STANDING UP AI GOVERNANCE AT A MAJOR FEDERAL AGENCY

ProjectCase StudyInsight
Written By Joshua Schuttloffel

The Challenge

A large federal agency with a complex, multi-bureau technology portfolio faced a defining question: how do you adopt AI responsibly — at scale, across a highly sensitive mission environment — without the governance structures, investment criteria, or decision frameworks to manage it?

Without a disciplined approach, the risk was real: duplicative AI investments, ungoverned pilots with no path to production, and significant exposure on security, ethics, and accountability.

The Approach

As a founding member of the agency's AI Management Group, we helped design the institutional infrastructure needed to govern AI adoption from the ground up:

  • Established the governance structure and operating model for an enterprise-wide AI Management Group

  • Developed investment criteria and prioritization frameworks to guide AI funding decisions across the portfolio

  • Built decision frameworks to evaluate AI use cases against mission value, technical feasibility, and risk

  • Created oversight mechanisms to ensure AI adoption remained aligned to strategic priorities and responsible use principles

  • Engaged senior leadership and cross-bureau stakeholders to build alignment and institutional buy-in

The Outcome

The agency gained the governance foundation needed to move from ad hoc AI experimentation to disciplined, strategic adoption — enabling faster, smarter investment decisions while managing risk and accountability across a large, complex organization.

Why It Matters

Most organizations don't fail at AI because of the technology. They fail because they never built the governance to manage it. This engagement demonstrates what it looks like to get that foundation right — and it's exactly the work we bring to every client navigating AI adoption today.

Joshua Schuttloffel