26-04261 Questions and Answers 10.03.25 Final~1.xlsx
XLSX spreadsheet 45 KB Posted
- Solicitation number
- BD-26-1060-ITD00-ITD00-121152
- Issued by
- Massachusetts
About this file
This document is a Questions and Answers (Q&A) file for RFQ 26-04261, issued by the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security (EOTSS) for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The RFQ seeks an enterprise AI Assistant and Implementation Partner to provide a secure, chat-based platform for over 40,000 Executive Branch employees, with capabilities including drafting, summarization, analysis, and translation. The procurement is limited to current vendors on Statewide Contracts ITS60 Category 1 or ITS75, with responses due on October 10, 2025, and an estimated contract award date of October 31, 2025. The initial contract term is 24 months, with a six-month implementation period targeting a phased rollout across agencies.
The Commonwealth prefers a concurrent or enterprise licensing approach without named user restrictions, with an estimated concurrency rate of 25% of total users. While specific budget ranges are not disclosed, the RFQ emphasizes comprehensive security protocols, including FBI fingerprint-based background checks, annual security training, and compliance with frameworks like HIPAA and MARS-E. Key evaluation criteria will likely focus on platform security, functionality, implementation strategy, and alignment with the Commonwealth's strategic AI objectives. The procurement requires U.S.-based resources, robust data protection measures, and a strategic approach to developing responsible AI capabilities that can potentially improve service delivery to residents.
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Other files
| File | Type | Posted |
|---|---|---|
| Form 2 Cloud Terms 02.05.2025~16.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment C CJIS MOU Template 9.19.2025.docx | DOCX document | |
| Form 3 Template Statement of Work FFP 09.16.2025.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment B DMCA_091925.docx | DOCX document | |
| RFQ 26-04261 for AI Assistant and Implementation Partner Final 09.22.25.docx | DOCX document | |
| Form 4 Risk Management Terms~8.docx | DOCX document | |
| Attachment D Exhibit 7 Safeguarding Contract Language 8.13.24.docx | DOCX document |
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Q&A
| RFQ 26-04261 AI ASSISTANT AND IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER Q&A | ||||
| Question # | Topic | Question | EOTSS Response (to be posted publicly) | |
| 1 | Contract Eligibility | Will EOTSS allow qualified Vendors under ITS81 (Project Services) to bid on this opportunity? | No | |
| 2 | Solution & Technical Requirements | The RFQ specifies support for Entra ID SSO and configurable data retention (including zero retention). Will bidders be expected to demonstrate these capabilities in the pilot/demo phase? | The Commonwealth requires support for Entra ID for SSO. Adittionally, the Commonwealth requires solutions to support configurable data retention policies, including the option for zero retention. Bidders may describe how their solution supports other identity and access management systems. | |
| 3 | Solution & Technical Requirements | Are multimodal features (voice, images, structured data) considered in-scope, or is the Commonwealth only evaluating text-based chat capabilities at this stage? | Yes. | |
| 4 | Solution & Technical Requirements | Will the Commonwealth provide a list of priority ??high-value use cases?? for rollout, or should bidders propose them as part of their value-determination approach? | Bidders should propose high-value use cases as part of their response and are encouraged to highlight those that showcase the strengths of their AI Assistant solution. | |
| 5 | Implementation & Adoption | The RFQ states implementation must not exceed six months. Does this include change management, training, and enterprise-wide rollout, or just technical deployment? | The Commonwealth’s goal is for all 40,000 users to have access to licenses within six months. We understand training and change management may extend beyond that period. Bidders should outline their implementation plan accordingly. | |
| 6 | Implementation & Adoption | Does the Commonwealth expect a phased rollout by agency or a single enterprise-wide deployment? | We expect a phased rollout by agency. | |
| 7 | Implementation & Adoption | The RFQ emphasizes employee confidence and training. What level of hands-on support (e.g., train-the-trainer vs. direct staff training) is expected from the vendor? | At a minimum, the successful bidder is expected to provide a train-the-trainer program that equips the Commonwealth staff with the knowledge and resources needed to deliver training internally. Vendors are encouraged to describe any options for direct staff training and ongoing learning resources. | |
