Jane Edwards 
Rise8 and Thoughtworks have secured a contract from the Department of Veterans Affairs to support the nationwide rollout and post-minimum viable product development of VA’s Ambient Scribe artificial intelligence platform.
Thoughtworks Federal SVP Nilanjan Sengupta will speak at the Potomac Officers Club’s 2026 Artificial Intelligence Summit on March 18. The event will bring together government and industry leaders to discuss the evolving role of AI across the federal landscape. Reserve your seat at this Thoughtworks-sponsored event and hear insights from senior executives shaping AI initiatives in the public sector.
Rise8 said Monday the effort will evolve the pilot into a production-grade capability designed for enterprise deployment across the VA health system.
What Is Ambient Scribe?
Ambient Scribe is an AI-enabled platform designed to reduce clinician documentation burden. The platform integrates with VA’s electronic health record system and uses AI tools to capture conversations during clinical visits and produce draft documentation.
VA launched the Ambient Scribe pilot in October 2025 at 10 medical centers. According to Rise8, initial pilot findings showed strong approval from clinicians and veterans, with reported decreases in documentation workload and better care-related interactions.
What Is the Scope of the VA Contract?
Rise8 and Thoughtworks will scale Ambient Scribe from its initial 10-site pilot to more than 130 VA medical centers, with plans to expand the capability into additional specialties.
Rise8 said the effort will deepen alignment with clinician workflows to encourage adoption, improve systemwide monitoring and performance visibility and strengthen technical integrations to meet enterprise standards. The companies will also establish a structured and secure process for adding vendors to the platform as VA expands deployment nationwide.
“Partnering with VA to responsibly scale AI tools across clinical operations reflects a shared commitment to continuously delivering measurable impact for Veterans,” said Bryon Kroger, founder and CEO of Rise8.
Kroger added that the company aims to help transition the capability from pilot efforts to a scalable system available to clinicians nationwide.
What Did Thoughtworks Federal SVP Nilanjan Sengupta Say About Scaling the AI Tool?
“Scaling Ambient Scribe from a successful pilot to a secure, production-grade capability across the VA health system requires more than deploying AI,” said Nilanjan Sengupta, senior vice president at Thoughtworks Federal. “It requires thoughtfully embedding modern AI tools into provider workflows at national scale to reduce clinical burden and enhance the experience and care of Veterans.”
Sengupta noted that Thoughtworks applies AI-focused software delivery approaches that emphasize engineering discipline, responsible governance and human-centered design to help ensure measurable, sustained outcomes for clinicians and veterans.
