News
Stay informed with the latest updates on our company milestones, contract awards, technological innovations, and community impacts.
Avum Teams with ASN (RDA) DASN (P) in AI-Powered Modernization of DoD Contracting
August 26, 2025Avum, Inc. is revolutionizing Department of Defense (DoD) procurement through key government collaboration. A recent research paper was co-authored by Samantha Nangia, a Senior Program Analyst and Procurement Technology Transformation Lead, and Thomas Wardwell, a Contracting Officer and Financial Manager, both from the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN (RDA) DASN (P)), along with Avum's CEO, Randall Mora, and data scientist Carlos Parada. The research explores the successful integration of Generative AI to enhance the quality and efficiency of DoD acquisition and contracting processes.
The paper, titled "Leveraging Generative AI for Validating the Quality of DoD Acquisition Packages and Contract Documents," details a groundbreaking study on the use of a secure AI model, NIPR GPT, to automate and improve the validation of complex procurement documents. This is a critical area for the DoD, which operates within a highly regulated environment governed by a complex web of regulations like the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).
Tackling a Complex Challenge
The DoD's contracting process is notoriously intricate, requiring meticulous validation to ensure compliance and accuracy. Contracting officers face the significant challenge of navigating these complex and frequently updated regulations, a process that is often labor-intensive and prone to human error. This can lead to delays, increased costs, and compliance risks.
An Innovative AI Solution
The research demonstrates the immense potential of Generative AI, and specifically the use of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), to address these challenges. By fine-tuning the AI on DoD-specific datasets, the researchers were able to create a powerful tool that can:
Automate Compliance Checks: The AI can rapidly check documents for compliance with FAR, DFARS, and other regulations, identifying missing clauses and other potential issues.
Enhance Accuracy: The system significantly reduces the risk of human error, leading to more accurate and reliable contract packages.
Increase Efficiency: By automating many of the manual review tasks, the AI-powered system can dramatically accelerate the entire procurement process.
Proven Results and a Promising Future
The study's findings are compelling. In a case study involving a major aircraft procurement, the NIPR GPT model successfully identified missing compliance language and ambiguous descriptions, streamlining the approval process. The research also showed a high degree of alignment between the AI's findings and those of human reviewers, with the AI's performance improving with each iteration.
"This research highlights the transformative role of generative AI in supporting DoD contracting officers," the paper states, "by providing reliable, secure, and efficient tools for package validation".
Avum is proud to be a part of this innovative work, which showcases our commitment to developing cutting-edge solutions for our clients. The successful integration of AI into DoD workflows illustrates a significant step forward in modernizing procurement practices, improving accuracy, and ensuring compliance in a highly regulated environment. The research is ongoing, with future work focused on further refining the AI models and expanding their capabilities to continue to enhance mission readiness for the DoD.
Explore the Research
For more details, you can access the original research paper and the accompanying presentation materials on the Naval Postgraduate School’s Acquisition Research Program website: Leveraging Generative AI for Validating the Quality of DoD Acquisition Packages and Contract Documents
Read More
Acquisition Decision Support Tool based on Avum's Cognitive Learning Application Framework
May 9, 2018This paper investigates whether the neural network modeling technique can be confidently relied upon to meaningfully explore variable relationships within acquisition business datasets. The paper uses a direct action methodology to develop and test a prototype Acquisition Decision Support Tool based on a Cognitive Learning Application Framework, and tests the application’s feasibility using acquisition test data sourced from a variety of acquisition business system archives. The test hypotheses use a correlated performance-based analysis approach. The framework and resulting repositories facilitate the fusing of multiple data sources with the goal of creating an Acquisition Decision Support Tool and Business Intelligence repository for rapid dashboard development and an ad-hoc query capability. The primary focus for model development and predictability in this paper will pertain to the area of contract structure and terms relative to vendor performance.
Click here to read our white paper.
Read More
A Partnership Forged in Innovation: Celebrating the DoD’s GITEC Award for Acquisition Excellence
August 8, 2025We are incredibly proud to celebrate a landmark achievement alongside our partners at the U.S. Department of Defense. The DoD’s Modern Contract Writing Systems Cross-Service Collaboration was recently honored with the prestigious Acquisition Innovation and Impact Award at the GITEC 2025 Emerging Technology Awards, and we are thrilled to have played a key role in this success.
