Christine Fritsch, a principal research analyst on Deltek’s federal market analysis team, recently published an article providing insights from the company’s Federal Artificial Intelligence Landscape 2022 report, which examined current and future federal AI influences and priorities.
Deltek’s report predicts the continued expansion of AI in federal agencies based on a variety of budgetary, policy, acquisition and workforce factors.
“It’s safe to say that in both the short- and longer-term government spending on AI technology is going to remain a significant part of agencies’ strategic planning,” Fritsch wrote.
The report’s three key recent trends include the acceleration of federal AI spending, the growth of AI-related small businesses in the federal sector and the increase of AI legislation and policy.
Federal spending on AI rose 50 percent from FY 2018 to FY 2020, positioning artificial intelligence as the fastest growing investment area. For small AI businesses, obligations grew from $129 million in FY 2018 to $356 million in FY 2020, which is a growth of 177 percent.
Additionally, federal agencies including Congress and the White House have developed directives and executive orders that call for bolstering AI capabilities in the federal government.
Fritsch also noted that AI technology has the potential to transform key industries including national security, transportation, agriculture and healthcare.
She expects that as agencies continue to experience increasing mission complexity and data volume, these influences will drive IT and AI spending and innovation in the federal government.
The new report from Deltek marks a shift in federal spending from last year's trend of cloud-based services.
