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Tag: GSA

GSA and Perplexity Sign First Direct-to-Government OneGov Deal for AI Services

The General Services Administration has finalized its first direct OneGov agreement with frontier AI firm Perplexity, giving federal agencies steeply discounted access to advanced AI technology. (NEXTGOV/FCW November 19, 2025)

Under this groundbreaking contract, agencies can obtain Perplexity Enterprise Pro for Government for just $0.25 per agency over 18 months through a direct purchase on the GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS). Unlike previous OneGov agreements, Perplexity can now sell directly to federal buyers without a reseller, supporting the administration’s push for tighter engagement with original tech developers and lower acquisition costs. (ibid)

Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum emphasized the importance of the deal:

“This OneGov agreement, directly with Perplexity, offers the federal government an additional pathway to leverage the transformative advantages of AI.”

Perplexity’s AI-powered search platform has grown rapidly in 2025, now serving more than 30 million monthly users with real-time, cited answers. Demand within federal agencies has surged, especially during this year’s 43-day government shutdown. (ibid)

The company’s Enterprise Pro Platform lets government users query multiple leading AI models—including OpenAI and Anthropic—within one interface while adding enhanced, mission-focused security features. (ibid)

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas celebrated the partnership, saying:

“Accurate AI serves America. We’re proud to support President Trump’s AI Action Plan by giving federal employees cited, verifiable answers across every major AI model.”

To bring its services to government buyers quickly, Perplexity participated in FedRAMP’s accelerated 20x authorization pilot and secured AI prioritization under GSA criteria. (ibid)

Jerry Ma, Perplexity’s VP of Policy and Global Affairs, noted the urgency of the effort:

“This Administration has made clear that agencies should have the best of American AI not in 2028, 2027, or 2026—but right now, in 2025.”

With this agreement, Perplexity becomes the first multimodel AI platform tailored specifically to federal needs and directly accessible via the GSA MAS, marking a new era in procuring mission-critical AI. (ibid)

Questions about Perplexity? Give us a call.

Transactional Data Reporting gets really big

GSA Expands TDR to Boost Transparency and Smarter Federal Buying

The U.S. General Services Administration is expanding its Transactional Data Reporting (TDR) program to provide federal buyers and industry partners with clearer insight into what the government purchases and how much it pays. Starting in June 2025, GSA will extend TDR to 62 additional product and cloud service Special Item Numbers (SINs), with full expansion to all SINs by the end of fiscal year 2026. Moving forward, TDR participation will be mandatory for all SIN holders. (U.S. General Services Administration June 9, 2025)

“GSA is leveraging technology to drive innovation, create a more efficient government, and improve citizen experiences. Data is central to these efforts to deliver the best outcomes and reduce costs in federal acquisition,” said GSA Acting Administrator Stephen Ehikian. “Expanding our use of Transactional Data Reporting will provide critical insights into pricing and procurement, ultimately ensuring taxpayer dollars are spent wisely.” (ibid)

TDR captures pricing and purchasing data for goods and services sold through GSA’s Multiple Award Schedule (MAS). It eliminates outdated sales tracking requirements, reduces contractor reporting burdens, and provides actionable data that drives smarter buying decisions. (ibid)

“Comprehensive data on purchased items and corresponding prices will empower our contracting officers to negotiate effectively and secure the best value for taxpayer dollars,” said Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner Josh Gruenbaum. “Much like our private industry partners, GSA depends on data to make the best decisions about procurement. Transactional Data Reporting will provide the federal government with the critical and essential market intelligence to help aid the government’s effort to create a transparent, optimized and streamlined marketplace for goods and services.” (ibid)

GSA designed the expanded TDR program to streamline operations, lower administrative costs, and make it easier for small businesses to participate in federal contracting. (ibid)

TDR Delivers Key Benefits:

  • Drives Best Value: Shared pricing insights sharpen competition and improve government-wide procurement results.
  • Reduces Burdens: Simplified reporting saves vendors thousands of hours annually.
  • Unlocks Market Intelligence: Agencies and suppliers gain valuable data for smarter planning and stronger supply chains. (ibid)

This expansion marks a major step toward a more data-driven, efficient, and inclusive federal marketplace. If you have questions concerning any part of the TDR expansion, give us a call.

