SAM #36C10B26Q0700

VA Enterprise Service Desk Tier-0 and Tier-1 Support with AI and Automation Integration

The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Information & Technology is seeking vendor input for a large-scale Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) Tier-0 and Tier-1 support contract. - Government Buyer: - Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Information & Technology, Enterprise Command Operations (ECO), Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) - Scope of Services: - 24/7/365 IT support for approximately 600,000 VA employees and contractors - Support for around 900 applications, handling about 190,000 monthly calls and 40,000 self-service tickets - Multi-Vendor Service Provider environment with ITIL-based service management, knowledge management, and incident management - Integration of AI and automation into agent workflows, including AI-generated post-interaction summaries, real-time knowledge surfacing, and automated ticket triage/escalation - Quality assurance for AI-generated content and independent AI/automation capabilities (workforce forecasting, agent coaching analytics) - Staffing and scheduling models that leverage AI/automation-driven efficiency and support for scalable, elastic staffing - Escalation handling from AI/self-service to live agents - Pricing structures that adjust to changing contact volume and complexity - Compliance with VA security, AI policies, and VAAR/SBA certification for SDVOSB/VOSB set-aside requirements - Optional Tasks: - VIP Service Desk Operations for designated VIP users - Spanish-speaking bilingual support across all channels except self-service - Scalable cross-functional project and program management support - Transition-out services for orderly contract handover - Contract Details: - 6-month base period, four 12-month option periods, one 6-month option period, and three optional tasks (up to 60 months total) - Transition-in phase required within 150 days post-award - Up to four annual trips for two people - No specific OEMs or commercial vendors are named; the focus is on service delivery and AI/automation integration.

Description

Request for Information Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) Tier One Support VA-26-00084022

Introduction

This Request for Information (RFI) is for planning purposes only and shall not be considered an Invitation for Bid, Request for Task Execution Plan, Request for Quotation or a Request for Proposal. Additionally, there is no obligation on the part of the Government to acquire any products or services described in this RFI. Your response to this RFI will be treated only as information for the Government to consider. You will not be entitled to payment for direct or indirect costs that you incur in responding to this RFI. This request does not constitute a solicitation for proposals or the authority to enter into negotiations to award a contract. No funds have been authorized, appropriated or received for this effort. Interested parties are responsible for adequately marking proprietary, restricted or competition sensitive information contained in their response. The Government does not intend to pay for the information submitted in response to this RFI.

The North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) for this requirement is 541512 with a size standard of $34 million.

1. Submittal Information:

All responsible sources may submit a response in accordance with the below information.

There is a page limitation for this RFI of 15 pages. The Government will not review any other information or attachments included, that are in excess of the 15-page limit. NO MARKETING MATERIALS ARE ALLOWED AS PART OF THIS RFI. Generic capability statements will not be accepted or reviewed. Your response must address capabilities specific to the services required in the attached PWS and must include the following:

Interested Vendors shall at a minimum, provide the following information in the initial paragraph of the submission:

Name of Company Address Point of Contact Phone Number Fax Number Email address Company Business Size and Status For VOSB and SDVOSBs, proof of SBA certification. SDVOSB/VOSB vendors that have not been certified by SBA should not respond to this notice. NAICS code(s) Socioeconomic data Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) Number Existing Contractual Vehicles (GWAC, FSS, or MAC)

Provide a summary of your capability to meet the requirements contained within the draft PWS for the following areas:

Provide a summary of your technical capability to meet the PWS requirements.

Describe how you will incorporate AI-generated post-interaction summaries and real-time knowledge surfacing into agent workflow, training, and coaching. Include your QA approach for identifying and correcting inaccurate or incomplete AI-generated content before it becomes part of the permanent ticket record.

Describe how you will capture reductions in wrap-up time and handle time attributable to AI/automation tooling within your staffing and scheduling model, including the timeframe in which you expect to realize measurable staffing efficiency.

Describe any AI or automation capabilities you propose to build and operate independently of the Contact Center Infrastructure platform (e.g., internal workforce forecasting/scheduling, agent coaching analytics, ticket triage or escalation routing, internal QA sampling). For each, describe the data sources required and whether those sources are available to you today.

As agentic AI and self-service resolve a growing share of standard transaction types, describe how your staffing model, agent skill mix, and training approach will evolve to reflect a contact mix increasingly concentrated on complex or exception cases.

Describe your approach to handling escalations from agentic AI or self-service to a live agent, including how you will measure and report "AI-attempted then escalated" contacts distinctly from contacts handled entirely by an agent.

Describe how your proposed pricing structure will adjust as contact volume and contact complexity shift over the period of performance in response to AI-driven deflection and self-resolution. Include any built-in review or repricing mechanisms.

Describe your staffing elasticity model and redeployment/retention approach for affected personnel as automation reduces agent-handled contact volume over time.

Provide a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM), including projected labor categories, labor hours, estimated quantities, unit pricing, and any additional anticipated costs, to meet the Government's requirements. Please include assumptions used to develop the ROM, including if commercial pricing is available for any of the services.

Corporate experience or expertise in performing these services and specific examples or references. Specific examples or references provided must include the agency, point of contact, dollar value, and contract number.

For SDVOSB/VOSB vendors: Your company s intent and ability to meet the set aside requirement in accordance with VAAR 852.219-73 (JAN 2023) (DEVIATION) VA Notice of Total Set-Aside For Certified SDVOSBs and 13 CFR §125.6, which states the contractor will not pay more than 50% of the amount paid by the government to the prime for contract performance to firms that are not certified SDVOSBs listed in the SBA certification database (excluding direct costs to the extent they are not the principal purpose of the acquisition and the SDVOSB/VOSB does not provide the service, such as airline travel, cloud computing services, or mass media purchases). When a contract includes both services and supplies, the 50 percent limitation shall apply only to the service portion of the contract.

Your response shall include information as to available personnel and financial resources; full names of proposed team members and the PWS requirements planned to be subcontracted to them, which must include the prime planned percentage or the names of the potential team members that may be used to fulfill the set aside requirement.

Has the draft PWS provided sufficient detail to describe the technical requirements that encompass the software development and production operations support services to be performed under this effort.

______ YES _______ NO (if No, answer question f)

If NO , please provide your technical comments/recommendations on elements of the draft PWS that may contribute to a more accurate proposal submission and efficient, cost effective effort.

Responses are due no later than 9:00AM ET, Thursday, August 13, 2026 via email to Andrea Caltabilota, Contract Specialist at Andrea.Caltabilota@va.gov, and Julia Renna, Contract Specialist at Julia.Renna@va.gov. Please note Enterprise Service Desk (ESD) Tier One Support in the subject line of your response. Mark your response as Proprietary Information if the information is considered business sensitive. The email file size shall not exceed 5 MB.

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