While data is limited, the broader AI workforce and pipeline appears to have the same demographic underrepresentation issues that STEM careers experience, lacking diversity in terms of gender, race and ethnicity. And just like the private sector, the government has historically struggled with diversity in STEM roles.

Aware of that landscape, the Biden administration says it’s making efforts to promote diversity in AI hiring, including encouraging agencies to target their outreach for open positions, underscoring the need for “AI-enabling” jobs, and engaging with groups aimed at diversifying technologists. Ultimately, what hangs in the balance of those actions is having a workforce that will bring a variety of experiences and perspectives to the table when managing the application of the booming technology — something the administration, experts, and advocates have stressed.

“If we don’t have a diverse group of people building something that needs to serve a larger group of people, we’re going to do ourselves a disservice, and there’s going to be a lot of unhappy people that can’t benefit from something that should be able to be accessible to all,” said Lisa Mae Brunson, founder of Wonder Women Tech, an organization aimed at helping advance women, people of color, and other underrepresented communities in tech and science fields. 

Already, the federal government is hiring for artificial intelligence positions and seeing interest in open roles. Since President Joe Biden’s October executive order on AI, more than 150 people have been hired in AI and AI-enabling roles, according to a report to the White House by the AI Tech and Talent Task Force. As of March, applications for AI and AI-enabling roles in 2024 have doubled when compared to similar periods in the previous two years, the report said.

That report also underscored the need for diversity, noting that the task force has “prioritized recruiting from a diverse pool of qualified candidates,” consistent with previous Biden executive orders that established the White House Gender Policy Council and outlined actions to promote diversity in federal government hiring.

According to the task force, those efforts recognize “the need for technical experts who can work to mitigate bias in AI systems and the overall underrepresentation of women, people of color, first-generation professionals and immigrants, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQI+ individuals in the STEM field as a whole.”

Active recruiting 

As AI hiring efforts move forward, officials are stressing the importance of recruitment. 

Kyleigh Russ, a senior adviser to the Office of Personnel Management’s deputy director, told FedScoop the administration is trying to get away from a passive “post and pray” method of hiring — meaning the job gets posted and agencies hope the right person applies. Instead, agencies are encouraged to shift to “active recruiting.” 

Often the volume of applications isn’t the problem for federal government positions, Russ said, but there is a desire to make sure the right people and a diverse group of people are applying.

Active recruiting could mean reaching out to someone on LinkedIn, recruiting directly from minority-serving institutions, or engaging in events like its recent virtual job fair. 

Russ described the push for active recruiting as a “change in practice” and said OPM is working on a training program that will address active recruiting. That program, which it’s collaborating on with the U.S. Digital Service and the Office of Performance and Personnel Management, will be aimed at teaching human resources how to recruit and hire technologists, as it’s a specialized field with “unique challenges,” Russ said. 

During a panel about women in AI last month at Scoop News Group’s AI Talks, USDS Administrator Mina Hsiang pointed to the concept of telling stories about use cases and problems they’re trying to solve as a tool for hiring. 

“Different people want to solve different problems that they see in their communities or in their lives,” Hsiang said. “And so the more that we can connect this to problems that people care about, and show how these are relevant pieces of that, the more people will be motivated to sort of move into those fields.”

Hiring a diverse federal workforce across the government has been an important issue for the Biden administration since its early days. In June 2021, the White House issued an executive order to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the federal workforce. That order directed agencies to assess the state of diversity, equity and inclusion in their workforces, and took steps to advance things like pay equity. 

AI-enabling

The administration is also highlighting the difference between AI and AI-enabling jobs, which includes roles that are less technical and broadens the pool of candidates. 

Roles that fall into the enabling category include things like data scientists, data analysis, and technical recruiters, Russ said. She noted that the administration has been stressing that it’s looking for both categories of roles in its recruiting campaign and specifically with the recent Tech to Gov job fair. 

That April 18 virtual fair, which is similar to others Tech to Gov has held before, yielded registrations from over 1,300 people representing all 50 states, according to numbers provided by the nonpartisan and nonprofit Tech Talent Project that coordinates the Tech to Gov coalition. The event focused on senior-level technologist roles at the roughly 15 federal agencies and four state agencies that participated. 

