FORT LEE, Va –
Armed with a vision of data-driven decision making, the Acquisition Insight Capability Board recently concluded its 2025 summit (CAC login required).
The two-day virtual event, held Aug. 12-13, brought together 125 participants from across Defense Contract Management Agency to advance critical acquisition insight capabilities and data-sharing initiatives aligned with the agency’s strategic vision.
Hosted by Walter Eady, DCMA’s director of the Enterprise Analytics & Modernization Directorate and AICB capability manager, the summit connected experts from across the Business Capability Framework, headquarters and operational commands. The event’s goal was to elevate acquisition insight by aligning efforts with DCMA's strategic vision for a more efficient and responsive defense supply chain.
"We face a clear strategic challenge: maintaining a robust defense supply chain with constrained resources while meeting rapidly evolving customer needs," Eady said. "DCMA is leading through innovation by focusing on centralization, standardization, and automation — leveraging data as our strategic weapon to attack inefficiency on all three fronts."
Eady emphasized the transformational nature and ambitious scope of these efforts.
"We're building a DCMA where every decision is informed by quality data, where resources are optimized through intelligent analysis, and where our workforce is empowered with cutting-edge tools,” Eady said.
Summit participants discussed refining current initiatives and defining realistic expectations for progress in data sharing and automation. One notable discussion centered on leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to predict potential supply chain bottlenecks and drive proactive mitigation.
The collaborative environment generated new ideas and reinforced core objectives.
"The cross-functional engagement demonstrated the tremendous value of bringing together experts from different functional areas to address complex capability challenges," said Sonia Williams, Policy Guidance and Competency Planning Division director and AICB co-lead. "These conversations are driving real innovation in how we approach acquisition insights and will directly benefit our mission execution."
Team members translated summit data points into concrete initiatives and action items within the AICB roadmap. This ensures subject matter expert feedback will lead to tangible improvements in acquisition insight capabilities.
"The actionable outcomes from this summit will be directly integrated into our strategic planning processes," said Terri Brown, industrial engineer and AICB co-lead. "This ensures we maintain momentum and continue building our data-sharing and automation capabilities to better serve our warfighters and acquisition decision makers."
Summit outcomes will directly inform upcoming agency strategic and annual performance plan updates, ensuring alignment between capability development efforts and broader organizational objectives. Integrating action items into the strategic planning framework will accelerate data-sharing and automation while fostering a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
The summit positions DCMA to continue its leadership role in defense acquisition while leveraging emerging technologies to enhance mission effectiveness and better support warfighter requirements.
The AICB encourages agency employees interested in joining the board or contributing to its strategic initiatives to visit its volunteer 365 website (CAC login required).