Defense One reported Tuesday that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said the U.S. intelligence community should shift from building its own technology to depending more on industry for tools that could support its missions.
“I want to get us away from having the government trying to build tech solutions for itself because it’s really not what the government is best at doing, but really focusing on buying and purchasing solutions wherever we can, so that our workforce can really focus on the things that we are very good at and have exclusive responsibilities to fulfill,” Gabbard said Tuesday at a public sector conference in Washington, D.C.
In the last 20 years, the country’s 18 intelligence agencies have used industry-built tools to detect cyberthreats and analyze large volumes of data, among others. Amazon, for instance, provides systems that help the CIA and the National Security Agency exchange and store classified information, according to Defense One.
To learn about the latest technological advancements in intelligence gathering and analysis, IC contract opportunities and more, join the Potomac Officers Club’s 2025 Intel Summit on Oct. 2.
Table of Contents
Turning to the Private Sector for AI Tools
During her talk at the Amazon-hosted conference, Gabbard noted that artificial intelligence tools had helped screen thousands of documents that were released as part of a declassification move related to the assassinations of Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.
The national intelligence chief noted that AI systems have helped personnel look into files and documents on the open internet.
“10,000 hours of media content, for example — that normally would take eight people 48 hours to comb through — now takes one person one hour, through the use of some of the AI tools that we have here,” she added.
Improving Intel Community’s Procurement Process
In May, Gabbard said that her office wants to implement acquisition reforms across the intelligence community, including streamlining the contracting processes for unclassified open-source intelligence.
“We’re looking at things, for example, like open-source contracting across the board. We’re looking at, how do we streamline contracts for multi-use cases across the intelligence community so that we can save a lot of money and make sure that our IC elements are getting the most bang for the buck,” Gabbard said at the annual GEOINT Symposium in St. Louis.
Related Articles
Gregory Barbaccia, federal chief information officer and a 2025 Wash100 awardee, has shared his insights on how the federal government should advance digital transformation. “I notice a lot of the government considers itself to be ‘digital,’ but in reality, we’ve only digitized, not transformed. Sure we went 0-1, but that should have just been the beginning,” Barbaccia wrote in a LinkedIn post. He noted the lack of automation and that workflows remain unchanged despite the replacement of paper ledgers with spreadsheets. “Files are shared over email instead of through real-time collaboration tools,” he added. Advancing Digital Transformation in Federal Government
The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new rules that seek to eliminate unnecessary paperwork and address regulatory barriers to the ground-station-as-a-service, or GSaaS, business model as part of efforts to drive innovation in the U.S. space economy. FCC said Thursday the new rules establish a process for ground station operators to secure a baseline license without first identifying a satellite point of communication. A simple FCC notification will be required for each new point of communication. According to FCC, the change would eliminate nearly half of earth station modification applications. “Making the smallest change to a satellite system or earth
The General Services Administration has announced a OneGov agreement with Amazon Web Services that will provide up to $1 billion in direct incentive credits to federal civilian agencies. According to GSA, the direct incentive credits, aggregated across the agencies, will include savings on core AWS cloud services through AWS credits, infrastructure and application technologies modernization through AWS modernization credits, access to AWS training and certification through training credits and a streamlined engagement model with greater savings for direct contracts through direct partnerships. Advancing America’s AI Leadership The agreement is expected to accelerate large-scale IT transformation and boost AI innovation across