Agencies are prioritizing flexibility and cost savings in AI purchases, GSA official says

GSA’s acting Assistant Commissioner Lawrence Hale from the General Services Administration said early demand has been focused on AI tools that support everyday work and productivity.

As artificial intelligence becomes more ubiquitous across federal government workflows, agencies are favoring a competitive market approach to buying new tools that help with “practical, operational use cases,” according to one General Services Administration official.

“Agencies are telling us they value choice, flexibility, and significant discounts when adopting AI,” Lawrence Hale, the acting assistant commissioner at GSA’s Office of Information Technology Category within the Federal Acquisition Service, told Nextgov/FCW.

GSA serves as one of the primary acquisition hubs within government, managing several multiple award schedules and contracting vehicles where other agencies can purchase goods and services.

Hale said that, while he can’t speak for every individual agency, common areas of interest rotate around internal knowledge management, document drafting and analysis ...