The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) is calling on federal agencies to better share lessons learned from acquiring artificial intelligence, warning that missed knowledge-sharing opportunities could hinder future AI procurements.
In an April 13 report, the GAO noted that federal AI use more than doubled between 2023 and 2024 and continues to expand rapidly. However, agencies are not systematically collecting or sharing insights from their AI acquisition processes.
“In its review, the Government Accountability Office found that selected agencies were not systematically collecting lessons learned from AI acquisitions — a critical first step for knowledge sharing. The Office of Management and Budget has directed agencies to share such insights through a web-based repository developed by the General Services Administration,” the report states.
The review covered the General Services Administration (GSA), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
The GAO found these agencies risk repeating mistakes and missing out on best practices as AI adoption grows.
To address this, the GAO recommended that agencies update policies to require the collection of lessons learned, including effective contract clauses, and submit them to a centralized repository managed by GSA. All four agencies agreed with the recommendations.