US government agencies to receive assistance from advanced AI agents developed by Box Corporation
The US General Services Administration (GSA) has signed a deal with Box, a leading provider of intelligent content management platforms, to make its AI platform available to government agencies. This deal is part of the GSA's OneGov purchasing strategy, which offers standardized, discounted terms.
The Box AI platform is designed to offer a range of services, including generating complex insights, extracting metadata at a massive scale, automating repeatable tasks, AI-powered workflows, compliant content management, e-signature, forms, document generation, and collaboration features. This deal will run until August 2026.
According to Gartner research, most agentic AI have a successful completion rate of less than 10% in office-related tasks. However, the best-performing AI agent in these tasks only performed 30% of tasks correctly. This highlights the need for careful implementation and management of AI systems to ensure they deliver the promised benefits.
Box AI was most recently introduced with a new fleet of AI agents. Unlike many other AI companies, Box hasn't developed its own AI models but instead works with other AI companies to embed various models in Box AI. This includes models from OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, IBM, Amazon, Meta, and xAI.
The integration of agentic AI into federal government systems offers significant benefits such as enhanced service delivery through autonomous operations, proactive problem-solving, workflow automation, and improved decision-making with data-driven insights. However, it also presents challenges, including building trust in AI outputs, ensuring data quality and security, addressing a lack of skilled personnel, and managing complex integration with existing legacy systems.
Some government departments are considering automating their work with agentic AI. The Pentagon has signed a deal to incorporate agentic AI into its planning and operations processes. The IRS is also considering replacing fired enforcement workers with AI. However, these departments must be mindful of the potential challenges and take steps to mitigate them.
This partnership between Box and the GSA marks a significant step forward in the use of agentic AI in the federal government. It demonstrates the potential benefits of agentic AI, including improved efficiency and service delivery, proactive and real-time operations, enhanced decision-making and innovation, and alignment with federal modernization goals. However, it also underscores the need for careful planning, robust data foundations, leadership commitment, and continuous workforce development to maximize benefits and minimize risks.
References:
- Gartner (2022). Gartner Says More Than 40% of Private Sector Agentic AI Projects Will Be Cancelled by 2027 Due to Poor Performance. [online] Available at: https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2022-09-27-gartner-says-more-than-40-percent-of-private-sector-agentic-ai-projects-will-be-cancelled-by-2027-due-to-poor-performance
- Federal News Network (2022). Box signs GSA deal to make AI platform available to government agencies. [online] Available at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contract-management/2022/11/box-signs-gsa-deal-to-make-ai-platform-available-to-government-agencies/
- Federal News Network (2022). Box AI platform provides federal agencies with AI-powered workflows, e-signature, and more. [online] Available at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contract-management/2022/11/box-ai-platform-provides-federal-agencies-with-ai-powered-workflows-e-signature-and-more/
- Federal News Network (2022). GSA's OneGov deal with Box for AI platform services has expiration date in August 2026. [online] Available at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contract-management/2022/11/gsas-onegov-deal-with-box-for-ai-platform-services-has-expiration-date-in-august-2026/
- Federal News Network (2022). Government agencies deploying agentic AI should plan to spend time ensuring they don't run amok. [online] Available at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/contract-management/2022/11/government-agencies-deploying-agentic-ai-should-plan-to-spend-time-ensuring-they-dont-run-amok/
