Over the past 20 years, Jason Adolph has helped government agencies identify and implement technologies that help them modernize now and for the future. As Appian's Vice President of Global Public Sector, he works closely with defense agencies, civilian agencies, state and local governments, and educational institutions to accelerate their processes through low-code application development, AI, and other technologies. and automation.
Recently, Jason shared his thoughts on the impact that AI and automation are having on workflow, case management, and contract management. The importance of reusing software to reduce costs and speed time to deployment. and how two major defense organizations are using advanced technology to enhance their contract creation processes.
We hear a lot about process automation and AI, and how both can help government agencies become more efficient and effective. How will AI impact process automation?
The combination of AI and automation is having a major impact on the public sector. These technologies have a significant impact on government agencies' ability to deliver services with increased speed and accuracy.
Consider the government procurement process. This includes drafting and double-checking documents, conducting market research, and ensuring they contain the correct wording and clauses. By combining AI with modern low-code tools, much of the process can be automated, from the initial investigation stage to filing procurement contracts in the appropriate folders. Suddenly, procurement became faster and more efficient.
There are many other examples of how AI is impacting process automation. For example, AI can predict resource demand and improve inventory management. AI chatbots can speed up interactions between government agencies and citizens, helping prevent government call centers from getting bogged down with calls and manually searching for answers to citizens' questions.
This is all happening now. And we're just getting started.
Appian has had great success working with acquisition experts. Can you share some of those success stories?
When it comes to improving procurement processes, we are working with the U.S. Air Force to develop a Contract Information Technology (CON-IT) system that standardizes the creation of procurement contracts, reduces costs, and improves efficiency throughout the contract process. Did. CON-IT replaced seven legacy systems, was built using low-code software on the Appian platform, and was deployed in less than nine months.
The impact of CON-IT was immediate and significant. The Air Force achieved total cost savings of more than $80 million within the first year of operation. The system itself supports over 5,000 users and is used to manage over $10 billion in Air Force spending.
We also worked closely with the U.S. military to develop the Army Contract Drafting System. This system generates solicitations, rewards, changes documents, and more. It is flexible, scalable, and integrates directly with the Army's other acquisition systems.
Both solutions were developed with input from procurement experts from across government. We're always looking for feedback and new ideas. hosted by us Government Acquisition Summit at our annual conference, Appia's world. We look forward to hearing from industry experts and thought leaders as they exchange ideas, share experiences, solve problems, and more.
Have any of these contract drafting solutions been reused by other government agencies? If so, how?
As you know, the US government's software modernization policy encourages software reuse whenever possible. Reuse reduces costs and development time, allowing agencies to deploy new solutions more quickly and cost-effectively.
When Appian developed the Army Contract Creation System, it reused off-the-shelf components used to create CON-IT. It served multiple purposes. First, the Army now has a solution built on proven technology that is already delivering a significant return on investment for the Air Force. Second, because the core components were already written and tested, we could deliver the solution quickly. This application has also been adopted by several other Department of Defense and federal civilian agencies.
CON-IT component reuse is an example of government off-the-shelf software (GOTS). GOTS is sustainable and adaptable because it can be reused across government agencies. It's faster to deploy and built using common standards.Helps save agents time and money—The savings are transferred to the U.S. taxpayer.
Appian recently announced a case management solution for the public sector. What case management advice do you provide to government clients?
Case management is the lifeblood of most government agencies, but it is also extremely complex and difficult. The government defines case management as a variety of things, including investigations, civil services, inspections, grants, and several other broad categories of work. No matter what type of case management you're working on, the process likely involves managing deadlines and tasks, communicating with various stakeholders, and a lot of manual labor.
The best advice I can give to someone in this situation is to invest in case management software that will help you manage your workload, track your process, and make intelligent and accurate decisions. Ideally, the software would include some process automation functionality to relieve some of the administrative burden on government employees. It should also integrate well with other applications, have an easy-to-use interface, and make it easy for teams across the agency to collaborate.
There are other considerations as well. For example, your software should enable your team to retrieve information from anywhere and on any device. All employees must not only be able to use the software, but also be able to update it, especially as regulations and workflow requirements change.
That's why low-code software is so important. Low-code democratizes and simplifies advanced technologies such as AI and automation. Even non-technical employees can easily update applications to become more efficient, intelligent, and contribute to the agency's efforts to better serve the public.