For years, a significant challenge within the DoD was the separation of contracting systems between the different services. The GITEC award recognizes the groundbreaking initiative that successfully united the U.S. Army, Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the 4th Estate to break down these silos. The goal was to share code, align roadmaps, and ultimately deliver modern acquisition tools to the enterprise faster than ever before.
Avum's Role in a Prime Example of Success: The Navy ePS
A shining example of this collaboration in action is the Department of the Navy's (DoN) Electronic Procurement System (ePS). Avum had the distinct privilege of partnering closely with the DoN ePS team to deploy this standardized, end-to-end contract management solution for the Navy and Marine Corps.
This was a complex challenge that required the full breadth of our expertise. Since 1991, Avum has been trusted by government customers to solve complex technology problems, and this project was a perfect opportunity to apply our decades of experience. Our partnership with the Navy is built on a strong foundation, with long-standing relationships with key stakeholders like the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (RDA) and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Procurement (DASN(P)).
To help engineer this transformative system, our team leveraged several of our core competencies, including:
Application Systems Engineering and Process Streamlining & Re-Engineering: We applied our expertise in workflow automation and business process management to build a truly comprehensive, data-centric system from the ground up.
Agile Development: With a team that includes Certified Scrum Masters, we utilized agile methodologies to ensure the project remained flexible and could deliver value iteratively.
Enterprise-Wide Integration: A critical task was connecting ePS with other key DoD and DoN financial systems. Our deep experience in enterprise integration was essential to creating a seamless Procure-to-Pay process.
Delivering Measurable Impact
The results of this close collaboration have been remarkable. Since ePS went live in September 2023, the system has:
Obligated over $7.7 billion in Navy funds.
Migrated 89,000 files into ePS CCM.
Received 136 functional updates, demonstrating a rapid and responsive development cycle.
This success is a direct reflection of the trustworthiness and technical excellence that are the cornerstones of every Avum solution. We are incredibly proud that our commitment to honesty and professional integrity helped foster the strong, collaborative relationship needed to achieve these goals.
This award is a symbol of what is possible when government and industry unite behind a common vision. We are honored to be a part of this journey and look forward to continuing our work to innovate and deliver mission-critical solutions for the Department of Defense.
Read MoreSTARS III (UCERT SBA 8(a) Joint Venture)
February 7, 2022Avum, Inc. and Pengele LLC have combined the companies' technical proficiency and decades of experience into an 8(a) Joint Venture named UCERT LLC, which has been awarded a GSA STARS III 8(a) contract. This Best-in-Class Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) enables Avum (through UCERT) to deliver complex system engineering solutions to Government customers by supporting emerging technology and flexible procurement pathways. Its streamlined contracting and administrative processes make STARS III an invaluable contract that Avum can use to provide Government customers with unparalleled technical services.
Key Highlights for GSA STARS III:
Expands capabilities for emerging technologies.
Supports both outside of the continental United States (OCONUS) and CONUS requirements.
Up to $4.5M threshold for directed orders.
Features limited protest-ability up to $10M.
$50 billion ceiling.
Task Order Types including: Fixed price, time and materials, labor-hour or a hybrid blend
STARS III (UCERT SBA 8(a) Joint Venture)
STARS III Contract Number: 47QTCB22D0197
UCERT DUNS: 117366373
UCERT SAM UEI: S46DDC5FJ9K2
UCERT CAGE: 8H1D6
UCERT Site
GSA STARS III
Primary POCs:
Randall Mora
Founder, Member (UCERT LLC)
P: 310.457.8263 x6001
Andrew Mora
Founder, Member (UCERT LLC)
P: 480.442.6846
Austin Nobben
P: 310.457.8263 x6008
Read More
Meeting Changing Requirements…
August 24, 2018The number one indicator of whether a software development project will succeed or fail is the quality of the requirements. Unfortunately, there is rarely a comprehensive set of clear, concise, and well-defined business processes, rules, roles, and data elements available at the start of a business system development project, or, when there is, they are often developed in a stove-pipe without buy-in from the target users. When your project is modeled after dynamic and fluctuating business processes and customer needs, the development lifecycle can be a rocky road. Requirements drafted six (6) months ago may no longer capture today’s environment. Going out with a big bang development effort with what may later prove to be incomplete or inaccurate requirements will leave you and your team dead in the water. This is where Agile Scrum really shines. Taking the effort into digestible, bite-sized pieces and planning mini-releases across the development cycle allows the customer to provide course correction throughout the process.
