CX

Drone view of a tractor spraying a green field, illustrating USDA's SCION government IT modernization project

How the USDA modernized its tech infrastructure for crop inspections

The SCION project digitized paper-based processes, replaced legacy systems, and is projected to save $1.7M annually without disrupting business operations One of the key challenges the government faces in modernizing its IT infrastructure is the disruption of operations. The government, generally, can’t stop doing its business to upgrade its technology systems. Applications still need to be accepted, permits must be issued and safety net program checks can’t stop being cut. So, how are different agencies approaching modernization projects – while maintaining continuity of business operations? To answer that question, we aim to take a look at some of the modernization projects that have been cited in the public record as successful. In this piece, we will break down one such project: how the USDA modernized its Specialty Crops Inspection Operating Network (SCION) system. While Intelliworx was not a part of this project, it involved digitizing paper-based processes, which is an […]

The top skills the government needs to implement AI effectively

Data analysis, project management for AI, and infrastructure management are among the top skills agency leaders say they need to develop to move AI pilot projects to production There’s a lot that’s been said about prepping government data for AI. One of the top ways leaders are working to achieve that goal is “expanding workforce training on data management and AI.” That’s according to a survey of 200 government leaders conducted by ICF and Wakefield Research. The survey found 70% of respondents “acknowledged that they will need to upskill existing staff and/or hire new talent to implement AI effectively.” What’s more, “58% say they either have – or can develop – the skills necessary for AI implementation without hiring additional staff.” That 58% figure is a combination of two findings: 31% said their agency has the skills needed now; and 27% said, “yes, if we upskill our current team.” The […]

How government agencies are prepping data for the AI transformation

Governance frameworks, workforce training and partnering with external organizations top the list of strategies to get data AI-ready There’s one recurring theme in published commentaries about the government’s effort to implement AI: data readiness. “The major challenge facing federal agencies is data readiness,” wrote Daniel Kent, an assistant vice president for systems engineering, federal, at Everpure, in a commentary published by FedScoop. That’s just one example. We cited three others previously in this piece: Should data integration be elevated as a federal tech priority? There are probably many more. The message seems to be resonating, according to a survey of federal leaders working on AI initiatives by ICF and Wakefield Research. While the survey found 83% of respondents said government data “isn’t quite there yet,” about two-thirds (66%) are “confident that their data will be AI-ready in two years or less.” 9 ways agencies are getting data AI-ready So, […]

3 survey findings about the government’s efforts to implement AI in agencies

A report on the findings identifies the top challenges for implementing AI, the technical and non-technical barriers to scale and the benefits of pressing forward “Federal agencies are embracing AI at an accelerating pace…the key now is to scale AI efficiently and cost-effectively, transitioning from experimentation to execution, and ultimately to sustained usage.” That’s according to a survey commissioned by ICF and conducted by Wakefield Research: The AI Advantage: Moving from exploration to impact. The survey polled 200 U.S. federal program and mission leaders with the following qualifying titles: program manager, mission owner, division lead, branch/area chief, CXO, CIO, VP or equivalent.” While recent news reports indicate the official tally of government AI use cases compiled by OPM has doubled since a year ago, many of these are experiments. The ICF survey found 41% of respondents indicated they “are running small-scale pilots.” Another 16% “are actively scaling AI efforts,” and […]

Philosophical considerations for government AI keeping a “human in the loop” [HITL]

Lessons from 50 years of customer service automation: as AI adoption accelerates and AI agents are poised to function autonomously, human judgment and oversight are essential by Intelliworx When technology works as intended, it streamlines workflow, automates rote work and boosts productivity. The challenge is that it doesn’t always work as intended. Sometimes this works out well. For example, the collaboration tool Slack was originally created as an internal communications platform for a gaming company. That focus didn’t take hold in the market, so the company pivoted and the rest is history. At other times, it leads to unintended consequences. This is particularly true for anomalies and corner cases. These are the variety of issues that don’t fit neatly in a spreadsheet and break the binary limitations of traditional computing processes. Over-reliance on automation in customer service Customer service is the quintessential example. This function has become highly automated, and […]

