters and hazards, agriculture, land and ocean ecosystems, global and regional sea level changes, changes in the Earth’s cryosphere, gravity field, magnetic field, the solid Earth, and the terrestrial reference frame.

Goddard also created the HBG contract to aid scientific, research and computing activities in its Terrestrial Information Systems Laboratory that develops data processing systems and satellite-derived Earth science products.

Bids for HBG II are due by 2 p.m. Eastern time on Dec. 4.

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Army unveils first drafts for $7B in HR support contracts

Ross Wilkers — Wed, 21 Oct 2026 14:28:24 -0400

The Army has unveiled its initial sketch of its plans for the recompete of a technology and professional services contract pair with a collective $7 billion-plus ceiling that will cover a wide range of the service branch’s human resources functions.

One of the Human Resources Solutions GEN VI contracts will focus on personnel management programs from recruiting through career progression and transition. This portion being called Recruiting, Management, and Administrative Support has a $1.5 billion ceiling for up to 10 years.

Contract number two, known as Personnel Life-Cycle Support, is more geared toward requirements of an enterprise-wide nature including workforce structure management. PLS has a ceiling of $6.09 billion for a potential 10-year period.

By releasing both draft solicitations Monday, the Army is giving industry another opportunity to weigh in on the plan for these multiple-award contracts and submit any concerns they may have.

The RMAS contract will be reserved for small businesses, while PLS will be a full-and-open competition.

RMAS’ scope of work will include recruiting and retention programs, data analytics and records tracking, administrative and program support, technical writing, credentialing and qualifications and technology integration.

The PLS contract will support efforts in personnel structure and distribution, manpower analysis and forecasting, training and development, deployment support, compensation and benefits, personnel sustainment, transition services and data administration. PLS’ scope will also include policy analysis, process reengineering, predictive modeling, data management and ancillary IT support.

Comments and questions on the draft RFPs are due by 5 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, Oct. 26. Both contracts will have an initial five-year base period and a single five-year option.

Approximately $2.7 billion in task order obligations have flowed through the current iterations of both contracts since they opened for business in 2018. The Army has placed $580 million in orders through the RMAS contract and obligated $2.1 billion in work through PLS, according to GovTribe data.

RMAS’ top five recipients include Management Analysis Technologies, 30 Patriot Enterprises, Canvas II, Gemini Tech Services and Quality Innovation Inc. PLS’ top five recipients include Magellan Federal, 360 Patriot Enterprises, Strategic Resources Inc., Gap Solutions and Serco Group’s North American subsidiary.

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ICE kicks off its search for eDiscovery software

Ross Wilkers — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 16:19:42 -0400

Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has started to look at the landscape of cloud-native electronic discovery software tools to aid its office responsible for handling legal, regulatory and compliance matters.

ICE is launching this effort to aid its Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, which staffs 2,300 attorneys and 350 support personnel that handle large volumes of cases and related data. This office acts as the government’s sole representative in immigration removal proceedings before the Executive Office for Immigration Review.

Artificial intelligence and agentic AI functions are a must for ICE in its search for a commercially-available software-as-a-service platform that can support the full lifecycle of electronic discovery, the agency said in a Monday sources sought notice.

The notice cites potential use cases for the platform as including litigation, investigations, administrative proceedings, Freedom of Information Act-related cases, regulatory matters, congressional inquiries, and other discovery or compliance activities.

ICE’s desired specs for the platform include natural language and semantic search, automated summarization, AI-assisted review and coding, contextual analysis, and agents that can carry out and coordinate multi-step discovery workflows.

The request for information also spells out how the platform should cover information governance and legal holds from initial data collection work to the processing, review, analysis and production stages.

ICE is asking submissions to be sent in the form of white papers that include a capability narrative and responses to functional requirements in AI, agentic AI, governance response structures and questions surrounding the standard Electronic Discovery Reference Model framework.

George Socha and Tom Gelbmann developed EDRM in 2005 to standardize how legal, technical and compliance teams handle electronically-stored information during litigation and investigations.

Responses to the RFI are due by 2 p.m. Eastern time on Oct. 28.

All throughout the RFI, ICE uses the term “Super Intelligence” to comply with President Trump’s September executive order mandating agencies use the SI terminology in official communications.

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Everfox secures $90 million Army tech support contract

Nick Wakeman — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:29:09 -0400

Everfox has booked a $90 million task order contract for software, hardware and engineering support services to the Army.

The contract is designed to streamline how the Army purchases and make it easier for Army customers to access Everfox solutions through direct orders, the company said in its announcement Tuesday.

The new contract also aligns with Defense Department directives to modernize acquisition processes so new technologies can reach warfighters more quickly. The contract is also open to other parts of DOD beyond the Army.

“This contract vehicle gives Army customers a flexible way to access Everfox capabilities for a broad range of requirements, from secure information sharing to high-assurance engineering support,” Ted Girard, Everfox chief revenue officer, said in the release.

Everfox's Cross Domain Solutions are among the offerings available through the contract, which is set up to accommodate the company's broader product and service portfolio as customer needs evolve. Everfox designed its High Speed Guard to securely manage high-volume data flows across classification levels and security domains, which helps information sharing while protecting sensitive data.

Everfox expects the contract to support its work with key Army organizations, including those focused on tactical communications and next-generation command and control.

The Army awarded the contract on Sept. 30 and it runs through Sept. 29, 2031. Everfox was the only company to bid for the contract.

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Maximus seeks greater technical depth in $660M Agile Defense acquisition

Ross Wilkers — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 14:16:21 -0400

Maximus is looking at its $660 million cash agreement to acquire Agile Defense as a way of positioning the buyer in more programs that require technical staff to work side-by-side with operators.

As they announced Monday, Agile Defense is bringing 1,800 employees to Maximus with 1,100 of them holding security clearances.

Maximus sees this move as one that will bolster offerings in areas like data analytics, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing modernization for agencies in the defense, intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement communities.

During a conference call with investors Tuesday, Maximus’ chief executive Bruce Caswell referenced two pieces of Agile’s portfolio that stood out when the company looked at the business. Note that Maximus is in the midst of a long-term push to expand its defense portfolio.

