Jane Edwards 
Leidos and OpenAI have teamed up to advance the deployment of artificial intelligence tools to transform federal operations and support national priorities.
As organizations advance the use of AI across federal operations, industry attention continues to center on how AI is being applied at scale. The Potomac Officers Club will host its 2026 Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 18, bringing together government and industry leaders to explore the evolving AI landscape. Register now to join the discussion at this OpenAI-sponsored event.
How Will the Leidos-OpenAI Partnership Drive Government AI Adoption?
Leidos said Thursday it will work with OpenAI to integrate agentic and generative AI capabilities into workflows of customers in defense, national security and infrastructure, digital modernization, health services and other strategic markets in support of its NorthStar 2030 growth strategy.
Leidos Chief Technology Officer Ted Tanner said the collaboration will help federal agencies improve operations by harnessing AI’s “transformative power,” adding that OpenAI’s most powerful models are being deployed in secure environments to protect data while enhancing productivity and accelerating product development and delivery.
Through the OpenAI partnership, Tanner noted that Leidos is expanding beyond generative AI to develop custom agentic workflows aimed at improving operational efficiency.
“We’re integrating OpenAI’s models with our own AI tools to accelerate how we perform a range of knowledge work, including global threat assessments, supply chain monitoring and deepfake detection,” the Leidos CTO added.
Joseph Larson, vice president of government at OpenAI, said government adoption of AI depends on trust, security and mission relevance. He added that the partnership intends to support agencies as they transition from experimentation to real-world deployments aimed at improving resilience, efficiency and public service.
How Is Leidos Advancing AI Through Partnerships?
The latest collaboration builds on Leidos’ AI partnerships focused on enhancing government and defense operations.
In 2025, Leidos partnered with Protect AI to provide end-to-end security for federal AI systems. The company also collaborated with CargoSeer to help customs agencies improve screening by integrating the latter’s trade-analysis algorithms into the Mezzo enterprise platform.
Leidos and VML launched Imperium, an AI-powered information operations platform designed to accelerate analysis, mission planning and decision-making in complex defense environments.