Traditional waterfall-based development methodologies are often too inflexible when the customers’ business needs shift. As requirements change, the time and effort it takes to reverse course and go back to the design phase in these traditional models can severely impact the project’s schedule, cost, and overall risk. If the customer notices during the user acceptance testing (UAT) phase that the product does not address their current needs, the project might have to start from square one, or risk total failure and the equivalent of setting the customers’ money on fire.
This is why software development companies around the world have embraced the Agile-based methodologies. Iterative work cycles, known as Sprints in Scrum, are focused around delivering functional application pieces to the customer early in the project lifecycle. This removes the risky fog of uncertainty by putting the software product in their hands right away. Customer feedback guides future development and distinguishes the high-priority requirements from those that have become irrelevant or non-essential.
Requirements can change at any point, coming from an evolving technical landscape, overlooked functional gaps, or top-down policy directive. Through customer collaboration, progress transparency and the agility to pivot project efforts, you can make sure that the final product is not only completed within the agreed upon budget and schedule, but also conformed to the customers’ expectations and pragmatic use.
Read More
Application Integration: Seamless Integration Between All Enterprise Systems
January 1, 2018We help organizations perform with increased speed by providing application integration software to leverage your existing IT assets and utilize business processes more fully. Our custom Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) solutions bridge the gap between distributed enterprise computer applications through the use of software, hardware, and network architecture principles-from middleware technologies such as message-oriented middleware (MOM), to data representation technologies such as XML-allowing for the unrestricted sharing of data across business processes.
Our Application Integration Server v. 2.0 is designed to provide seamless integration between all enterprise systems and software, and has proven itself time and time again at Fortune 500 companies and smaller organizations for over two decades.
Read MoreAvum Teams with ASN (RDA) DASN (P) in AI-Powered Modernization of DoD Contracting
August 26, 2025Avum, Inc. is revolutionizing Department of Defense (DoD) procurement through key government collaboration. A recent research paper was co-authored by Samantha Nangia, a Senior Program Analyst and Procurement Technology Transformation Lead, and Thomas Wardwell, a Contracting Officer and Financial Manager, both from the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition (ASN (RDA) DASN (P)), along with Avum's CEO, Randall Mora, and data scientist Carlos Parada. The research explores the successful integration of Generative AI to enhance the quality and efficiency of DoD acquisition and contracting processes.
The paper, titled "Leveraging Generative AI for Validating the Quality of DoD Acquisition Packages and Contract Documents," details a groundbreaking study on the use of a secure AI model, NIPR GPT, to automate and improve the validation of complex procurement documents. This is a critical area for the DoD, which operates within a highly regulated environment governed by a complex web of regulations like the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) and the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS).
Tackling a Complex Challenge
The DoD's contracting process is notoriously intricate, requiring meticulous validation to ensure compliance and accuracy. Contracting officers face the significant challenge of navigating these complex and frequently updated regulations, a process that is often labor-intensive and prone to human error. This can lead to delays, increased costs, and compliance risks.
An Innovative AI Solution
The research demonstrates the immense potential of Generative AI, and specifically the use of Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), to address these challenges. By fine-tuning the AI on DoD-specific datasets, the researchers were able to create a powerful tool that can:
Automate Compliance Checks: The AI can rapidly check documents for compliance with FAR, DFARS, and other regulations, identifying missing clauses and other potential issues.
Enhance Accuracy: The system significantly reduces the risk of human error, leading to more accurate and reliable contract packages.
Increase Efficiency: By automating many of the manual review tasks, the AI-powered system can dramatically accelerate the entire procurement process.
Proven Results and a Promising Future
The study's findings are compelling. In a case study involving a major aircraft procurement, the NIPR GPT model successfully identified missing compliance language and ambiguous descriptions, streamlining the approval process. The research also showed a high degree of alignment between the AI's findings and those of human reviewers, with the AI's performance improving with each iteration.