Back in the summer, Agile booked a $100 million Other Transaction Authority contract to work with operational users at U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Defense Command on artificial intelligence adoption and deployment efforts.

“It means that Agile is not just simply building technology and handing it over. They embed… force-deployed engineers and trainers directly alongside users that help integrate AI into day-to-day mission workflows,” Caswell told analysts on the call.

A second example Caswell offered involves Agile’s work with the Pentagon’s Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office, or CDAO, which functions as the Defense Department’s official hub for integrating digital solutions like AI across the entire force.

“The CDAO has really become the focal point for many of the Department of War’s most important AI initiatives and Agile is participating across multiple programs that support AI adoption, data readiness, and operational deployment,” Caswell said. “What excites us most about Agile is that they appear to be moving beyond being viewed as a traditional government services provider.”

Agile expects to post $450 million in revenue for this calendar year with roughly half of that coming from fixed-price contracts and only 6% from cost-plus programs. Agile pegs its expected profit margin for the year at between 12% and 15% adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization).

Caswell described that profile as reflecting Agile’s mix of traditional and non-traditional contract structures for technology-intensive programs, including those for rapid delivery in the field.

While much of Agile’s work is concentrated in defense, Maximus also sees opportunities in this acquisition to further expand upon its historical civilian core.

Caswell said Agile’s civilian customer base includes the Homeland Security Department and component agencies like U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Maximus already has an established presence at the Transportation Security Agency.

Maximus also has won some OTA contracts that Caswell described as “small” and has gradually built out a non-traditional sales motion. Caswell cited Maximus’ experience in hosting hackathons for the National Defense Industrial Association and the Modern Day Marine exposition as examples.

“But Agile is really further down that road in terms of that established capability to move quickly from concept and idea, to delivered code and working solution and prototype to actually build it out into production environment,” Caswell said.

All parties involved expect to close the transaction during this calendar quarter, which is also the first quarter of Maximus’ 2027 fiscal year.

This agreement also represents an exit for Enlightenment Capital, the private investment firm that acquired Agile in 2022 and combined it with fellow portfolio company IntelliBridge in early 2025.

The agreement also includes a potential $50 million earnout that Maximus would pay to Enlightenment Capital if the Agile Defense business hits certain performance milestones.

Holland & Knight was legal counsel, and Ernst & Young acted as accounting and due diligence adviser to Maximus. Piper Sandler was financial adviser, Moore & VanAllen was legal counsel, and RSM US was accounting adviser to Agile Defense.

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SBA's proposed size standard rules draw 1,200-plus comments… and counting

Nick Wakeman — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:38:43 -0400

The deadline for comments on the Small Business Administration’s proposed business size standards is still roughly a month away, but the agency has received around 1,200 comments on the two rules.

One proposed rule would raise the methodology for determining what size standard a business falls into. This first proposed has received 979 comments.

A second proposed rule dictates how the methodology will be applied to rewrite the standards. This second proposed rule has received 352 comments.

When first releasing the proposals in August, SBA said these rules would add 115,000 companies to the field of small businesses.

SBA originally set a 30-day comment period that was to end Sept. 21, but the agency has since extended the comment period to Nov. 20 after its Office Advocacy released a new estimate that found the rules would only add 4,000-to-6,000 more small businesses.

In reading through the comments, we found several that expressed some doubts over whether the lower numbers are accurate and also questioned SBA’s competency.

“An agency cannot credibly claim to have done the analysis required to justify removing size standard ceilings and reclassifying entire industries when its own internal estimate of the rule’s basic effect swings by a factor of nearly twenty. That is not sound rulemaking. That is a guess dressed up as a rule,” one commenter wrote.

In a show of skepticism, many of the commenters continue to quote the 115,000 number. At least one said that even if 6,000 is the correct number, that is still a significant increase.

Most of the commenters oppose the changes SBA proposed and because the newly-designated, larger small businesses will have more resources and infrastructure.

“Larger contractors have greater purchasing power, dedicated estimating departments, established bonding capacity, extensive staffing resources, and the financial ability to absorb risks that can be significant for smaller businesses,” one commenter wrote.

SBA’s proposals include reducing the number of NAICS codes used to categorize the industry a company belongs to. According to some commenters, that will result in the government lumping significantly different companies into the same broad industry category.

Not all commenters oppose the proposed standards. Several praised SBA’s effort to simplify and streamline size determinations.

Some said the proposed changes will help current small businesses have more runway to develop before competing in the full-and-open market.

“Raising the standards will provide successful small businesses additional room to grow, develop capabilities, and better prepare to compete in the unrestricted marketplace before losing their small business status,” wrote one supporter.

Several commenters are also asking SBA to take more specific actions, such as releasing more of the analysis it has done in developing the rules. One asked for more detailed data on the impact the proposed rules will have on service-disabled/veteran-owned small businesses.

Other commenters expressed support for SBA's idea to reform the size standards, but believe agency had gone too far. A second suggested that SBA create tiers of small businesses, rather than just small and not small.

The comments we read show a range of viewpoints with most opposing the changes, but it does not appear to be an overwhelming majority in opposition to the proposals.

There seems to be a sense that the size standards are going to change, so the question is how open is SBA to making changes.

Bottom line: it is not too late to voice your concerns and make your suggestions. The deadline is Nov. 20.

Follow this link to comment on the proposed size standards. Click this link to comment on the proposed size standard methodology.

Also listen to this WT 360 episode from September featuring Stephanie Kostro, president of the Professional Services Council, where the conversation starts with her analysis and perspective on SBA's proposal. PSC is encouraging its member companies to submit comments, Kostro told us.

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Maximus to acquire Agile Defense for $660M

Ross Wilkers — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 17:43:39 -0400

Maximus has agreed to acquire Agile Defense, a provider of digital transformation and cybersecurity services, for $660 million in cash as part of an ongoing push to expand across the defense and national security markets.