Jennifer Anastasoff, executive director of the Tech Talent Project, similarly underscored that both AI and AI-enabling roles are needed. For government hires, Anastasoff said it isn’t required “that every one of the folks who’s inside is someone who has deep expertise in the most technical of technical AI.”

“What we need are folks who can really help make sure that all of our systems — technically, data and otherwise — are really focused on the people who are supposed to be receiving those services,” said Anastasoff, who was a founding member of USDS. 

Anastasoff said the administration’s work with Tech to Gov shows a “level of commitment” to diversity in the technology workforce, as the coalition’s members are interested in that issue. Tech to Gov’s members include organizations like the U.S. Digital Response, Coding it Forward, and AnitaB.org. 

There’s also more work planned with groups trying to diversify tech. Deputy Federal Chief Information Officer Drew Myklegard told FedScoop the administration is planning a hiring push at this year’s Grace Hopper Celebration, a conference for women and non-binary people in technology that’s organized by AnitaB.org.

“It’s 30,000 individuals that come together who are excited, young, extremely diverse,” Myklegard said, “and we think we have a very compelling pitch why they should come and work for the government in AI.”

Additionally, there’s action being taken to support a diverse pipeline of AI professionals outside government. The National Science Foundation, for example, has a program targeted at diversifying the AI research community, including funding research and education at minority-serving institutions. Biden’s AI executive order directed NSF to continue its support of AI-related education and workforce development in an effort to “foster a diverse AI-ready workforce.” 

“We know that the existing research institutions, and some of the other institutions, are building curriculum, but this curriculum has to be everywhere because talent and ideas are anxious to engage, and that’s a deep commitment from NSF,” Sethuraman Panchanathan, the agency’s director, told FedScoop.

Diversity data

The growth of the AI workforce comes as STEM careers more broadly have historically struggled with diversity — both in the private sector and the federal government.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, for example, found that women made up less than 30% of federal STEM jobs in fiscal year 2019. A November 2023 report by the Union of Concerned Scientists found that while the shares of scientists in the federal government grew more racially and ethnically diverse between 2017 and 2022, there were decreases in certain groups and inequities were still present in the STEM workforce at specific agencies. 

When it comes to the federal AI workforce, specifically, there aren’t yet figures. The government, through OPM, is still in the process of getting a head count of federal AI and AI-enabling employees. A recent publication from OPM that describes and defines those AI roles will aid those efforts to get a sense of the workforce within the government. Russ said that will likely include demographic data.

Data on the AI workforce is a challenge outside of government as well. Nestor Maslej, a research manager at Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence who manages the AI Index, said there isn’t as much data on diversity in AI compared to economic or technical performance data, and emphasized the need to address that.

“Although things are getting better, we really would want to kind of create a world in which there is more data — there is much more reporting,” Maslej said. “Because I think data is the first step in actually understanding what’s going on, what the landscape is like, and what kind of changes are required.” 

Stanford’s most recent AI Index report, for example, uses data on computer science graduates to paint a picture of the AI workforce pipeline. That data shows that men represent roughly 3 in 4 bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD computer science graduates in North America. Those students are predominantly white, though Asian graduates also make up a substantial portion in each degree type as well.

If people are able to see that the government has a diverse and representative AI workforce, Maslej said it could generate more confidence from the public in its regulation of that technology.

Looking forward

While the hiring push is still in its early stages, there are some suggestions on how to improve efforts.

Wonder Woman Tech’s Brunson said she’d like to see the administration be more vocal about a commitment to diversity with its AI hires, especially as the tech industry has seen a rollback of some diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Brunson said she now doesn’t have the resources to be able to tell people looking for jobs where to go, and many people who are interested are trying to teach themselves about AI. “Where is there an opportunity … to train up these diverse candidates so that the future of AI talent looks different than what it looks like today?” Brunson said. 