"This research highlights the transformative role of generative AI in supporting DoD contracting officers," the paper states, "by providing reliable, secure, and efficient tools for package validation".
Avum is proud to be a part of this innovative work, which showcases our commitment to developing cutting-edge solutions for our clients. The successful integration of AI into DoD workflows illustrates a significant step forward in modernizing procurement practices, improving accuracy, and ensuring compliance in a highly regulated environment. The research is ongoing, with future work focused on further refining the AI models and expanding their capabilities to continue to enhance mission readiness for the DoD.
Explore the Research
For more details, you can access the original research paper and the accompanying presentation materials on the Naval Postgraduate School’s Acquisition Research Program website: Leveraging Generative AI for Validating the Quality of DoD Acquisition Packages and Contract Documents
Read MoreA Partnership Forged in Innovation: Celebrating the DoD’s GITEC Award for Acquisition Excellence
August 8, 2025We are incredibly proud to celebrate a landmark achievement alongside our partners at the U.S. Department of Defense. The DoD’s Modern Contract Writing Systems Cross-Service Collaboration was recently honored with the prestigious Acquisition Innovation and Impact Award at the GITEC 2025 Emerging Technology Awards, and we are thrilled to have played a key role in this success.
For years, a significant challenge within the DoD was the separation of contracting systems between the different services. The GITEC award recognizes the groundbreaking initiative that successfully united the U.S. Army, Navy, U.S. Air Force, and the 4th Estate to break down these silos. The goal was to share code, align roadmaps, and ultimately deliver modern acquisition tools to the enterprise faster than ever before.
Avum's Role in a Prime Example of Success: The Navy ePS
A shining example of this collaboration in action is the Department of the Navy's (DoN) Electronic Procurement System (ePS). Avum had the distinct privilege of partnering closely with the DoN ePS team to deploy this standardized, end-to-end contract management solution for the Navy and Marine Corps.
This was a complex challenge that required the full breadth of our expertise. Since 1991, Avum has been trusted by government customers to solve complex technology problems, and this project was a perfect opportunity to apply our decades of experience. Our partnership with the Navy is built on a strong foundation, with long-standing relationships with key stakeholders like the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development & Acquisition (RDA) and the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Procurement (DASN(P)).
To help engineer this transformative system, our team leveraged several of our core competencies, including:
Application Systems Engineering and Process Streamlining & Re-Engineering: We applied our expertise in workflow automation and business process management to build a truly comprehensive, data-centric system from the ground up.
Agile Development: With a team that includes Certified Scrum Masters, we utilized agile methodologies to ensure the project remained flexible and could deliver value iteratively.
Enterprise-Wide Integration: A critical task was connecting ePS with other key DoD and DoN financial systems. Our deep experience in enterprise integration was essential to creating a seamless Procure-to-Pay process.
Delivering Measurable Impact
The results of this close collaboration have been remarkable. Since ePS went live in September 2023, the system has:
Obligated over $7.7 billion in Navy funds.
Migrated 89,000 files into ePS CCM.
Received 136 functional updates, demonstrating a rapid and responsive development cycle.
This success is a direct reflection of the trustworthiness and technical excellence that are the cornerstones of every Avum solution. We are incredibly proud that our commitment to honesty and professional integrity helped foster the strong, collaborative relationship needed to achieve these goals.
This award is a symbol of what is possible when government and industry unite behind a common vision. We are honored to be a part of this journey and look forward to continuing our work to innovate and deliver mission-critical solutions for the Department of Defense.
Read MoreSTARS III (UCERT SBA 8(a) Joint Venture)
February 7, 2022Avum, Inc. and Pengele LLC have combined the companies' technical proficiency and decades of experience into an 8(a) Joint Venture named UCERT LLC, which has been awarded a GSA STARS III 8(a) contract. This Best-in-Class Government-wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC) enables Avum (through UCERT) to deliver complex system engineering solutions to Government customers by supporting emerging technology and flexible procurement pathways. Its streamlined contracting and administrative processes make STARS III an invaluable contract that Avum can use to provide Government customers with unparalleled technical services.