With this transaction announced Monday, Maximus is adding approximately 1,800 employees and also looking to increase its portfolio of technology-centric work with agencies.

Both companies expect to close the transaction during this calendar quarter, which is the first quarter of Maximus’ 2027 fiscal year.

Traditionally focused on civilian, Maximus has gradually added more defense work since the company stood up a growth leadership team in 2024 to focus on efforts with that customer set. One year later, Maximus secured a potential $77 million cyber contract with the Air Force the company viewed as a first big step to growing its defense business.

Agile Defense opened for business in 1998 and touts 50 federal agencies as customers. Agile Defense has been owned by the private investment firm Enlightenment Capital since 2022 and combined with fellow portfolio company IntelliBridge in early 2025.

Applied research-and-development is a core focus area for Agile Defense, which stood up its Agile Labs innovation engine to work on challenging tech problems for customers. Maximus views Agile Labs as bringing to it a base of specialized talent, emerging tech and delivery methods.

Maximus is scheduled to host a conference call with investors at 9 a.m. Eastern time on Tuesday to discuss the transaction.

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Defense tech M&A runs hot as government services firms work past the DOGE effect

Nick Wakeman — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:30:13 -0400

Defense tech companies are still drawing intense buyer interest, while traditional government services firms are still working to get over the DOGE effect.

That split runs through the aerospace, defense and government services segments in DC Advisory’s latest U.S. Private Equity Mid-Market Monitor report released this week. The report covers the second and third quarters of 2026.

Defense technology and products are “white hot,” according to the investment bank. Year-to-date deal activity has been dominated by businesses with differentiated offerings, classified access and established programs of record.

But government services remains subdued. The report says traditional services firms have been driven away from consulting and labor-based delivery models by DOGE activities, which continues to influence government buying.

However, the report finds that services firms that bring proprietary IP and a technologically differentiated offering are still in higher demand.

DC Advisory counted 112 U.S. defense and government transactions in the first half of 2026. That is up 15% from 97 in the first half of 2025.

The pace dropped sharply in the second quarter. The firm tracked 43 deals, down from 69 in the first quarter and a peak of 73 in the fourth quarter of 2025.

The second quarter total ties the third quarter of 2024 for the lowest quarterly count in the 10 quarters the report tracks.

The mix of buyers shifted too. Strategic buyers accounted for 27 of the 43 deals. Sponsor-backed portfolio companies, which typically make add-on acquisitions, did 14.

Private equity firms buying directly accounted for just two deals. That is the fewest of any quarter in the data set and down from 17 in the first quarter.

But the report strikes an upbeat tone as well.

“Following a strong start to the year, we are optimistic for this M&A rebound to continue through late 2026 and into 2027,” it says.

DC Advisory says more deals are now coming from bilateral negotiations or limited processes than in prior years. In those deals, buyers and sellers reach agreement on positioning and valuation because both understand the program requirements and budget priorities involved.

For highly-differentiated acquisition targets, the report says valuations are reaching high-water marks as sellers opportunistically engage with synergistic buyers.

Cross-border activity is also accelerating despite what the firm calls onerous regulatory impediments. The report credits rising defense budgets in the U.S. and Europe for capital flowing in both directions across the Atlantic Ocean.

Buyers are concentrating on companies that solve specific, well-funded requirements. The report lists the areas drawing the most interest:

AI
Autonomy
Counter-UAS
Cyber
C5ISR
Electronic warfare
Missiles and munitions
Space
Unmanned systems

The report also cites growing pressure on defense and national security agencies to field solutions faster and in larger quantities than in the past.

“We see buyers concentrating capital around mission-critical capabilities that address well-funded requirements, with AI, autonomy, cyber, space and unmanned systems continuing to attract strong demand,” said Managing Directors Ellis Chaplin and Chris Oliver, who lead the firm’s aerospace, defense and government services practice.

For founders, the firm’s advice is simple: stay close to mission requirements and customer pain points.

In the report’s words, that is what will make a company an attractive acquisition target as technologies and budgets shift.

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Small business takes aim at DISA’s Enclave expansion

Nick Wakeman — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 16:16:07 -0400

A small business is challenging several of the Defense Information Systems Agency's reasons behind its expansion of the Defense Enclave Services contract, which covers IT and network requirements among the Defense Department's administrative agencies.

Competitive Range Solutions' claims include one that the agency sat on the requirement for three years and then claimed that only Leidos could help DISA meet deadlines for migrating the combatant commands to DODNet.

Competitive Range Solutions filed its protest against DISA's plan on Oct. 8.

In the protest obtained by Washington Technology, the company recounts a 2023 sources sought notice exploring the possibility of a multiple-award small business contract that would be a complement Leidos’ Enclave contract.

The service-disabled/veteran-owned small business holds the $400 million TRI-GSM contract for technology refresh work at DISA.

The small business claims TRI-GSM would help move users of the Non-Classified Internet Protocol Router Network, Secret Internet Protocol Router Network and Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System to a managed service model operated by DISA.

But before the due date for responses, DISA killed the sources sought notice and remained silent until earlier this year. DISA then added the combatant commands to the Enclave contract.

DISA made its first attempt to move the work to Enclave in June and that action was protested by General Dynamics IT. The agency retrenched and issued a pair of RFIs before it released a new justification document for adding Leidos' work to Enclave a second time.

The window for filing a protest is no longer opened and GDIT has not registered an challenge this time around.

Competitive Range Solutions’ protest argues DISA itself recognized in 2023 that migrating NIPRNet, SIPRNet and JWICS users was outside Enclave’s scope, which is why the agency explored a separate contract.

“The distinction between the 2023 attempt and the 2026 attempt is meaningful: in 2023 the Agency began conducting market research prior to making an award, while separately recognizing that the work was out of scope of [Enclave]; in 2026, the Agency began its market research after it had already improperly issued the initial J&A identifying the out of scope modification,” the company writes in its protest.

Competitive Range Solutions argues that DISA wanted Leidos from the beginning. Part of the protest asks for all communications between DISA and Leidos regarding the expansion of Enclave.

