Selling Software, AI, and Digital Platforms into the Department of Wars New Acquisition Model

The Department of War’s (DoW) newly released Acquisition Transformation Strategy marks the most consequential shift in defense buying in decades and it is being designed explicitly to unlock commercial technology at speed. While headlines focus on weapons and platforms, the real transformation is in how DoW intends to acquire software, data, AI, cyber, autonomy, digital infrastructure and mission applications across the enterprise.

This strategy replaces slow, program-centric procurement with a portfolio-driven, outcome-based acquisition model that prioritizes rapid adoption, continuous upgrades and scalable vendor ecosystems. In this new model, software, data platforms and AI are no longer “supporting tools”, they are core warfighting infrastructure.

This webinar will break down what the new acquisition framework means for commercial technology companies trying to sell into DoW. We will explain how DoW is reorganizing buying authority around capability portfolios instead of programs, how funding is shifting toward modular, incrementally deployed digital capabilities, and how vendors must align with warfighter outcomes, not IT feature lists, to win.

Attendees will learn how:

• Portfolio Managers are becoming the new “buyers of record” for AI, data, and software.
• Continuous delivery models are replacing one-time programs of record.
• Commercial contracting pathways are expanding for non-traditional vendors.
• Digital platforms are being budgeted, governed, and scaled across fleets, commands, and missions.

For AI, software, cyber and data platform companies, this strategy changes who buys, how budgets are controlled, how value is measured and how deals get done. This session provides a practical, non-theoretical guide to positioning your technology to fit inside DoW’s new acquisition reality and how to turn the strategy into real pipeline and funded opportunities.