Modernization at the Speed of Mission: Highlights from Fed to Fed podcast

When agencies ask how to move faster without breaking compliance rules—especially with the fiscal year clock ticking—our answer is clear: pair AI-assisted modernization with procurement pathways that keep pace. In a this episode of the Fed to Fed podcast, host Susan Sharer sat down with Alpha Omega’s Nitin Vartak and Rob Brown to unpack exactly how. Below are key takeaways—plus a few teasers to for the complete podcast.

Moderator: Susan Sharer, Chief Executive Officer, GOVTECH CONNECTS
Guests: Nitin Vartak, Chief Technology Officer, Alpha Omega
Rob Brown, Senior Vice President, National Security Solutions, Alpha Omega

Why speed matters now

Modernization isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s mission readiness. As Nitin noted, agencies face accelerating policy shifts and evolving citizen needs; legacy systems slow delivery, inflate costs, and introduce risk. The surprising barrier? Not just technology—procedures and procurement often create the choke points.

Teaser: Hear the analogy that flips prescriptive requirements into objective-based outcomes—and why that shift changes everything for modernization.

The real cost of slow: risk, not just budget

Rob explained the “compound risk” of staying put: outdated frameworks, unpatched libraries, and 80% of IT budgets spent just to keep the lights on. Meanwhile, adversaries aren’t waiting for paperwork. The takeaway: speed isn’t reckless—it’s relevance in a dynamic threat landscape.

Teaser: Rob shares how agencies are compressing 3–5 years of work into months (or less) with AI-assisted approaches—and what that looks like in practice.

The Alpha Omega Modernization Suite (AOMS)

Nitin outlined a set of AI-driven accelerators designed for real federal constraints—not toy demos.

These tools cut timelines and costs by 60–90% in the right use cases—far beyond gains from code-assist alone—and they’re battle-tested across DoD and civilian missions.

Teaser: The episode includes a story of an Air Force system modernized in about three months— 4x faster and 60% less expensive than planned.

From idea to impact: tightening the compliance loop

Rob described how combining accelerators multiplies impact: automatically analyzing and refactoring millions of lines of legacy code while extracting business logic to refactor processes in parallel. Outputs are validated against federal compliance frameworks to reduce rework and risk.

Procurement at the speed of innovation: Fast Path

Technology alone can’t solve urgency if acquisition takes 6–18 months. Enter Fast Path, Alpha Omega’s approach to rapid, compliant procurement via innovation-forward vehicles such as SBIR and Tradewinds. Agencies can set up ceilings quickly, obligate smaller amounts, and scale based on tangible outcomes—ideal for Q4 end-of-year realities.

Teaser: Learn how acquisition officials can move from “see you in six months” to days or even hours—without bending a single rule.

One piece of advice for leaders on a deadline

Leverage objective-based solicitations and rapid procurement avenues—and require AI-assisted productivity in statements of objectives to justify speed and cost reductions. Don’t wait.

Listen to the full conversation

This episode is packed with practical playbooks—from aligning SOOs to Fast Path, to sequencing code, data, and compliance work so modernization and security move together.
Catch the full interview on the Fed to Fed podcast to hear the examples and details straight from Nitin and Rob—and bring them to your next sprint planning or acquisition huddle.

Learn more about:

–> Fast Path
–> Tradewinds FAQ for procurement officers
–> SBIR Phase III FAQ for procurement officers

Catch Rob Brown at these upcoming events!