| 8 | Security, Privacy & Compliance | The RFQ lists specific sensitive data types (PII, PHI, CJIS, FERPA, tax, SSA data). Which of these must be fully supported at contract award, and which can be supported on a roadmap? | We expect the bidders to share as part of their bid what data types are supported by their solution. | |
| 9 | Security, Privacy & Compliance | For required certifications and audits (e.g., SOC 2, HITRUST, CJIS background checks), which must be in place at submission versus before go-live? | The bidders must share all the existing core security certifications in place at the time of proposal submissions. Certifications or background checks that are specific to the Commonwealth's requirements or required for operational deployment must be completed prior to go-live. | |
| 10 | Security, Privacy & Compliance | How will the Commonwealth manage log retention and audit reporting ?? should logs feed into a state-managed SIEM or remain within the vendor platform? | Bidders must provide logs with time stamps and user identity metadata, and ensure usage data can be exported for public records requests, SIEM, centralized logging, and e-discovery. | |
| 11 | Generative AI-Specific Provisions | The RFQ prohibits training on Agency Data without explicit consent. Will the Commonwealth allow fine-tuning on its data with approval, or is usage strictly limited to inference with retrieval augmentation? | No Agency Data may be used for fine-tuning without the Commonwealth's explicit prior written consent. | |
| 12 | Generative AI-Specific Provisions | The RFQ requires human review of AI-generated content before it is used in operations. Is this a permanent requirement, or only during the early adoption phase? | Bidders should describe the controls and processes their solution provides to support human review of AI-generated content, including whether the bidder offers such review throughout the subscription to the AI Assistant solution. The Commonwealth will determine how review responsibilities are operationalized. | |
| 13 | Generative AI-Specific Provisions | How will the Commonwealth conduct bias and accuracy testing during demos?? will it provide test scenarios, or should bidders propose evaluation methods? | Bidders should describe the safeguards, controls, and policies their solution uses to address bias and accuracy. The Commonwealth will determine if additional verification or testing is required. | |
| 14 | Pricing & Licensing | The RFQ discourages named-user licensing in favor of concurrent or enterprise models. What concurrency assumption (e.g., 10%??20% of 40,000 staff active at once) should bidders use for pricing? | For pricing purposes, bidders should assume a concurrency rate of 25%. Bidders may propose alternative concurrency assumptions if supported by a clear rationale based on typical usage patterns for comparable deployments, if any. | |
| 15 | Pricing & Licensing | Is it mandatory to provide no-cost licenses during the six-month implementation period, or is it a preference that will be scored favorably? | It is not mandatory. The Commonwealth may give preference to bidders that do not charge for licenses during the six-month implementation period. | |
| 16 | Pricing & Licensing | For contract transitions to successor statewide contracts (post-2026), how will pricing and terms be carried forward? | The Commonwealth expects all the pricing and terms to be carried forward, as long as they do not conflict with the successor statewide contract. | |
| 17 | Governance & Partnership | What metrics will be used to measure ??impact and alignment?? (e.g., resident outcomes, workforce productivity, cost savings)? | Bidders should propose the metrics and approaches their solution uses to measure and demonstrate impact. | |
| 18 | Governance & Partnership | The RFQ emphasizes partnership with higher education, private sector, and AI ecosystem stakeholders. What level of vendor participation is expected in these broader initiatives? | The Commonwealth is seeking a strategic partner that can support collaboration across agencies, higher education, the private sector, and other stakeholders. Formal partnerships are not required. | |
| 19 | Governance & Partnership | Will other eligible entities (municipalities, quasi-publics) be able to procure through this contract without separate approvals? | They may require EOTSS approval. | |
| 20 | RFQ Due Date | Will the Commonwealth provide a two (2) week extension to the due date of the RFQ? | No. | |
| 21 | Subcontracting | If a contract holder of ITS60 or ITS75 would like to subcontract services, are they permitted to do so? | Yes. | |
| 22 | Evaluation Criteria | Can the Commonwealth elaborate on the criteria they will use to evaluate a vendor's response? | No additional information is available beyond what is contained in the RFQ. Bidders are encouraged to rely on the information provided in the RFQ. | |
| 23 | Description of Solution and Services | The RFQ asks for a "secure, enterprise chat interface". Do you envision this as a standalone web portal, a browser extension, or an assistant embedded within an existing collaboration suite like Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace? | We require a secure, enterprise-grade chat interface. We have not defined specific UI/UX requirements, and bidders should describe the functionality of their proposed solution. | |
