AI Sales to US Agencies Run on Off-the-Shelf, Not Custom, Deals

Federal agencies are increasingly buying AI products and services, and they’re doing it by purchasing what’s commercially available.

The full AI market topped $2.2 billion in unclassified procurement in fiscal 2025, according to Bloomberg Government analysis, and the subset of commercial purchases backed that growth.

BGOV’s market definition captures transactions for unclassified procurement of professional services and technologies supporting automated analysis and prediction using trained algorithms.

Of the $2.2 billion worth of contracts in fiscal 2025, more than one-third was procured using commercial item acquisition methods. The federal government prefers commercial purchases because they can limit costs associated with customization. ...