Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office’s Artificial Intelligence Governance and Acquisition Process (Report No. DODIG 2025 039)

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office's Artificial Intelligence Governance and Acquisition Process (Report No. DODIG-2025-039)

Evaluation

The objective of this evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of the Chief Digital and Artificial Intelligence Office's (CDAO) development of artificial intelligence (AI) strategy and policy for the DoD, and the CDAO's acquisition and development of AI products and services. During the evaluation, we identified that, while the CDAO has been working on developing both AI strategy and policy, action is required to ensure effective governance going forward in this important area. Without these foundational elements in place, the DoD may not be able to achieve the full benefits of AI that are critical to its future success.

In light of this issue, we focused our oversight efforts in this evaluation exclusively on the CDAO's strategy and policy development. We will consider a future evaluation on the CDAO's acquisition and development of AI products and services.