But there is also optimism that diverse hiring is achievable. Seth Dobrin, founder and CEO of Qantm AI and the author of a forthcoming book on AI strategy, talent and culture, said that while the talent pool of people building AI models isn’t particularly diverse, the pool that the Biden administration will likely hire from is separate from that. He said that in his experience “it’s not as bleak as some of these studies show.” 

Dobrin, who was IBM’s first global chief AI officer, emphasized the importance of intentionally crafting job postings and descriptions so they are more inclusive to diversity. 

“It’s not hiring for a lowest common denominator,” he said. “It’s making sure that you craft your job descriptions appropriately, that you don’t interview until you have a diverse pool of candidates, and then you hire the best person from that pool.”

FedScoop reporter Caroline Nihill contributed to this story.

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The roadmap outlines policy areas the working group believes “merit bipartisan consideration” and summarizes findings from that group’s insight forums held last year with AI leaders from industry, academia and advocacy groups. In addition to boosting AI spending, the report also covers deepfakes, upskilling workers, and fully funding a National AI Research Resource in its priorities.

“We hope this roadmap will stimulate momentum for new and ongoing consideration of bipartisan AI legislation, ensure the United States remains at the forefront of innovation in this technology, and help all Americans benefit from the many opportunities created by AI,” the working group members said in the roadmap.

The Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group is composed of Sens. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Todd Young, R-Ind., and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The roadmap comes as legislators in both chambers have explored myriad ways to address the risks and potential of the booming technology but haven’t yet passed broad AI legislation. 

Previewing the announcement last week, Schumer said their approach isn’t to develop one comprehensive plan but rather targeted legislation that addresses specific issues. In a press conference Wednesday, Schumer said the working group’s deliberations were never meant to supplant the work of congressional committees.

“We are very, now, hopeful that the bipartisan momentum that we fostered and the recommendations we made will extend into the committees and their process,” Schumer said. “If anything is going to be accomplished, it has to be bipartisan and it’s going to be done by the committees.”

Schumer also said he plans to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., “in the very near future to see how we can make this bipartisan effort bicameral.”

Among the recommendations in the roadmap, the working group encouraged the executive branch and the Senate Appropriations Committee to reach “as soon as possible” the $32 billion in annual spending on non-defense AI innovation that was proposed by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence in its final report. 

That panel, which was made up of people from industry and academia, was tasked with making recommendations to the president and Congress on AI and issued its conclusions in 2021. At the time, their recommended investment would have doubled government research and development spending.

Lawmakers also underscored the need to fund accounts that haven’t reached their full funding potential under the CHIPS and Science Act, “particularly those related to AI.” Among the accounts the lawmakers listed was the National Science Foundation’s Directorate for Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships, which is aimed at boosting U.S. competitiveness in critical and emerging technologies through research.

Additionally, authorizing a full-scale National AI Research Resource was included as a policy priority. The NAIRR, which operates under NSF, is currently in a pilot phase and is providing access to industry and federal tools and data needed for AI research, such as access to supercomputers and generative AI models. Lawmakers and administration officials, however, have stressed the need for legislation to codify and fully fund the resource.

The roadmap was immediately met with praise and criticism Wednesday.

Linda Moore, president and CEO of TechNet, applauded the roadmap’s support for funding, including for the AI Safety Institute and legislation to authorize the NAIRR. TechNet, a network of technology CEOs and senior executives, worked to advocate for the passage of the NAIRR legislation with the bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., Moore said in a prepared statement. 

By providing funding for those initiatives and others, “Congress will empower a new generation of AI leaders, expand innovation and opportunity beyond Silicon Valley, and keep America at the forefront of scientific development for generations to come,” Moore said.

Meanwhile, Nicole Gill, co-founder and executive director of Accountable Tech, called the roadmap “another proof point of Big Tech’s profound and pervasive power to shape the policymaking process.” Accountable Tech is an organization focused on reining in Big Tech.

Gill called the insight forums a “dream scenario for the tech industry” and alleged that companies “played an outsized role in developing this roadmap and delaying legislation.” She also said the roadmap “is most concrete in offering a roadmap for industry priorities while merely hand-waving toward many of the most pressing challenges associated with the widespread adoption of AI.”

