We’ve got a pet peeve here at GovShop: when government contracting organizations transfer the effort of basic market research onto their industry counterparts through a popular (and at times very appropriate) tool called a request for information (RFI).
Apparently, we aren’t alone. Based on a Naval Postgraduate report from March 2019, companies spend over 1400 hours each year replying to government RFIs. Do the math with even the most basic labor rates, and the annual economic cost of this transfer of effort approaches one million dollars.
As a former contracting officer, I have mixed feelings about RFIs. On one hand, companies that want to win lucrative contracts should expect some degree of effort, and RFIs can be an effective tool for both parties. On the other hand, it’s expensive to bid on government contracts and when we transfer the market research effort to contractors, we’re adding overhead that just gets passed back to government.
Granted, market research is a time-consuming chore. Hunting down supplier info on myriad public sector databases isn’t how anyone wants to spend their time. In fact, we created GovShop to consolidate all those sites and provide government contracting professionals with a “high resolution view” of a supplier’s capability and key demographic data.
So when we see RFIs drop that ask for information that can easily be discovered through a little bit of market research effort, we get our backs up. If contracting professionals want to know the socioeconomic breakdown of an industry or discover existing contract vehicles to trim their PALT, there’s a GovShop filter for that. But when agencies need more information that isn’t readily available, an RFI can be a valuable tool in the toolbox.
And thankfully, that is the case with the General Service Administration’s (GSA) recent RFI for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). Let’s take a look at why we really like GSA’s example here, and what other contracting professionals can learn from it. And then, we’ll take a look at companies that we found through GovShop that may be of interest to GSA and other public sector organizations making preparations for future AI/ML acquisitions.
Why We Like GSA’s AI/ML RFI
First things first, we appreciate them promoting it on LinkedIn. Too often, agencies release these on beta.sam.gov and are surprised when only the same old offerors respond. If you want to find emerging companies and innovative startups, you have to go beyond your traditional points of entry.
Second, the whole RFI response is form-based. No additional document to create, no company letterhead to be signed by an exec and approved by legal. Using an online form makes the whole response process far less burdensome, and more likely to be completed by experts in the organization rather than the marketing professionals.
While there are some free form fields in the response form, most of the questions use a time-friendly check the box format like the one below. Not only will this make it easier for GSA to analyze the data they receive, the respondents don’t have to guess at what GSA really wants to know. And they will appreciate the opportunity to talk about their expertise in the long-form responses without having to fire up their word processor.
It’s also worth noting that GSA’s questions are indicative of a contracting team that has already done their homework and have a firm understanding of what they are buying. Getting to this level of detail on individual companies using traditional market research would neither be possible nor advisable. By using an RFI, contractors who respond can ensure accurate and comprehensive responses, improving GSA’s information collection without sacrificing their weekend to do it.
Finally, GSA signals to prospective respondents that responding to this RFI isn’t just an administrative exercise. In accordance with FAR 8.405-3(b)(1)(ii)(B)(2) and/or FAR 8.405-2(c)(3)(iii)(B), GSA expresses their authority to issue future requests for quotes for AI/ML services directly to the sources identified through this RFI. So there’s skin in the game on both sides; contractors who submit quality responses may have an inside track for future opportunities.
Ultimately, this is the type of RFI we like to see. If your company provides AI/ML services and is interested in future opportunities with the government’s most powerful buyer, then complete the survey on the other side of this link. Then head over to GovShop to add the capabilities to your GovShop profile. Next time someone needs to do market research on AI/ML services, they can find you just as easily as we found these next 20 vendors in our database.
But don’t delay! The RFI closes on February 5th, 2021.
Doing the Work: AI/ML Company Profiles in GovShop
Our research team likes any opportunity to jump in and match suppliers in our database with government contracting opportunities that can help their business grow. We did it recently when GSA released its draft request for proposals on the Polaris GWAC. And since we’ve already invested significant time and energy in our own categorization of the AI industrial base, it was a no brainer to do it again to help GSA’s cause. Here’s a quick tutorial to show you how we did it.
We always recommend starting with a basic query and using our filters to drill down to a specific set of suppliers. As keywords, “Machine Learning” and “Artificial Intelligence” returned over 30,000 supplier profiles. But when we filtered for companies that are already on a GWAC or other multi-award contract, we trimmed that population down to just over 1,000.
Still a bit too unwieldy for our research purposes, so we decided to separate the queries and focus on each keyword individually. While each returned about 20,000 companies, our filtering helped us get down to a more manageable list. Here’s what we did specifically:
- 21,260 results returned for the “Artificial intelligence” keyword
- Narrowed down to 178 results by selecting all the “GWAC and other IDIQ contracts” and “Federal schedules” in the “Contract Type” filter.
- Further refined to 119 results by selecting “Small business” in the “Size” filter.
- 18,955 results returned for the “Machine learning” keyword
- Narrowed to 975 results with the “GWAC and other IDIQ contracts” and “Federal schedules” in the “Contract Type” filter.
- 800 of those companies were identified as small businesses using the “Size” filter
- 554 results by selecting the two filters above, selecting all the options in the “Ownership” filter and all the options in the “Government set-aside program”
- From here, contracting professionals can sort by various socioeconomic set-aside programs or create a summary report for a composite view of the entire market
Based on the shortlists of viable suppliers achieved through the filtering options offered by GovShop, we identified 20 companies below with capabilities and expertise that GSA and other buyers of AI/ML would be wise to include in any future market research initiatives.
Interested in learning what a free GovShop account can do for your company or contracting team? Sign up for a demo from our team at Public Spend Forum and we’ll show you how to make market research your superpower.
