National IGE Report: May-June 2025

This year’s IGE Summit (March 24) returned to kick off SAME Capital Week for the third time with a pair of timely topics on the agenda.

The two seminars convened technical experts and senior leaders from government and industry to share in the dialogue and arrive at key next steps in getting after timely challenges and opportunities facing both agencies and contractors.

Progress in Partnering

Led by the Construction COI, “Elevating Partnering Across DOD Projects” took an in-depth look at partnering with more projects in the federal sphere, which would contribute directly to improved project delivery. During a facilitated discussion, participants began by hearing a series of viewpoints from leaders across industry and government to set the stage and contextualize the concept of partnering. These observations provided early frameworks on what encompassed “partnering.” The audience also shared impressions and anecdotes on experiences with partnering, detailing stories on how the concept has evolved in recent decades and the value it provides today. As several people shared, years ago partnering had been a “check the box” requirement that was addressed but not necessarily paid proper attention. However, as cultures shifted and teams operated from a more mission-focused operational standpoint, the value of partnering has become more appreciated.

In-Depth Discussion. The participants broke into small groups to discuss seven interlinking sub-topics, with the intent to parse these into even smaller, more constituent parts. The seven sub-topics for the small group discussion covered the escalation ladder, celebrating success and milestones, team health assessments, partnering charter, executive engagement in partnering, joint risk register, and reaching out before documenting formally.

As the breakouts got underway, each group first identified best practices for their selected topics, followed by a brainstorm of what current behaviors in the project delivery space are not supporting those best practices. Then, groups compiled a list of commitments that would aid in pointing the way to meeting best practices and a collection of assumptions that might be standing in the way of accomplishing their commitments or otherwise need to be tested to be proven wrong. In this way, the groups not only dived deep into the topics, they identified actionable parts to take back and implement.

Driving Operational Change. The second half of the facilitated discussion focused on a Unified Partnering Playbook, leveraging the earlier conversation to continue and drive operational change. To prime the discussion, members from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who had worked on the development of the agency’s own recent Partnering Playbook contributed their insights. The conversation then moved into an open space environment, where participants had an opportunity to move and write their insights at points around the room. This drove questions like what resources and training a playbook would need, the benefits and possible risks, and how to hold teams accountable to using the playbook.

The session ended with a final recap and out-brief that shared the gathered insights and again challenged participants to make these insights operational in their own professional work.

AI: Advancing Implementation

Another pressing topic across the A/E/C industry centers on artificial intelligence (AI), the subject of the other IGE Summit seminar: “Aligning AI with A/E/C, Understanding Technologies & Applications.” A lively and curious crowd participated in an interactive session geared toward understanding AI and applying the rapidly evolving capability into their own day-to-day.

Evaluating Applications. The session featured discussions of AI applications and how they can be aligned with real-world experiences, while also weighing the potential risks. As the presenters opened the seminar with a detailed background of the many types of AI, it was quickly apparent that use and knowledge of AI remains in its infancy. This “surface level” understanding of AI was echoed by attendees as they shared their current working knowledge but revealed their eagerness to take advantage of the potential to streamline and create efficiencies in the core functions of planning, design, construction, facilities management, and operations.

After an hour of discussion, participants formed groups and were asked to identify a task, describe the task within the function that AI could help with, and then discuss what its impact would be on efficiencies, cost, and safety. The groups touched on machine learning on the design process, risk management, and business applications such as streamlining proposal writing. Each group gave a well-reasoned and thoroughly discussed presentation of their particular use of AI for their task.

Examining Risk and Readiness. The question of risk was top of mind during the session. With AI technologies becoming universally pervasive, how will security and accuracy be guaranteed? The so-called hallucinations of AI models have led to skepticism of ChatGPT and similar machine learning platforms, especially if being used in operationally critical environments. The groups expressed concern about protecting proprietary information not only from competitors, but from potential enemy states. Questions of balancing risk versus mission readiness and competitive advantage versus safety lingered as participants considered ways to weave the massive potential of AI into their industry.

What was not in question is that AI should, for now, be considered a useful and powerful tool for the engineering community—but the human element is still needed as a critical part of the oversight process and essential as the creative gene.

Just Ahead …

While this year’s JETC may have concluded, the anticipation for SAME’s Federal Small Business Conference is building! Scheduled for Nov. 19-21, 2025, in Pheonix, AZ., the market research event of the year for the federal A/E/C sector presents an invaluable chance to network with top professionals, key decision-makers, industry solution providers, business partners, and federal contracting officers.

You’re encouraged to contribute your innovative ideas to the 2025 SBC. The Call for Presentations is open until June 2. We are seeking presentations in four tracks; presenters may submit a maximum of two proposals for review.

Call for Presentations

Entering the Federal Marketplace – Ideas and approaches to promote and position a business that’s new to federal work.

Marketing & Business Development – What businesses need to understand about how to promote and position themselves, the uniqueness of selling to the government, and how to build brand awareness.

Regulations, Rules, and the Government Framework – Sessions focusing on what small businesses need to understand about ever-changing and evolving government laws, regulations, guidelines, and programs.

Advanced Business & Procurement Strategies – The means and methods for established businesses looking to excel and grow further.