The United States Navy is piloting an artificial intelligence-driven platform to better match sailors with job assignments, as part of a broader effort to modernize talent management and improve retention, FedScoop reported.
With a workforce of more than 200,000 enlisted personnel, the Navy has traditionally relied on manual processes to assign roles.
“Up to this point, we’re manually trying to place them [in billets] across the board. So imagine 200,000 people are shifting every three years. It’s very hard to have a high-touch, bespoke experience,” Ben Kohlmann, assistant secretary of the Navy for manpower and reserve affairs, said while speaking at the Workday Federal Forum, produced by FedScoop.
The new AI-powered system, developed by teams in Millington, Tennessee, uses psychographic profiling and career data to recommend roles.
The system uses AI to generate a list of 10 roles it determines are the best fit for each sailor’s next assignment. According to Kohlmann, the pilot has already shown results.
“We’ve seen this 40% increase in the number of sailors deciding to stay for their second term,” Kohlmann added.
Currently involving a few thousand personnel, the Navy plans to scale the initiative following further validation.