Competitive Range Solutions is also attacking DISA’s stance that only Leidos can do the work, particularly because the SDVOSB has automation scripts for moving systems to DODNet.

DISA argues that any other vendor would face a steep learning curve and about $15 million in duplicative costs, jeopardizing the Sept. 30, 2028 deadline set by the Pentagon's chief information officer set for migrating the combatant commands.

But Competitive Range Solutions argues that automation scripts are only needed for portions of the migration and DISA already holds unlimited rights to the scripts. Competitive Range Solutions quoted the Enclave solicitation as saying the contractor “shall deliver to the Government all databases, scripts, source code, configuration documentation.”

The protest calls DISA’s position on the automation scripts an “irrational finding.”

Competitive Range Solutions also argues that even if the endpoint migration goes with the Enclave contract, the hardware tech refresh and network migration could be split out. This work does not need the scripts.

The Enclave solicitation even says that tech refreshes would be procured “through competitive means,” according to the protest.

Competitive Range Solutions also claims that DISA has purposely excluded consideration of small businesses for this work.

Again, Competitive Range Solutions points back to the 2023 sources sought notice. DISA was looking into whether small businesses had the capabilities it was looking for, implying the agency was laying the groundwork for a "Rule of Two" determination.

But instead, Competitive Range Solutions argues that DISA never considered whether small businesses could do the work.

DISA’s justification says 23 of 24 companies that answered its sources sought fell short. Competitive Range Solutions says it submitted two responses and is not counted among them.

Competitive Range Solutions also argues that DISA has been down this road before, on the same contract.

In 2023, DISA tried to sole-source work that small business OSC Edge was performing for National Defense University onto Leidos’ Enclave contract. But NDU was not among the agencies Enclave covered.

OSC Edge protested and the Government Accountability Office signaled DISA's move was improper through an outcome-prediction alternative dispute resolution.

In a later decision on OSC Edge’s protest costs, GAO wrote that “Leidos’s status as the sole DES contract awardee was insufficient to demonstrate it was the only responsible source.”

Competitive Range Solutions says the OSC decision undercuts DISA’s main justification that Leidos has “incumbent expertise.” Competitive Range Solutions says that GAO rejected that argument in the OSC case.

The company also argues that the OSC case shows a pattern of DISA moving work out of small business' hands and onto the Enclave contract.

The justification document for adding the combatant commands “repeats those errors,” Competitive Range Solutions says in its protest.

It is important to note that the protest is just one side of the story. DISA has a month to respond.

Competitive Range Solutions filed its protest Oct. 8 and a GAO ruling is expected by Jan. 19.

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FDIC surveys landscape for IT consolidation approaches

Ross Wilkers — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 14:56:57 -0400

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has embarked on initial market research efforts to inform its work on creating a new technology and professional services contract to support FDIC’s office of the chief information officer.

FDIC is exploring industry approaches for consolidating and modernizing IT systems across functional areas such as human resources, facilities management, acquisition, learning and development, crisis readiness and response, and physical security.

FDIC particularly wants to know where artificial intelligence and conventional automation techniques can work with human expertise to help the agency improve interoperability and decision support, the agency said in a Friday Sam.gov notice.

The request for information uses the term “Super Intelligence” to describe AI, per President Trump’s September executive order mandating agencies use SI in official communications as opposed to AI.

FDIC describes its current IT environment as including IBM Tririga and Maximo for facilities management, an Appian-based platform for acquisition processes, ServiceNow, Revit and other enterprise systems.

Responses to the RFI do not have to presume that existing operating models, processes, methods, workflows or technologies must be retained or replicated.

The agency is specifically asking for ideas on how to incorporate AI into its workflows and overall operations in areas such as case and document management, system integration, data governance, analytics, reporting and decision-making.

FDIC also wants interested parties to address human oversight, security, auditability and other controls that should be implemented along with AI capabilities.

Responses may not exceed 20 pages and contain details on solution architecture, implementation and sequencing, integration, data migration, licensing, operations, and sustainment. The agency is also asking for non-binding cost estimates and details on consolidated licensing models that can be deployed on expedited timelines.

Responses to the RFI are due by 9 a.m. Eastern time on Oct. 26.

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Tech bills of the week: Cutting federal funding for Flock; Making data centers shoulder their power costs; and more

Edward Graham — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 12:00:00 -0400

Stopping federal funds from going to AI-powered surveillance cameras

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., introduced legislation on Wednesday that would prohibit federal funds from being used to purchase or operate any automated mass surveillance systems, including AI-powered cameras provided by Flock.

In a press release, the congresswoman’s office said her proposal — the Get the Flock Out of Our Communities Act — “is the only bill in Congress designed to completely prohibit the use of automated mass surveillance technology, including biometric surveillance systems and facial recognition technology.”

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a separate measure late last month that would impose data guardrails on the use of the surveillance systems. Rep. Pat Harrigan, R-N.C., also introduced a measure on Thursday that would “restrict the usage of automated license plate reader system by governmental entities,” although a public version of that bill’s text is not yet available.

“Flock’s technology isn’t making us safer,” Tlaib said in a statement. “Instead it has been used to stalk people, mis-identify and arrest innocent people, surveil protestors, and wrongfully record our neighbors. My bill would prevent our government on all levels from selling us out to Big Tech companies that trample our civil rights for profit.”

Making data centers pay for their power usage

Rep. Eugene Vindman, D-Va., introduced a measure on Wednesday that seeks to keep communities from having to foot the bill for data centers’ power expenses by requiring large and medium-sized data centers “to pay the full incremental costs associated with their electricity use.”

The bill would apply to data centers and high-density computing facilities that have electricity demands of at least 20 megawatts.

“As data centers and artificial intelligence drive growing demand for electricity, we need to make sure the companies benefiting from that growth pay their fair share,” Vindman said in a statement.

Removing tax breaks for data centers

Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, also introduced legislation on Thursday that would prohibit data centers from receiving federal and state incentives for their development or operations.

Details of Moreno’s measure, known as the Recapturing Excessive Corporate Largesse through Accountability and Incentive Measures — or RECLAIM — Act, were first reported by Politico.