This story was updated May 15, 2024, with comments from Schumer’s press conference Wednesday.

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In a statement provided to FedScoop ahead of the Monday announcement, OPM disclosed it would issue guidance on use of generative AI tools for the federal workforce; a competency model and skills-based hiring guidance for AI positions to help agencies find people with the skills needed for those roles; and an AI competency model specifically for civil engineering. 

All of those actions were among those the agency was required to complete at the 180-day mark of the October executive order, which would have been over the weekend. The spokesperson also noted that the agency established an interagency working group for AI, as required by the order. 

OPM was given multiple actions under the sweeping order, most of which were aimed at helping agencies attract and retain a federal workforce prepared to address AI. That role is important as the government is working to rapidly hire for 100 AI positions by this summer. The latest actions from OPM give federal agencies a better roadmap for hiring workers in those positions.

They also add to OPM’s existing work under the order, which has included authorizing direct hire authority for AI-related positions and outlining incentives for attracting and retaining AI workers in the federal government. 

Notably, OPM’s action on the responsible use of generative AI comes as agencies across the government have been developing their own unique approaches to those tools for their workforces. Those policies have ranged from banning the use of certain third-party tools to allowing use across the workforce with guidelines. 

The OPM guidance, which was posted publicly Monday, outlines risks and benefits of the technology along with best practices for implementing it in work. 

Though it ultimately directs employees to consult their agency’s policy, the guidance provides examples of uses and specific considerations for those uses, such as summarizing notes and transcripts, drafting content, and using generative tools for software and code development. 

“GenAI has the potential to improve the way the federal workforce delivers results for the public,” the guidance says. “Federal employees can leverage GenAI to enhance creativity, efficiency, and productivity. Federal agencies and employees are encouraged to consider how best to use these tools to fulfill their missions.”

Under the order, OPM was required to create that guidance in consultation with the Office of Management and Budget. 

In addition to the competency models and guidance, the OPM spokesperson also disclosed that the agency issued an AI classification policy and talent acquisition guidance. While those actions support the rest of OPM’s work, they weren’t required by Biden’s executive order but rather the 2020 AI in Government Act. The spokesperson described those actions as addressing “position classification, job evaluation, qualifications, and assessments for AI positions.”

OPM is seeking feedback on that policy and guidance in a 30-day comment period ending May 29. 

This story was updated April 29, 2024, with additional information and links from OPM released Monday.

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The first PIF cohort of 21 fellows, introduced Monday, will work with “a broader technology focus” under their respective assignments at 14 agencies with “high-impact priorities.” Meanwhile the second group of fellows — to be announced this summer — will focus solely on artificial intelligence, according to the GSA, which houses the program under its Technology Transformation Services branch.

“More than ever, federal agencies are looking for top talent to help them improve the digital experience of their customers, better leverage data and enhance cybersecurity,” Robin Carnahan, GSA administrator, said in a release. “We’re excited to see how these innovators put their skills to work for the public good and collaborate alongside agency leaders to better deliver services for the American people in their moments of need.”

The agency shared in the release that the first cohort will be working “alongside partners to create innovative solutions that advance national priorities.” The AI-focused PIFs coming later in 2024 will aim to deliver on the AI executive order that President Joe Biden issued last year, which named the PIF program as one of the existing federal technology pipelines for recruiting AI talent into government. 

Previously, PIFs have worked on a variety of efforts, such as projects to improve data sharing throughout the Department of Veteran Affairs and ensure data-driven decision-making through modernization within the Department of Justice, among many others. The PIF program was launched in 2012 by the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy before it was transferred to GSA in 2013. During that time, the program has hosted more than 250 fellows who have worked at more than 50 agencies. Many of those fellows continue on in other innovative and often tech-focused roles within government.

So far, in light of the October AI executive order, the Biden administration has continued working towards recruiting and retaining an AI-talent workforce to keep up with the competition and challenges posed by the technology. 

Recently, the administration has established funds for the technology’s research and development talent recruitment alongside the other gaps for AI talent within the federal government.