A New and Improved FAR coming your way

GSA Hosts Webinar on Transformative Federal Procurement Changes

The General Services Administration (GSA) hosted a live webinar last week to discuss major reforms reshaping the future of federal acquisition. The session focused on two recent Executive Orders EO 14240, which consolidates federal procurement under GSA, and EO 14275, which launches a sweeping overhaul of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR). Together, these changes aim to streamline buying, cut waste, and open government contracting to more innovation and efficiency. (GSA webinar to discuss executive orders) May 28, 2025)

Consolidating Federal Procurement: EO 14240

Jeff Koses, GSA’s Senior Procurement Executive, explained how EO 14240 shifts common goods and services procurement under GSA’s leadership. This move will eliminate redundancy, reduce cost, and enable agencies to concentrate on mission delivery. GSA will now act as the Executive Agent for all Governmentwide Acquisition Contracts (GWACs), aligning those currently managed by NASA and NIH into GSA’s centralized procurement strategy. (ibid)

GSA will collaborate with OMB, NASA, and NIH to assess current GWACs, resources, and commitments, building a cohesive transition plan. The 10 key spending categories, Information Technology, Professional Services, Security & Protection, Facilities & Construction, Industrial Products & Services, Office Management, Transportation & Logistics, Travel, Medical, and
Human Capital will fall under GSA’s streamlined acquisition umbrella. (ibid)

FAR Overhaul: EO 14275

The second half of the webinar focused on EO 14275, which calls for a modernized, intuitive, and mission-focused FAR. Koses highlighted that the current FAR is too complex and deters many businesses, especially small and innovative firms, from entering the federal marketplace. (ibid)

The FAR rewrite dubbed the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul (RFO), is being implemented through a series of deviations and will remove low-value administrative burdens while maintaining key protections against waste and fraud. New resources, including a FAR Companion Guide, Practitioner Albums, and Buying Guides, will support acquisition professionals and contractors as the rewrite rolls out. (ibid)

Parts of the revised FAR are already available on Acquisition.gov, and the public can comment directly on proposed changes. GSA also announced new training efforts in partnership with FAI and DAU to support the acquisition workforce in adopting the changes. (ibid)

What This Means for Industry

These changes signal a major shift for contractors:

  • Greater opportunity for innovative and small businesses to compete.
  • Streamlined acquisition timelines and reduced barriers to entry.
  • Increased emphasis on commercial buying and mission-first contracting. (ibid)

What’s Next

GSA will continue collecting agency implementation plans and begin analyzing them with OMB. The agency stressed the importance of collaboration with stakeholders and the acquisition workforce during this transitional period. (ibid)

To stay informed, stakeholders can sign up for RFO updates, download new FAR parts and guides, and share feedback directly on Acquisition.gov. (ibid)

This marks a new chapter in federal acquisition—one aimed at making government buying faster, smarter, and more accessible.

Questions concerning the FAR and the overhaul? Give us a call.

GSA Overhauls MAS Program, New SINs in Old SINs out

As part of its Multiple Awards Schedule (MAS) refresh taking effect this month, the General Services Administration (GSA) introduces more defined subcategories under information technology contracting. (MeriTalk April 1,2025)

A new GSA document reveals that starting in April, Special Item Numbers (SINs) under IT contracting will become more specific with the addition of artificial intelligence, cloud, and cybersecurity-related subcategories. These SINs help Federal agencies identify and acquire products and services from pre-approved vendors. (ibid)

One new subgroup, “Incident Handling and Event Management,” falls under the “Highly Adaptive Cybersecurity Services” subcategory.(ibid)

GSA also expands cloud-related services by introducing the “Cloud Services Subcategory,” which includes all IT professional services that support the Government’s adoption of, migration to, or governance and management of cloud computing.(ibid)

Cloud-related vendors now provide services such as legacy system migrations, development operations, cloud-native application development, cloud solution management and governance, and cloud solution assessments.(ibid)

As part of the IT contracting expansion, GSA retires 31 SINs to support its MAS program overhaul, which it announced on March 24.(ibid)

“The retirement of these SINs supports the FAS initiative to optimize the Multiple Award Schedule Program by removing items with insufficient market demand or high administrative costs that outweigh procurement benefits, making them unsuitable for the MAS program,” GSA stated. “Furthermore, many of these items remain available through other procurement channels.”(ibid)

GSA plans to retire 11 SINs in the professional services category, seven in the office management category, and one in the Scientific Management and Solutions category.(ibid)

In addition to the MAS overhaul, President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month to consolidate Federal contracting under GSA, including IT contracts.(ibid)

SIN questions? Give us a call.