The outlet said the senator’s bill includes a provision stating that “States and political subdivisions thereof should promptly repeal or reform any tax incentive programs that are specific to data centers.”

Mandating disclosure of AI use in political ads

Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., reintroduced legislation on Thursday that would require political advertisements to include a disclaimer if they include any artificial intelligence-generated photos or video.

Clarke first rolled out the measure in July 2023 and told Nextgov/FCW at the time that “for those who want to be deceptive or to harm their opponents, they can easily do some real damage with AI-generated advertising.”

The congresswoman’s bill calls for relevant ads “to include a statement within the contents of the advertisements if generative AI was used to generate any image or video footage in the advertisements.”

In a press release, Clarke said that “if AI content can manipulate and deceive people on a large scale, it can be a serious threat to our democracy and have devastating consequences for our national and election security.”

Creating a new federal platform to combat elder scams

Reps. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash., and Tom Barrett, R-Mich., rolled out legislation on Thursday that looks to crack down on fraud and scams targeting elderly Americans by creating a new website and 24/7 reporting hotline.

The measure looks to address the often fragmented fraud reporting system across government by creating a streamlined reporting and assistance process. The lawmakers said their bill would create a reporting platform similar to the one that the Department of Veterans Affairs created in 2024 to combat scams targeting retired servicemembers. Barrett chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Technology Modernization Subcommittee.

“Families need resources to recognize and quickly report suspected fraud,” Barrett said in a statement. “By establishing a 24/7, one-stop shop for addressing elder fraud, this bipartisan bill will protect vulnerable seniors and empower law enforcement to crack down on these criminals.”

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WT 360: Entarian and the market’s solution development paradigm

Ross Wilkers — Mon, 19 Oct 2026 06:00:00 -0400

Point solutions have long dominated the government technology conversations, in part because agencies have focused on solving specific organizational problems instead of looking at them in a multi-functional way.

Mark Lee, chief executive of Entarian, joins for this episode to break down today’s federal market landscape as one where mission integration is where the conversation begins and ends with agencies. Technology still does enter the chat without being the be-all and end-all, as Lee tells our Ross Wilkers.

Lee also overviews the role of Entarian’s solution development team as the company’s engine for making mission integration happen for its customers and provides an update on the integration of Sev1Tech after both companies joined forces back in the spring.

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Defense, growth and operations leadership moves across the market

Ross Wilkers — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 15:01:43 -0400

AE Industrial Partners

Chris Aguemon and Bill Strobel have moved up to the principal ranks at this private investment firm, which they both joined in 2025.

Aguemon is on the board of directors at Attilius Technologies, a portfolio company of AE Industrial, and was formerly a vice president at Arlington Capital Partners.

Strobel is on the board for fellow portfolio company CASE and was formerly a vice president at Liberty Strategic Capital.

Kirk Konert, managing partner at AE Industrial, appeared on our WT 360 podcast in June to discuss the firm’s approach to investing and the overall private capital landscape.

Aretum

Lisa Talcott has joined the technology and professional services provider as leader of its federal civilian sector, a role she brings three decades of experience to.

Talcott most recently led NTT Data’s federal civilian business for 10 years with responsibility for growth, staffing, delivery and client development functions in a team of 300 employees.

Before that, she led the federal civilian sector at Procentrix.

C5MI

Mark Zabierek has joined this provider of IT and supply chain software solutions as vice president of strategy, a role he brings two decades of defense and government operations experience to.

Zabierek will work with other members of C5MI’s executive team to refine and carry out its business plan, including corporate development initiatives and the overall operating rhythm.

He most recently worked as a principal at Fairmond Consulting Group and was at Deloitte before that. He is also a former Air Force intelligence officer.

Document Storage Systems

Meggie Soliman has moved up to vice president of federal product operations at the health IT company, which she first joined in 2013 as a product line manager.

Soliman now leads efforts to align product teams with DSS’ business objectives. She also broadens her previous innovation-focused role to cover all of the company’s federal operations.

She most recently worked as director of strategic innovations for applications at DSS.

Entarian

Cale Husted has moved up to senior vice president of defense at this technology and engineering services provider, which he joined this year via its acquisition of Sev1Tech.

Husted previously led Entarian’s maritime operations portfolio with the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. He was vice president of operations at Sev1Tech and Geocent.

Entarian has also promoted Cooper Jumonville to vice president of the maritime division. He also joined Entarian via the combination with Sev1Tech.

This coming Monday’s episode of our WT 360 podcast will feature Entarian’s chief executive Mark Lee.

Mitre Corp.

Susannah Wright has moved up to vice president and deputy general counsel at the nonprofit science and technology firm, which she first joined in 2017 as assistant general counsel.

Wright provides legal advice and support on complex challenges, enterprise risk and other matters related to Mitre’s work as an operator of federally-funded research-and-development centers.

Prior to Mitre, she represented government contractors and other organizations in complex civil litigation cases.

Paragon Space Development Corp.

Micah Webb has joined the provider of life support and thermal control systems as vice president of business development and growth, a role he brings two decades of experience to.

Webb will work with other members of Paragon’s executive team to shape the company’s growth strategy, investments, business development campaigns, and approaches to mergers and acquisitions.

He most recently worked at KBR as vice president of strategy for its government services business, which is being spun off to create Trinzic. He was on the strategy team for KBR’s acquisition of LinQuest in 2024.

Peraton

Melissa Murray has joined this government technology integrator as vice president of capture for its defense team, a role she brings 15 years of industry experience to.

Murray most recently worked as a capture manager at Google’s public sector arm and before that spent a decade at Science Applications International Corp.

Peraton announced its hire of Murray in a LinkedIn post.

Science Applications International Corp.

Stephen Smith has joined the government technology integrator as a vice president and client executive, a role he brings 35 years of Army service experience to.

Smith’s career in the Army concluded in 2024 with service as deputy commanding general of Army Forces Command and the branch’s Western Hemisphere Command. He retired with the rank lieutenant general.

