The key to lower costs and increased AI ROI

Cost is a critical factor federal agencies weigh heavily when deciding to adopt AI, open source, and cloud technologies.

Thirty-eight percent of the agency leaders polled for our recent Federal Software Reimagined report pointed to cost as a significant roadblock.

Agencies lose valuable time when they choose ineffective software solutions, often forcing teams to scramble for last-minute alternatives. When agencies delay decisions out of excessive caution, they may eventually reach the right conclusion—but too late to act effectively. In both cases, lost time carries significant opportunity costs and can undermine mission success.

Federal agencies can avoid wasting time—and, by extension, money—by creating cross-functional teams.

Also known as tiger teams or fusion teams, these are integrated, agile groups of policy experts, technology pros, and mission staff who work together from the start of a project. Cross-functional teams ensure that the people with the right knowledge are brought together at the right time, and they’re present whenever decisions are made.

Because of their breadth of expertise and experience, cross-functional teams can help agencies achieve the ideal balance between active risk (a wrong decision) and passive risk (a delayed decision).