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AI Use in Government Contracting - One Day Essentials
The fastest research assistant you'll ever have — and the most confident one when it's wrong.
Generative AI has arrived in federal contracting. Agencies are rolling out their own tools — and the acquisition workforce is being encouraged to use them. Used well, AI can be a force multiplier, reducing hours of work to minutes. Used carelessly, it can put source selection information where it doesn't belong, or hand you a confident answer built on a FAR section that the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul removed.
In one focused day, participants learn how generative AI actually works and why it can state something false with complete confidence; the rules that govern its use, from federal policy to their own agency's AI policy and approved tools; and the information that must never go into an unapproved AI tool, including source selection information, contractor proprietary data, sensitive negotiation positions, and personal information.
From there, we cover how to structure prompts that produce usable results — giving the tool the right role, context, and constraints, and asking for the sources you'll need to verify — and where AI saves real time across the acquisition lifecycle: market research, first drafts of requirements documents and correspondence, summarizing long documents, negotiation preparation, contract administration, and FAR research. We also cover where it gets things wrong, how to check every output, and why the judgment — and the signature — stays with a human.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, who spent her federal career in the acquisition workforce. She served as a Contract Specialist, COR, and AOR for the U.S. Navy (and later a Contract Specialist for the Department of Health and Human Services / Indian Health Service), where she worked on more than $7.7 billion in federal contracts across services, RDT&E, engineering, IT, construction, and major weapon-system programs. She draws on that experience, along with her law degree and MBA studies, to teach the why behind the how — so participants leave with sharper judgment, not just a stack of slides. An award-winning DAU/WarU (DAWIA and FAI) instructor, she has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 30 agencies.
Best for: This course is for the acquisition workforce who want to use AI to get more done without putting their agency, their contracts, or themselves at risk.
Format: One day, delivered in person or virtually, 8 CLPs/0.8 CEU. Phoenix Canyon issues every attendee a certificate of completion documenting the number of training hours as well as CEUs and CLPs earned, which employers may count toward Continuous Learning or Professional Development requirements at their discretion. Phoenix Canyon is a DAU/WarU Equivalent Provider.
Want a quote for this class? CLICK HERE
You might also consider
Revolutionary FAR Overhaul — how to find and apply the new regulations, how to know when the new rules apply, and the role of non-regulatory guidance in the modern-day contracting office.
Writing an Effective Performance Work Statement (PWS) — One-Day Essentials — a focused deep-dive into the document that makes or breaks a performance-based acquisition.
How to Be Protest-Proof: a Bid Protest Prevention Course — One-Day Essentials — how to ensure regulatory compliance and build the kind of record that holds up if an award is challenged.
The fastest research assistant you'll ever have — and the most confident one when it's wrong.
Generative AI has arrived in federal contracting. Agencies are rolling out their own tools — and the acquisition workforce is being encouraged to use them. Used well, AI can be a force multiplier, reducing hours of work to minutes. Used carelessly, it can put source selection information where it doesn't belong, or hand you a confident answer built on a FAR section that the Revolutionary FAR Overhaul removed.
In one focused day, participants learn how generative AI actually works and why it can state something false with complete confidence; the rules that govern its use, from federal policy to their own agency's AI policy and approved tools; and the information that must never go into an unapproved AI tool, including source selection information, contractor proprietary data, sensitive negotiation positions, and personal information.
From there, we cover how to structure prompts that produce usable results — giving the tool the right role, context, and constraints, and asking for the sources you'll need to verify — and where AI saves real time across the acquisition lifecycle: market research, first drafts of requirements documents and correspondence, summarizing long documents, negotiation preparation, contract administration, and FAR research. We also cover where it gets things wrong, how to check every output, and why the judgment — and the signature — stays with a human.
This course is taught by Melinda Milheim, JD, who spent her federal career in the acquisition workforce. She served as a Contract Specialist, COR, and AOR for the U.S. Navy (and later a Contract Specialist for the Department of Health and Human Services / Indian Health Service), where she worked on more than $7.7 billion in federal contracts across services, RDT&E, engineering, IT, construction, and major weapon-system programs. She draws on that experience, along with her law degree and MBA studies, to teach the why behind the how — so participants leave with sharper judgment, not just a stack of slides. An award-winning DAU/WarU (DAWIA and FAI) instructor, she has taught more than 1,000 federal acquisition workforce students across 30 agencies.
Best for: This course is for the acquisition workforce who want to use AI to get more done without putting their agency, their contracts, or themselves at risk.
Format: One day, delivered in person or virtually, 8 CLPs/0.8 CEU. Phoenix Canyon issues every attendee a certificate of completion documenting the number of training hours as well as CEUs and CLPs earned, which employers may count toward Continuous Learning or Professional Development requirements at their discretion. Phoenix Canyon is a DAU/WarU Equivalent Provider.
Want a quote for this class? CLICK HERE
You might also consider
Revolutionary FAR Overhaul — how to find and apply the new regulations, how to know when the new rules apply, and the role of non-regulatory guidance in the modern-day contracting office.
Writing an Effective Performance Work Statement (PWS) — One-Day Essentials — a focused deep-dive into the document that makes or breaks a performance-based acquisition.
How to Be Protest-Proof: a Bid Protest Prevention Course — One-Day Essentials — how to ensure regulatory compliance and build the kind of record that holds up if an award is challenged.