SAIC’s LinkedIn post on its hire of Smith describes his new role as focusing on joint and multi-domain operations.

Second Front Systems

Nick Woodruff has moved up to general manager for North America at this public benefit software company, which he first joined in February as executive vice president and head of U.S. government.

Woodruff now oversees both federal and commercial efforts in his new role. Prior to Second Front, he was chief growth officer at Research Innovations Inc.

Second Front also promoted Troy Goodnough to executive vice president of finance and operations after he first joined in January as VP of finance. He formerly worked in financial leadership roles at Nasuni.

Sift

Chad Duffield has joined this developer of telemetry and observability software as head of its federal team, a role he brings 27 years of public sector experience to.

“We’re investing heavily in expanding production capacity and accelerating the development of advanced systems,” Duffield wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role. But building more hardware, faster, is only part of the equation. We also need to fundamentally improve how we test, evaluate, and sustain those systems.

Ursa Major

Jason Meredith has moved up to president at the joined the rocket propulsion system manufacturer, which he joined in February as president of solid missile systems.

His new role covers business execution efforts across Ursa Major and profit-and-loss functions.

Meredith’s two-decade industry career prior to Ursa Major includes stops at Pratt & Whitney, Northrop Grumman, Orbital ATK and ATK.

Westat

Edward “Ted” Wright has joined this provider of research, data collection and analysis services as vice president and practice director for clinical research.

Westat has tasked Wright to lead a 140-person team that works on efforts across clinical trials, bioinformatics, health IT and epidemiology research. He will guide the practice’s growth strategy and strategic planning functions including business development, project quality and talent management.

The two-decade public sector veteran most recently worked as president of Icon Government and Public Health Solutions Inc., a specialized division of the global contract research organization Icon PLC.

XLight

Richard-Duane Chambers has joined this developer of free electron lasers as vice president of its global public sector team, a role he brings two decades of experience in the ecosystem to.

Chambers most recently served at the National Institute of Standards and Technology as chief strategist and policy director for its CHIPS R&D office. XLight designs its lasers to aid in the manufacturing of computer chips.

“We're working to transform semiconductor manufacturing by delivering unlimited extreme ultraviolet (EUV) light,” Chambers wrote in a LinkedIn post on his new role and XLight’s strategy.

Claritev

Jennifer Main, former chief operating officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services from 2018 to 2021, has joined the board of directors at this healthcare technology company.

Main’s career in government also includes service as chief financial officer for the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program at the Treasury Department.

She currently works as chief financial officer for Certuma and Overture Life. Before that, she held the CFO and COO roles at Amlagam Rx from 2021 to 2026.

Concurrent Technologies Corp.

Errol Campbell and Tonya Wilkerson have joined the board of directors at this nonprofit science and research firm, which welcomed new CEO Christopher Hamilton in June.

Campbell’s three-decade career in the Navy includes leadership positions over air-to-air missile and mission integration programs, as well as special programs involving areas like autonomy. He currently works as a director of business development at Anduril after working in senior roles at Booz Allen Hamilton and ManTech.

Wilkerson’s three-decade career in the intelligence community includes service as deputy director at the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, associate deputy director for science and technology at the CIA, and director of the mission operations directorate at the National Reconnaissance Office.

Joseph Yakovac is stepping down from CTC’s board after 10 years on the panel, the maximum term limit for members.

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Core4ce challenges removal from $1.4B RETS contract competition

Nick Wakeman — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 14:52:38 -0400

Core4ce was disappointed when the Defense Department removed the company from the competition for a $1.4 billion contract supporting research efforts.

The company submitted a proposal for the yet-to-be awarded Research Development Test Evaluation Engineering and Technical Support contract, a multiple-award vehicle known as RETS.

Core4ce has turned to the Government Accountability Office challenging the DOD’s evaluation of its proposal. Core4ce is arguing that the government has not meaningfully investigated or mitigated a possible organizational conflict interest involving a competitor.

The company claims that the competitor is affiliated with another firm that helped DOD prepare the solicitation and review bidders’ technical and cost/price data.

GAO expects to rule on the allegations by Jan. 19 and DOD cannot make awards until that decision.

The RETS vehicle consolidates several existing contracts. Deltek data lists the current incumbents as including Modern Technology Solutions, American Systems Corp. and Applied Research Associates.

Some of the task areas DOD is consolidating under RETS include mission engineering, prototyping, modeling and simulation, and operational analysis.

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Where the health IT market is going next

Nick Wakeman — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 13:06:19 -0400

Health IT is one of the most durable markets in government contracting because budgets get squeezed and priorities shift, but the missions never go away.

Veterans still need care. Service members still need medical records that follow them around the world. Medicare and Medicaid still need to pay claims and stop the fraudsters chasing them.

That durability does not make the market easy to navigate.

Our Oct. 23 Power Breakfast (next Friday) intends to help with that by bringing leaders from the Veterans Affairs Department, Defense Health Agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and ARPA-H to talk policies, priorities and opportunities.

Follow this link to register for the event in Reston, Virginia.

Larry Young, deputy director of CMS’ Office of Financial Management, opens the program to talk about the complex enterprise environment the agency relies on to operate. He will discuss what his agency is investing in, where legacy systems are creating new modernization needs, and what could come next.

After that, we will dive into the Defense Department’s MHS Genesis program with James Perkins, DHA’s acting portfolio acquisition executive for medical digital solutions. Perkins will sit down with my colleague Ross Wilkers to talk about where the military’s electronic health record goes from here. For companies in the EHR ecosystem, this is the conversation to hear.

We will then turn to fraud, waste and abuse with Kimberly Brandt, CMS' deputy administrator and chief operating officer. She will explain how the agency is using data, analytics and automation to find suspicious activity and protect taxpayer dollars. She will also cover where new capabilities could strengthen that work.

Chanel Bankston-Carter, our speaker from VA, will share what she is doing as the executive director of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. She will explain what the VA looks for, which opportunities to track, how teaming and subcontracting fit and what separates a productive meeting with her office from a wasted one.

