Pioneering a model for digital transformation across government

Summary

The challenge

Federal agencies manage billions of dollars in technology spending each year, yet most didn’t have the internal capability to deliver digital services effectively. Outdated procurement practices, siloed teams, and a reliance on large contractors left agencies dependent on external vendors — not just for building technology, but for understanding what to build in the first place.

The problem wasn’t simply technical. Agencies lacked the talent pipelines, operating models, and institutional knowledge needed to adopt practices like agile delivery, user-centered design, and product management. Previous reform efforts tended to focus on policy mandates rather than practical capability building, and there was no established model within government for how to institutionalize these changes at scale.

What was missing wasn’t another set of recommendations — it was a working proof of concept: a team inside government that could demonstrate modern digital practices through direct delivery while coaching agency partners to sustain the work independently.

The solution

Chris co-founded 18F Consulting and, along with Robert, designed it as a new model for delivering digital transformation inside government. The core insight was that agencies didn’t need more reports telling them to “go agile” — they needed to experience modern practices firsthand on real projects, with a team that could coach them through the transition. Rather than importing a single methodology wholesale, they built an approach that combined modern digital practices with the expertise of career civil servants and federal contractors.

Getting the right people into government was the first challenge. They used the Schedule A(r) hiring authority to recruit more than 40 multidisciplinary experts — spanning design, product, engineering, data, policy, and acquisition — bringing private-sector skills into public service. The hiring approach itself was unconventional for government: performance profiles instead of traditional job descriptions, structured interviews adapted from private-sector best practices, and a deliberate focus on mission-driven technologists who wanted to work inside the system, not around it.

The delivery model was what set 18F Consulting apart from typical government reform efforts. Instead of handing agencies a report and walking away, their teams worked directly alongside agency partners — introducing practices like agile delivery, product management, and user-centered design through real projects with real outcomes. This embedded approach meant agency staff didn’t just hear about modern practices; they practiced them, building the muscle memory needed to continue the work after 18F’s engagement ended.

The model proved transferable. The success of 18F Consulting seeded growth across GSA and beyond — spawning multiple new organizations within GSA’s Technology Transformation Services, including the Office of Acquisitions, 18F Transformation, and 18F Learn. Other agencies began standing up their own digital teams modeled on the same principles, extending the impact far beyond what a single practice could deliver directly.

The results

• Recruited and hired more than 40 multidisciplinary experts across design, product, engineering, data, policy, and acquisition
• Delivered nearly 45 projects for federal, state, and local agencies
• Influenced more than $1 billion in IT acquisition decisions across government
• Helped agencies avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in unnecessary technology acquisition costs
• Achieved strong client satisfaction — a Government Accountability Office (GAO) survey found 23 of 26 respondents were very or moderately satisfied
• Catalyzed the creation of agency-specific digital teams modeled after 18F Consulting
• Produced and shared more than 35 public resources to scale knowledge across government