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During a Wednesday event on U.S. investment in R&D, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Science Foundation and National Science Board discussed findings in The State of U.S. Science and Engineering 2024 report, including the fact that the U.S. spent $806 billion, or 3.5% of its gross domestic product, on R&D in 2021.  

While officials were eager to share R&D successes from the federal government, they also looked to the report to shed light on workforce development needs for STEM-related fields, as well as the need to enhance educational opportunities for domestic students. 

“R&D is how we open the doors so that the future can be better than the past; it’s how we overcome the limitations of today and step into a better tomorrow,” OSTP Director Arati Prabhakar said during the event. “This report and the president’s budget both remind us of the tremendous strengths that we have here in America with our R&D capabilities, and they also start us on this important path to the work ahead.”

President Joe Biden’s fiscal year 2025 budget leans into innovation through R&D efforts: A fact sheet OSTP shared with FedScoop highlights a request for a 36% funding increase (to a reported $900 million) for NSF’s Directorate for Technology Innovation and Partnerships, along with $606 million for the Department of Energy’s Office of Science to “integrate supercomputing, AI and quantum-based technology for developing the next-generation high-performance computing systems.”

“Most of these innovation-intensive industries, of course, grew out of prior federal R&D investments,” Prabhakar said. “If you think about that, that is true in fields that are diverse as artificial intelligence and new medicines and clean energy, so I think it’s a very consistent theme.”

Additionally, OSTP shared in the release that artificial intelligence R&D funds will be spread across federal agencies to further the development of responsible AI, citing a budget request of $729 million for NSF, a 10% increase, including $30 million for a second year of the National AI Research Resource pilot. 

An OSTP spokesperson shared in an email that the FY 2025 budget also includes a reported $32 million request to support the AI talent surge, and pointed to upcoming Office of Management and Budget issuance of AI guidelines for government to both address risks and encourage innovation. 

OMB “will soon issue the first governmentwide policy to mitigate the risks and harness the benefits in the federal government’s own use of AI,” the spokesperson said. “To fully deliver on this mission, we need the right people. President Biden launched an AI talent surge to bring more AI professionals into the Federal government to help us achieve our ambitious AI agenda. … We’re very excited about the talent we’ve brought on to date, and the talent we will bring on to work on high-priority AI projects.”

The spokesperson noted the Presidential Innovation Fellows, the U.S. Digital Corps and the U.S. Digital Service as some of the tech talent programs that have been advancing the goals of the administration where the AI talent search is concerned. 

Still, the country can’t rely solely on those programs, given the fact that occupations requiring STEM knowledge account for 24% of the U.S. workforce, and 19% of all STEM workers were born abroad, per the report. NSB Chair Dan Reed said the flow of domestic talent into the STEM workforce has to increase. The total STEM workforce is around 37 million individuals, a mix of those with at least a bachelor’s and those with technical skills who do not have at least an undergraduate degree. 

Reed acknowledged the value of attracting foreign workers, calling the country “a global magnet for talent. That’s been one of our superpowers, that the best and the brightest on the planet want to study and work here. We have to preserve that, but it’s not a given. They come because they see opportunities; we have to continue to create those opportunities.”

For the domestic workforce, Reed said there is cause for concern, and it starts with education.

The NSB chair referenced the report’s findings of a “sharp decline” in elementary and secondary education mathematics performance, and the fact that women and minorities are underrepresented when it comes to bachelor’s and graduate degrees in science and engineering.

“We have to improve access to higher education as students are to pursue advanced STEM degrees,” Reed said. At the same time, the country “must continue to welcome international students from around the globe and to implement policies that entice [and] enable them to stay and work here after they receive their degrees.”

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The Federal AI Governance and Transparency Act, introduced by House Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and ranking member Jamie Raskin, D-Md., focuses on enhanced oversight, transparency and the implementation of responsible use of AI tools throughout federal agencies by codifying “federal governance of agency AI systems” and consolidating existing AI laws, according to a release. 