The event will wrap up with Tiffany Prest, director of scalable solutions at the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health. The conversation will dive into artificial intelligence, digital health, medical devices and other technologies moving health care into a new era. She will also address what that means for the market around them.

We have a lot of ground to cover. Here are the details:

Date: Friday, Oct. 23
Location: Carahsoft Collaboration & Conference Center in Reston, Virginia.
Timing: Registration starts at 7:30 a.m. with the program kicking off at 8:30.

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US moves to staff leaders for industry-partnered offensive cyber program

David DiMolfetta — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 11:09:00 -0400

The U.S. has begun the process of selecting managers to oversee a new program enlisting private companies in operations against foreign cybercriminals, according to a former official and two other people with knowledge of the discussions.

The effort marks an early step toward implementing the initiative unveiled in August. But significant questions remain about how to pay participating firms and who would bear responsibility if their operations cause unintended harm, the former official and one of the people said.

All three sources were granted anonymity to share details of sensitive government discussions. It is unclear who is under consideration for the management roles or whether the government intends to fill them with existing federal officials.

The program allows vetted U.S. companies to gather intelligence on and disrupt systems used by foreign criminal hacker groups. Firms would operate under Justice Department or Department of Homeland Security contracts, with written approval for each mission.

The developments mark a key step toward putting that policy into practice. But the conversations described by the sources highlight how much remains to be settled before companies can undertake the work.

The former official said the government is still working out how to fund the effort and compensate companies. Issuing a presidential memorandum does not itself provide money to carry out its instructions, the former official noted.

“Who’s paying for this to be done, and what’s the financial incentive for any of these offensive cyber companies to actually do this?” the former official said.

Officials crafting the framework are exploring whether companies could be paid based on the success of their operations, but how those payments would work remains unresolved, the former official added. For example, stolen cryptocurrency recovered during an operation may need to be returned to victims, limiting what could be used to pay the companies that helped recover it.

One of the people familiar said companies also need clarity about their exposure if they strike the wrong target, exceed an approved mission or damage systems belonging to someone other than the criminals they are pursuing.

Cybercriminals can route their activity through compromised routers and other equipment belonging to innocent businesses, the person said. Disrupting that infrastructure could require coordination with the FBI and authorities in other countries, including places unwilling to cooperate with U.S. operations.

The U.S. for years has conducted cyber operations, gathered intelligence on foreign hackers and used court orders to dismantle criminal networks, often with technical assistance from private companies. Those activities draw on different legal frameworks, including bedrock Title 10 authorities that underpin military operations and spying.

Firms also regularly help the government investigate and disrupt cyber threats.

CrowdStrike recently provided intelligence for an FBI operation targeting “laptop farms” that allowed North Korean operatives to pose as American remote workers. The White House argues that making greater use of industry’s capabilities under the new directive will help the government pursue those groups faster and on a greater scale.

The former official said managers reviewing proposed missions would have to navigate overlapping law enforcement and intelligence interests. In a hypothetical case, a mission intended to disrupt criminals could interfere with another spy agency’s investigation or access to a network.

Identifying eligible targets presents another challenge. The memo excludes groups that are directly tied to a foreign government, but instructs officials to assume otherwise unless clear intelligence establishes that connection.

As Nextgov/FCW previously reported, that distinction can be difficult to make in Russia, where intelligence services have tolerated, protected or recruited criminal hackers without maintaining full control over their activities. The former official said that ambiguity would place considerable pressure on the managers approving missions.

Participating firms could also become targets themselves. The government would need to consider how to protect companies and their employees from retaliation, including physical threats from criminal organizations, one of the people familiar said.

The initiative has drawn significant attention from industry leaders that have zeroed in on military and intelligence agency demands for exquisite hacking tools and similar innovations that could give the U.S. a leg up in cyberspace.

“It is potentially a transformative approach that imposes cost on the adversary, creating a new form of deterrence, but it’s critical that liability, authorities, and international coordination be sorted out,” Snehal Antani, the CEO of Horizon3.ai, told Nextgov/FCW when asked about the program.

The Trump administration has spent much of the last year defining how private companies would fit into its push for more aggressive cyber operations. Its March cybersecurity strategy called for closer collaboration with industry to disrupt enemy hackers.

But officials’ public remarks on the role companies would have in the efforts have considerably shifted. National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross said shortly after the strategy’s release that he was “not talking about private sector, industry or companies engaged in a cyber offensive campaign.”

Some executives, nevertheless, expected agencies to eventually hire companies to carry out offensive operations.

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Air Force cannot fix pricing leak by leaking it to everyone, GAO says

Nick Wakeman — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 15:09:24 -0400

The Government Accountability Office is sending a clear message that every parent tells their child – two wrongs cannot and will not make a right.

In this case, the Air Force inadvertently disclosed pricing information to one bidder for the $1.9 billion Eglin Operations and Maintenance Services II contract. EOMS II covers research, development, testing and training support work at Elgin Air Force Base in Florida.

To make up for that mistake, the Air Force decided to release the information to all the bidders to even the playing field. The Strategic Test Solutions joint venture won the contract.

Fluor Corp. filed notice that it was going to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, but the Air Force agreed to take corrective action and assess the impact the disclosure had on the competition.

The Air Force said that while the disclosure of the pricing information was a violation of the Procurement Integrity Act, it did not compromise the integrity of the competition. The Air Force reaffirmed the award to STS.

That led both Fluor and Reliance Test & Technology to file protests in July. Part of their argument was that you can’t cure a violation of the Procurement Integrity Act with a second violation of the Procurement Integrity Act.

GAO agreed and sustained the protests on Tuesday. GAO has told the Air Force to reconsider the impact of the pricing information disclosure and implement measures to mitigate the disclosure that would not compromise the competition.

At the same time, GAO denied Fluor and Reliance’s challenges to how the Air Force evaluated their proposals and the best value trade-off.

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How Amy Gilliland remade General Dynamics IT

Nick Wakeman — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:26:25 -0400

General Dynamics wrote four paragraphs in its Oct. 2 announcement that Amy Gilliland was no longer president of the IT services unit.

