Bill Evanow, Commentary, Federal News Network, April 25, 2025
Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are on the hunt to find waste, fraud and inefficiency across the government. So far, their focus has largely been “axe-based” on cutting certain programs, agencies or office space that can be eliminated in their view. Some of these changes have been met with varying degrees of outrage and opposition from the other side.
What if DOGE took a different, data-driven approach? Instead of using an axe to cut large swaths of agency programs or staff, they could use the power of AI-driven procurement technologies to surgically detect potential waste, fraud and sourcing savings. After all, this is what those in the private sector have been doing for years, with the highest performers driving savings of 6% of their total spend, which we’ve seen total more than $250 billion in business spend savings across organizations of all sizes.