Key Highlights for GSA STARS III:
Expands capabilities for emerging technologies.
Supports both outside of the continental United States (OCONUS) and CONUS requirements.
Up to $4.5M threshold for directed orders.
Features limited protest-ability up to $10M.
$50 billion ceiling.
Task Order Types including: Fixed price, time and materials, labor-hour or a hybrid blend
STARS III (UCERT SBA 8(a) Joint Venture)
STARS III Contract Number: 47QTCB22D0197
UCERT DUNS: 117366373
UCERT SAM UEI: S46DDC5FJ9K2
UCERT CAGE: 8H1D6
UCERT Site
GSA STARS III
Primary POCs:
Randall Mora
Founder, Member (UCERT LLC)
P: 310.457.8263 x6001
Andrew Mora
Founder, Member (UCERT LLC)
P: 480.442.6846
Austin Nobben
P: 310.457.8263 x6008
Read MoreMeeting Changing Requirements…
August 24, 2018The number one indicator of whether a software development project will succeed or fail is the quality of the requirements. Unfortunately, there is rarely a comprehensive set of clear, concise, and well-defined business processes, rules, roles, and data elements available at the start of a business system development project, or, when there is, they are often developed in a stove-pipe without buy-in from the target users. When your project is modeled after dynamic and fluctuating business processes and customer needs, the development lifecycle can be a rocky road. Requirements drafted six (6) months ago may no longer capture today’s environment. Going out with a big bang development effort with what may later prove to be incomplete or inaccurate requirements will leave you and your team dead in the water. This is where Agile Scrum really shines. Taking the effort into digestible, bite-sized pieces and planning mini-releases across the development cycle allows the customer to provide course correction throughout the process.
Traditional waterfall-based development methodologies are often too inflexible when the customers’ business needs shift. As requirements change, the time and effort it takes to reverse course and go back to the design phase in these traditional models can severely impact the project’s schedule, cost, and overall risk. If the customer notices during the user acceptance testing (UAT) phase that the product does not address their current needs, the project might have to start from square one, or risk total failure and the equivalent of setting the customers’ money on fire.
This is why software development companies around the world have embraced the Agile-based methodologies. Iterative work cycles, known as Sprints in Scrum, are focused around delivering functional application pieces to the customer early in the project lifecycle. This removes the risky fog of uncertainty by putting the software product in their hands right away. Customer feedback guides future development and distinguishes the high-priority requirements from those that have become irrelevant or non-essential.
Requirements can change at any point, coming from an evolving technical landscape, overlooked functional gaps, or top-down policy directive. Through customer collaboration, progress transparency and the agility to pivot project efforts, you can make sure that the final product is not only completed within the agreed upon budget and schedule, but also conformed to the customers’ expectations and pragmatic use.
Read MoreAcquisition Decision Support Tool based on Avum's Cognitive Learning Application Framework
May 9, 2018This paper investigates whether the neural network modeling technique can be confidently relied upon to meaningfully explore variable relationships within acquisition business datasets. The paper uses a direct action methodology to develop and test a prototype Acquisition Decision Support Tool based on a Cognitive Learning Application Framework, and tests the application’s feasibility using acquisition test data sourced from a variety of acquisition business system archives. The test hypotheses use a correlated performance-based analysis approach. The framework and resulting repositories facilitate the fusing of multiple data sources with the goal of creating an Acquisition Decision Support Tool and Business Intelligence repository for rapid dashboard development and an ad-hoc query capability. The primary focus for model development and predictability in this paper will pertain to the area of contract structure and terms relative to vendor performance.
Click here to read our white paper.
Read MoreApplication Integration: Seamless Integration Between All Enterprise Systems
January 1, 2018We help organizations perform with increased speed by providing application integration software to leverage your existing IT assets and utilize business processes more fully. Our custom Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) solutions bridge the gap between distributed enterprise computer applications through the use of software, hardware, and network architecture principles-from middleware technologies such as message-oriented middleware (MOM), to data representation technologies such as XML-allowing for the unrestricted sharing of data across business processes.
Our Application Integration Server v. 2.0 is designed to provide seamless integration between all enterprise systems and software, and has proven itself time and time again at Fortune 500 companies and smaller organizations for over two decades.
Read More