According to the bill’s text, the legislation would define federal standards for AI use, acquisition, management, development and oversight. The proposed bill looks to hold agencies accountable for ensuring that they are purposeful and performance-driven when utilizing the emerging technology. The bill specifies that AI use be consistent with the use cases that the tool was trained for, and “deployers of such application promote verifiably accurate, ethical, reliable and effective use.”

The bill also requires “appropriate training to all agency personnel” that are responsible for AI use. Hiring talent for AI has been an issue raised by White House officials and experts, in addition to problems retaining talent, even as the Biden administration moves to ease education requirements and ask agencies to prioritize AI. 

“Agencies have already begun to use artificial intelligence to improve oversight, save taxpayer dollars and increase government efficiency,” Comer said in the release. “The bipartisan Federal AI Governance and Transparency Act ensures that the federal government’s use of AI will improve government operations while protecting privacy, civil rights and civil liberties, and upholding American values.”

Raskin added that the new legislation would “create an oversight framework that will help Congress effectively meet the challenges of this powerful new technology over time.”

The legislation would notify individuals impacted by agency determinations made solely by AI, as well as cases where the technology meaningfully assisted, informed or augmented determinations. Agencies would also have to provide members of the public with information about agency-specific policies and procedures in place to govern federal AI systems that include the already required AI use case inventories. 

Co-sponsors on the bill include Republican Reps. Nancy Mace of South Carolina, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, and Nick Langworthy of New York,, as well as Democratic Reps. Gerry Connolly of Virginia, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, and Ro Khanna of California. 
The House Oversight and Accountability Committee is expected to markup the new legislation on Thursday.

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The memo and guidance from OPM Director Kiran Ahuja, which was shared with FedScoop, summarizes the “considerable discretionary authority” that agencies have for pay, incentive pay, leave and workforce flexibility programs for AI and other key technical jobs, and includes tips for agencies seeking to use the incentives. 

Among the benefits noted in the guidance: Recruitment and retention incentives, student loan repayment, a higher annual leave accrual rate for certain positions, multiple mechanisms for allowing higher pay, alternative work schedules and remote work.

The guidance was required by President Joe Biden’s October executive order, which placed an emphasis on federal AI hiring and included plans for “a national surge in AI talent in the Federal Government.” As part of those efforts, OPM announced in December that it authorized direct-hire authority for AI positions in government to create more flexibility for recruitment.

“For the few flexibilities that require OPM approval — special rates, critical pay, and waivers of the recruitment, relocation, and retention incentive payment limits — we stand ready to assist agencies and respond to their requests for enhanced compensation tools,” the memo said.

The flexibilities OPM outlined include a recruitment incentive for new employees and a relocation incentive for existing employees in difficult-to-fill positions of up to 25% of basic pay times the number of years in a service agreement, with a maximum four years. The guidance noted that for both of those incentives, OPM’s approval of direct-hire authority can serve as an agency’s justification that a position is difficult to fill without any further evidence.

Agencies can also offer a retention incentive for certain workers who are likely to leave the federal government of up to 25% of basic pay for a single employee or 10% for a group. To qualify for that incentive, employees don’t have to have a job offer from outside the federal government, OPM said.

Already, agencies are working to attract AI talent quickly. Earlier this month, the Department of Homeland Security announced a “hiring sprint” to build a team of 50 AI experts for its “AI Corps,” modeled after the U.S. Digital Service. That sprint, the agency said, will use OPM’s direct-hire authorization for AI positions to expedite and streamline the process.

Caroline Nihill contributed to this article. 

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“Now is the time for tech experts to make a real difference for our country and join the federal government,” the agency’s Chief Information Officer Eric Hysen said in a news release announcing the sprint Tuesday.

The AI Corps is modeled after the U.S. Digital Service and housed within DHS’s Office of the CIO. Its experts will support the use of the technology across the agency, the release said, such as “efforts to counter fentanyl, combat child sexual exploitation and abuse, deliver immigration services, secure travel, fortify our critical infrastructure, and enhance our cybersecurity.”