What are your top technology priorities for FY26? (source: MeriTalk)

10 Federal CIOs say AI, cybersecurity and tech modernization are the top priorities

Agency tech leaders are optimistic about the government’s ‘enterprise mindset’ but caution more leader support needed to modernize IT infrastructure and achieve priorities Artificial intelligence (AI) is the top priority for 2026 in federal technology circles. That’s the main finding in a new report – Tech Tonic: FY26 Federal CIO Forecast – by MeriTalk. The second annual report is based on a survey and interviews with 10 chief information officers (CIOs) who lead technology for 10 different federal agencies. Cybersecurity and risk management were the top priorities in the same report last year, which forecasted FY25. While cybersecurity is still a clear priority, it fell to third place for FY26, trailing AI and infrastructure modernization. This year’s report did not name the CIOs included in the study. However, last year’s report did and it was a ‘who’s who” list that included CIOs from departments including Labor, Treasury, Agriculture, Transportation and […]

The 7 most-read posts on the Intelliworx government blog in 2025

Financial disclosure and customer experience (CX) were among the most popular categories of content among readers interested in modernizing the federal government’s tech We published about 40 posts on the Intelliworx blog in two distinct sections: government and healthcare. That’s on par with our efforts in prior years. As has become our custom, we go back through the analytics at the end of the year to see what was of most interest to readers. Below are the most-read blog posts for 2025. Stay in touch by subscribing to our email newsletter. We will never share or sell your email address. Number 7: CX is a bipartisan issue for the federal government More than aesthetics, good design across websites, apps, and even those arduous government forms, drives efficiency that saves time and taxpayer money. Read more: Good design and customer experience (CX) is a bipartisan issue we should all get behind […]

What is an intelligent interview? The technology to digitize government forms at scale

Intelligent interviews convert paper forms into digital data collection, which streamlines government processes and makes the data securely available for reuse and integration by Intelliworx We use the term “intelligent interview” often in federal technology circles. The nearly forty federal agencies we are fortunate to call customers know exactly what this term means. Yet there are a number that do not, so this is an effort to define the term. The first thing to understand is that government forms are a vehicle to collect data. Whether the form is on paper or online, that collection of data initiates a process. While many processes have been digitized, the government publishes tens of thousands of forms, and that means modernization is a continuous task. Scanning paper into a system or even turning paper forms into PDFs (portable document format) isn’t enough. Data, in these formats, has limited flexibility to be used elsewhere. […]

Good design and customer experience (CX) is a bipartisan issue we should all get behind

More than aesthetics, good design across websites, apps, and even those arduous government forms, drives efficiency that saves time and taxpayer money by Intelliworx The U.S. government maintains an estimated 23,000 websites. Many are outdated, expensive to operate, and difficult to navigate. For example, less than one in five “federal websites use code from USWDS [United States Web Design System], contributing to inconsistent and varying user experiences.” Further, nearly half (45%) are “not mobile friendly” and only 6% earned a “good” rating for performance on mobile devices. Yet mobile devices are ubiquitous. It’s been ten-plus years since Google searches on mobile devices surpassed those on a desktop. That illustrates how reliant people are on these tools for communication, including communication with their government. That’s the crux of the problem the America by Design initiative aims to solve. A new Executive Order authorizing the initiative sets it up this way: “America […]

6 generative AI use cases across the federal government

Federal agencies are exploring ways to extract and standardize unstructured data, analyze high volumes of text-based feedback and improve customer experience by Intelliworx Federal agencies spend more than $100 billion annually on technology, including products and services, according to reporting by Jory Heckman. About 80% of that is spent maintaining the sprawling, and in some cases, dated IT infrastructure that already exists. Historically, modernizing those systems tends to be a necessarily slow and methodical process. This is because changes to the IT infrastructure can have unintended consequences. Yet, Heckman, in a story for the Federal News Network, notes, artificial intelligence (AI) may offer a better approach – a continuous, iterative and agile approach. At the time of this writing, 41 federal agencies are exploring 2,133 artificial intelligence (AI) use cases that have been publicly disclosed. As a software company that serves the federal government, we are experimenting with AI as […]

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