Forbes dives deep into trailblazing relationship between U.S. Navy and VIA

Tom Davenport, best-selling author and expert in AI and analytics, wrote a recently published article in Forbes titled, “Speeding Up Digital Acquisition Dramatically At The US Navy” that covered the evolution of procurement cycles at the U.S. Department of Defense. He opens up by explaining that historically this process has taken anywhere from five to fifteen years to complete, which is drastically different from the pace of AI capabilities today (an area the Navy has identified as critical).

The gamechanger? 

The Department of the Navy’s Program Executive Office (PEO) Digital simplified how they identify the best internal and external innovations and getting them to the field faster through an Innovation Adoption Kit that includes 15 different “plays,” including structured piloting for speed.

What started as a public RFP with over 100 companies applying in October 2022 turned into VIA being under contract with the Navy in May 2023. As VIA’s CEO, Colin Gounden, referenced in the article, he has been impressed by the major improvements in the speed of the procurement process. Echoing the same sentiment was Justin Fanelli, the Navy’s Chief Technology Officer and Technical Director for PEO Digital:

For the full article, covering more detail on how the Navy is working hard to make the process more efficient and how VIA is making the feedback and implementation loop shorter, visit Forbes’ website.