The announcement comes as federal agencies across the government have been working to implement the budding technology and develop their own guardrails for things like generative AI. President Joe Biden’s AI executive order also put an emphasis on the technology, including efforts to hire AI talent in the federal government.

The Office of Personnel Management, for example, announced flexible hiring authorities for AI-related positions late last year in an effort to promote hiring across the government. In its release, DHS said it’s using those authorities to “streamline and expedite the federal hiring process to ensure qualified candidates receive offers as quickly as possible.”

“As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful and more accessible than ever before, government needs the support and expertise of our country’s foremost AI experts to help ensure our continued ability to harness this technology responsibly, safeguard against its malicious use, and advance our critical homeland security mission,” DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in the release.

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During a press conference after the agency’s monthly LinkedIn Live series, #TalkingTech, Chief Information Officer Kurt DelBene and Chief Technology Officer Charles Worthington reported that the VA Office of Information Technology has “line of sight” to hire “multiple hundreds of people,” including those with AI capabilities to work with the emerging technology, but are unable to do so because of the current challenges posed by Congress’s failure to pass a long-term budget. 

While the department is currently hosting one of its tech sprints, as required by the White House’s AI executive order, DelBene said that this project is using existing infrastructure and staff, much like other projects and initiatives throughout the VA. 

“We want to staff up in the AI space in particular and that becomes challenging under a” stopgap spending bill, DelBene said during the press conference. “Obviously, the applied for budget in [2024] is larger than our existing budget and that’s what’s necessary to add more headcount. … We’re OK for now, but for long-term needs, we just need to get a budget.” 

DelBene said he thinks that the agency will leverage existing staff throughout different parts of the VA, and that its desire to bring on new talent is a “modest request.” He noted that the Veterans Health Administration is already utilizing employees to work with AI. 

“The core key is to bring it together, come up with a governance structure, come up with a prioritization of the different AI initiatives,” DelBene said. “We need that centralized group, and that’s one initiative that I think is really critical.”

During the event, Worthington said that the agency is going to try to scale its use of AI with the help of the VA’s National AI Institutes, which has been considering how the agency can responsibly adopt the emerging tech inside of the health care domain. 

“We’re going to be expanding on that work and really looking at ways to safely scale up the use of some of these novel technologies in the workflows where it makes sense,” Worthington said. “I think that there’s a lot of opportunities to use this technology to make the software work better for our staff and for veterans.”

Worthington compared the adoption of AI to the department’s transition to cloud technology and the move to make digital services available for mobile devices. He also emphasized that the agency is taking a “measured approach” and is in the process of training and upskilling staff. 

“I think in the coming year, and especially in the next few years, we’re really going to see a lot of those solutions reach scale,” Worthington said. “I think we need to be very careful on how we train our staff about how to use [AI], but with that training, I do think that there’s a lot of power that these tools can offer in a way that I’m really excited about.”

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The Friday memo comes after the order directed OPM to review hiring needs, grant direct hire authority where appropriate, and consider the use of excepted service appointments to support the administration’s AI actions. That work was set to be completed within 60 days of the Oct. 30 order.

OPM’s memo authorizes governmentwide direct hire authority — which is used for critical federal hiring needs — for four AI-related positions: IT specialists, AI computer engineers, AI computer scientists, and management and program analysts. 

It also authorizes temporary excepted service appointments to carry out work related to the order, such as assessing AI capacity, conducting workforce studies, and onboarding technical AI staff, among other tasks. Positions under that authority would not be technical AI positions, the memo said.

The memo follows a previous OPM memo in September that added direct hire authority for data science and operations research positions as part of the administration’s artificial intelligence efforts. 

Biden’s executive order placed an emphasis on AI hiring within the federal government, including directions to “plan a national surge in AI talent in the Federal Government” and create a Technology Talent Task Force, to accelerate and track federal AI hiring. 

There are also hiring-related requirements yet to come. In coming months, OPM will also be required to “coordinate a pooled-hiring action” to support recruiting AI talent across the federal government and issue guidance for agencies on “existing pay flexibilities or incentive pay programs for AI, AI-enabling, and other key technical positions.”

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