AI TECHNOLOGIES FOR PROCUREMENT MODERNIZATION COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS OPENING (CSO)

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Office of Procurement Operations on behalf of the Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) Procurement Innovation Lab (PIL) is issuing the subject General Solicitation for DHS and all its Components to rapidly procure commercially available, AI Technologies and solutions for Procurement Modernization to improve the federal procurement process. This capability will be procured using the Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) authority to enable rapid acquisition of innovative, field-ready AI technologies and solutions that address evolving procurement modernization. The CSO is a merit-based solution selection strategy for DHS to acquire innovative commercial items through the use of general solicitation competitive procedures and the award of a contract. "Innovative", within the meaning of this statute, is any new technology, process, or method, including research and development, or any new application of an existing technology, process, or method.  "Commercial item" has the same meaning as commercial item under Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 2.101, which includes certain commercial services.

The CSO General Solicitation aims to identify new ideas, approaches, tools, and partnerships that can help the Department address critical challenges and accelerate transformation across its AI procurement enterprise. This General Solicitation provides a flexible mechanism to solicit, evaluate, and fund exploratory and applied work that does not fit neatly into traditional acquisition frameworks, but that has the potential to improve DHS’s ability to acquire, oversee, and operate within procurement.

This procurement is limited to innovative commercial products relevant to the Focus Area outlined in the solicitation. Within the meaning of the statute, innovative is defined as, “Any new technology, process, or method, including research and development, or any new application of an existing technology, process, or method.”  Proposals will be evaluated on their individual merits rather than on a comparative basis. Besides the criterion described in the solicitation, the concept paper responses must clearly demonstrate how the commercial item is offered in an innovative manner.

The concept papers will be evaluated against the evaluation criteria. Each concept paper submitted may be evaluated against the evaluation criteria separately and need not be evaluated against other concept paper responses submitted by other Offerors. More than one concept paper may be accepted. The Government reserves the right to request interview-style oral presentations or additional written information, if applicable, from one or more Offerors.

The Department anticipates that different technologies may address different focus areas and that a portfolio of complementary capabilities may be required to advance the Department’s OT strategy.  Industry is invited to respond to this initial General Solicitation addressing the first Focus Area Topic – AI technology.

This CSO General Solicitation will stay open for a period of 12 months. The Department intends to use this CSOP to identify, evaluate, and deploy commercial technologies that advance one or more of the Department’s AI Technologies and solutions.

Potential Submitters are hereby advised of the following:

1. It is within the Government’s discretion to accept more than one solution for a contract award resulting from this CSO Solicitation.

2. All costs of preparing and submitting solution videos, written submission, and additional presentations/demonstrations related to this CSO Solicitation are the responsibility of the submitting entity and not eligible for funding or reimbursement by the Government.

3. The evaluation will include an assessment of whether the proposed commercial product or service is innovative within the meaning of the statute. Submission and proposals are evaluated on individual merit rather than on a comparative basis, and the Government has considerable latitude in determining which of the submitted proposals it will fund.

4.  To be eligible for award, Companies must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) prior to DHS making a CSO contract award.

The first Focus Area Topic under this CSO is AI technology.  The government is currently accepting proposals from Offerors that can meet the AI technologies and solutions outlined in the attached General Solicitation. Submissions must be received prior to Wednesday, August 26, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. eastern time.  Responses shall be submitted electronically to the following: Mariah.Watt@hq.dhs.gov and Tracy.Miller@hq.dhs.gov. The subject line of the e-mail must be titled “70RDA126R00000009 – AI Technologies for Procurement Modernization.” Note: The Government will review responses as they are submitted and may award at any time. 

All questions regarding this solicitation shall be submitted in writing (via email) to Mariah.Watt@hq.dhs.gov and Tracy.Miller@hq.dhs.gov by Wednesday, August 19, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. eastern time.