Two of them were about her acting replacement, Paul Nedzbala. The rest was the standard thanks for “her contributions to our company” and best wishes “in her future endeavors.”

That was it. After 21 years with the corporation and nearly a decade as GDIT's president.

On the heels of Gilliland's departure came the news that Phebe Novakovic was stepping down as CEO effective Jan. 1 after leading the corporation for 14 years.

Novakovic will be succeeded by Danny Deep, the current GD president. Novakovic will have the role of executive chairman.

The company signaled that Deep was a likely heir apparent last December when he was appointed president, reviving a position that had been vacant since Novakovic herself held it under her predecessor Jay Johnson.

I am sure Gilliland watched all of this unfold. In the many times I interviewed her, she never gave any indication of CEO ambitions. But there is little doubt she is capable.

A GD spokesman said there is no connection between the timing of Gilliland’s departure and the announcement of Novakovic’s succession plan. Maybe so, but the timing is hard to ignore.

Whatever comes next, Gilliland has had a remarkable career and one that deserves more than four paragraphs.

Over her nearly decade-long run leading GDIT, I interviewed Gilliland multiple times and she spoke at a couple of our events. She helped me understand some of the leading trends in the market and what it is like to lead during a transformative time.

In her adult life, Gilliland has had two employers. First was the U.S. Navy, where she served as a surface warfare officer.

Then came General Dynamics in 2005, where she got her start in the private sector. She first worked on strategic planning and investor relations, and human capital.

But when she took the reins of GDIT in September 2017, she really began to stand out as she led the transformation of the division from a heavy reliance on personnel-driven offerings to a business that has proactively leaned into emerging technologies.

GDIT’s transformation began with a major acquisition and a major divestiture during her first year.

First, the company acquired CSRA for $9.7 billion, including $2.8 billion in assumed debt.

The acquisition brought GDIT a slew of next-generation IT offerings in areas like cloud computing and cybersecurity, as well as deeper relationships with the likes of Amazon Web Services and Microsoft.

Then later in 2018, the company divested one of its largest lines of business by selling its call center operation to Maximus for $400 million.

Call center work generated about $800 million in annual revenue at the time, nearly 9% of GDIT’s revenue.

But that $400 million price tag – 50 cents for every $1 of revenue -- tells you something about the kind of margins that business generated for GDIT. Shedding it freed attention and resources to pursue higher-end work.

Just a year into the job, Gilliland managed through the off-boarding of the call center business and the integration of CSRA. Meanwhile, she launched a tech-forward strategy that continues to fuel GDIT’s momentum.

From 2020 to 2025, GDIT delivered year-over-year revenue growth. That trajectory is continuing, according to GD's financial reports for the first two quarters of this year.

GDIT’s tech strategy got another boost in 2022, when Gilliland launched the digital accelerators strategy.

That strategy includes zero trust, automation for IT operations, multi-cloud management, software factory, 5G and mission-focused artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The strategy pulls together investments, partnerships and internal resources to build solutions around those critical technology needs.

Gilliland continued to evolve her tech strategy and earlier this year she launched the Vision, Innovation and Acceleration initiative.

The VIA initiative adds investments around battlespace of the future, border security and smart government modernization to the original group of accelerators.

GDIT’s financial results reflect its transformation, but Gilliland also put an emphasis on the so-called softer side of the business – the people.

Nearly every conversation I had with her inevitably turned to GDIT employees, the challenges they face and how much attention she paid them as a leader.

In a 2022 Q&A, she discussed how GDIT weathered the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath of the George Floyd murder. She talked about why it is important to be a company with a soul.

That people are a company’s real differentiator was a central theme in a 2021 podcast interview with her.

A few years ago, I attended a GDIT event saw Gilliland joking with the woman setting up the drinks for the reception after the event. It was obvious from their smiles and the laughter that it was not the first time they had talked.

I have no doubt that Gilliland will land somewhere else with her track record. Wherever that is, they will be lucky to have her.

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DOD sets industry day to preview potential $80B tech research vehicle

Ross Wilkers — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 12:25:58 -0400

The Defense Department has opened registration for an industry day to discuss its plans for the recompete of one of its primary contract vehicles for broad research-and-development services.

DOD has penciled in Oct. 30 as the date for when it will give attendees an overview of the upcoming Next Gen IAC MAC competition, which will succeed the current IAC-MAC program that opened for business in 2018 at a $48 billion ceiling.

Attendees will be able to provide feedback on DOD’s approach to the acquisition and ask questions, the department said in its Tuesday notice with instructions for registration.

Next Gen IAC MAC is poised to have a ceiling north of $80 billion, according to a promotional flyer for the event. Government agencies, companies, academic institutions, laboratories and non-traditional entities would be a part of what DOD describes as a “competitive R&D ecosystem” under the future contract.

DOD first unveiled its plan for the follow-on to IAC-MAC, short for Information Analysis Center Multiple-Award Contract, in the spring of 2025 and asked for industry to weigh in on how the department could structure the recompete.

At that time, the department said it was considering whether to set up Next Gen IAC MAC with two pools of awards or a single pool.

The current contract has three pools based on the type of company involved: an unrestricted portion, a second for small businesses, and the third for nonprofit organizations.

RSVPs and registration for the industry day must be received no later than Oct. 26.

IAC-MAC primarily supports the Defense Technical Information Center, a DOD field activity responsible for helping the defense ecosystem preserve and share information and knowledge related to military technology.

DTIC also operates the Information Analysis Center network that provides technical analysis and data support to service branches, combatant commands, DOD’s administrative support agencies and senior Pentagon civilian leaders.

DOD has obligated $16.9 billion in task order volume to-date via IAC-MAC ahead of its scheduled sunset in April 2028, according to GovTribe data.

HII, Booz Allen Hamilton, KBR, the ManTech TSG-2 joint venture and CACI International are the top five recipients of the spend. Their combined obligations also represent the clear majority at 79%.

KBR is in the process of spinning off its government services segment into a publicly-traded company, which will go by the name of Trinzic.

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