Amidst a rapidly changing federal landscape and a push toward AI adoption, including a growing preference for commercial solutions, we caught up with the team at Brillient Corporation. Driven by a sense of purpose to protect, serve, and care for the American people, Brillient is helping federal agencies move forward—carefully, collaboratively, and with the skepticism necessary to get it right.
We spoke with Richard Jacik, Chief Digital Officer; Paul Weiss, Vice President, Digital Solutions; and Jenni Ferguson, Sr Director, Digital Solutions, about how Brillient is navigating complexity, partnering with clients, and helping government better tell the story of its success.
Supporting Change Through Expertise
As federal priorities and regulations evolve, Brillient’s approach centers on agility and deep subject-matter understanding. Recognizing the constant ebb and flow of change and developing systems that can adapt, is key.
“The systems we deploy are not structured to constrain our customers’ ability to continue to adapt, grow, change and improve. Purposeful adaptation of the technology, driven by subject matter expertise, is critical given the constant evolution of government requirements and legislative mandates,” said Ferguson.
This means there is no substitute for having subject matter and policy experts who understand the complex constraints of government, and the best ways to bring together simplicity, fairness, and legislative priorities in a way that is efficient and effective.
To bridge that complexity, Brillient ensures its teams are built with both policy experts and technical talent. “Our projects are seeded with professionals that really understand the policy,” said Jacik. “To complement that, we have these advanced technologies that are Federated AI-based, that help analyze the legislation, understand the policies, survey the implementation guidelines and training materials that document delivery processes and standards and use synthesized knowledge to make sure we’re implementing technologies that perform consistent with mission parameters:
The Human Component of AI
As government interest in AI accelerates, understanding the role of humans — in-the-loop, on-the-loop, or anywhere in between — is foundational, and Brillient’s approach to responsible implementation stands out.
“Our AI ecosystem has always supported human-in-the-loop to human-ON-the-loop transition,” said Jacik. “At some point the AI is trained well enough such that humans no longer have to act as a stop light in the process, but as more of a traffic cam—watching and monitoring. In achieving this, people are not only removed from the mundane but elevated to the role of training mentors or supervisors to the AI.”
This evolution allows for greater speed and efficiency while ensuring that quality and mission outcomes stay intact.
“It’s not just that AI is going to do everything better,” said Ferguson. “It’s about showing real-life examples—like clearing backlogs that have existed forever—so people can move on to higher-level tasks that support mission outcomes and true public service.”
Commercial Solutions – But Not Always
When a commercial solution meets 90 percent of a government need, it can offer a clear path forward. But that’s not always the case.
“In the commercial space there may be an ability to focus on a specific demographic or customer base and pour energies into the most profitable customers they can reach with the least amount of effort. Government doesn’t have that luxury so the solutions it provides must be fit for, and accessible to, a broader audience,” said Jacik. “Government, by nature, has more variables, more stakeholders it must serve, and often optimizing commercial solutions to fit these doesn’t work. One solution that Brillient supports is Government-owned, commercially-operated (GoCo) models as a middle path—allowing agencies to use purpose-built systems that serve broader federal needs, while maintaining commercial scalability and operability.
Commercial levels of re-use, however, are still possible. “Just because a system is developed for government, doesn’t mean it’s a unicorn.” said Weiss. “That system could be used at 50 or 200 different departments, offices or agencies and be more aligned with the needs and demands of government by its nature of being purpose built.”
The Pressure to Deploy
The news has been full, recently, of product implementations that failed because they were rushed to production and released too quickly. The pressure to deploy coupled with an obvious lack of expert-level mission understanding is a recipe for disaster in mission delivery systems. “Valuing quality and fit-for-mission over the need to publicly and quickly declare success is clear. That may require tough conversations,” said Jacik, “but as partners to government we focus on quality and results versus just PR. It means saying, realistically—from a technology, process and testing standpoint—what this can look like in 120 days, and how you can communicate the early benefits of that.”
One way to ensure success is to approach challenges with modular solutions that allow flexibility and quick wins Brillient’s deep experience in the federal space, and client-first approach, proves they not only implement, but help clients articulate success. “We partner with our clients throughout the entire journey,” said Ferguson, “to eliminate the noise, focus their goals, and keep them moving forward. We ensure they’re meeting objectives and help them communicate their successes.”
ALICE
At the heart of many of Brillient’s solutions is ALICE (Artificial Intelligence Cognitive Ecosystem), a framework of intelligent automation tools designed specifically for government complexity. “We architected it to solve hard problems within a context that fits government operations,” explained Jacik. “Supporting complex workflows, approvals, routing, and intelligent analytics—while also integrating with existing systems.”
Brillient has deployed ALICE in many agencies, and no two implementations look exactly alike. “Some agencies already have case management, analytics platforms, or workflow engines they want to use. ALICE is designed to plug in and support that environment,” said Weiss. “We have packaged solutions, but they’re modular and extensible. That’s how real work of government can get done.”
Innovation Grounded in Reality
“We’re doing some very advanced AI work,” said Weiss. “But we’re also skeptics. We’re purposeful and careful about when and what we introduce. It must deliver value—sustainably and effectively. Not just look flashy.”
Brillient collaborates closely with both academia and technology partners, that are leading the way in research and understand where technology is headed and how it might be most useful. For example, Brillient is active in public/private initiatives like the AI in Government Council.
“We work with George Mason University, including using PhD candidates to augment our full-time ALICE Labs engineers, and we participate in the AI n Gov Council,” said Jacik. “It’s a symbiotic relationship—we help them with program alignment and placement, and they help us stay sharp on translational tech that can move from lab to implementation quickly.”
Conclusion
What sets Brillient apart is not just what they build, but how they partner. Their focus on purposeful innovation, modular solutions, and long-term relationships helps agencies move forward with confidence—no matter how complex the landscape gets.
As federal technology evolves at a rapid pace, Brillient stands as a steady partner—combining innovation with practicality, expertise with collaboration, and technology with the human insight needed to turn complexity into progress.