| 24 | Description of Solution and Services | Are there specific requirements or restrictions regarding employee access to the AI Assistant from mobile devices versus desktops? | Bidders should describe how their solution supports secure access across devices, including mobile if available. | |
| 25 | Technical Requirements | For the required "integration with Commonwealth systems and applications", does the primary need involve reading data from these systems to answer questions, writing data back to these systems (e.g., creating a ticket or record), or both? | Bidders should describe how their solution supports secure API integration and propose integration targets or provide examples of integrations from previous implementations. | |
| 26 | Technical Requirements | Can you provide an example of the top 1-2 systems you envision integrating with first? Knowing the system (e.g., ServiceNow, a specific document repository, a legacy database) helps in understanding the technical effort. | Bidders should describe how their solution supports secure API/connector integration and propose integration targets or provide examples of integrations from previous implementations. | |
| 27 | Data Classification | Are there requirements for the AI Assistant to integrate with existing DLP solutions to prevent sensitive data, such as Social Security Numbers or PII, from being entered into prompts or included in responses? | We require solutions to support data protection consistent with the Commonwealth’s security standards. Bidders should describe the safeguards their solution provides to prevent data loss and unauthorized disclosure. | |
| 28 | Technical Requirements | Beyond EntraID for single sign-on, do you require the AI Assistant to use EntraID user groups to enforce permissions? For example, should employees in the "Finance Department" group be the only ones able to query financial systems through the assistant? | The Commonwealth requires integration with the Commonwealth’s Entra ID for single sign-on. Bidders are encouraged to provide any additional information on how their solution supports role-based access controls. | |
| 29 | Background | The RFQ's goal is to give staff tools to work more efficiently and deliver services with greater speed and accuracy. Many agencies interact with visual data like site inspection photos, architectural plans, or citizen-submitted images. To what extent have you considered use cases where the AI Assistant would need to understand, analyze, and describe the content of images or video frames to accelerate these workflows? | The Commonwealth has considered these use cases. Bidders may feel free to include any information highlighting their product’s capabilities. | |
| 30 | Background | To create a government that is more "accessible, and effective for all residents", have you considered the need for the AI Assistant to support voice commands and provide spoken, conversational responses? This could enhance accessibility for employees and provide new avenues for constituent services. | Accessibility requirements are addressed in RFQ Section VI.B. Bidders may feel free to include any information highlighting their product’s capabilities. | |
| 31 | Description of Solution and Services | To support the Commonwealth's diverse population, what are the most critical languages beyond English that the AI Assistant should support for real-time, high-quality translation of both text and voice? | The Commonwealth expects the bidders to share as part of their response the languages they already support and those that may be on their roadmap. | |
| 32 | Technical Requirements | The RFQ requires the solution to provide secure API access to enable integration with Commonwealth systems. To accelerate this and future development, have you considered the value of the AI Assistant providing advanced code generation, explanation, and debugging in various programming languages for your technical staff? | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. | |
| 33 | Description of Solution and Services | The core tasks include summarization and analysis. Often, official reports or incident summaries contain a mix of text, charts, and images. Have you envisioned use cases where the AI Assistant must analyze and synthesize information from all elements within a document—not just the text—to provide a comprehensive summary? | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. Please see question No. 155 for additional information. | |
| 34 | Description of Solution and Services | The RFQ emphasizes a partnership to make AI a "lasting, responsible capability" and mentions the importance of training. Looking to the future, have you considered how the AI Assistant could help generate new media, such as creating training video scripts with suggested visuals or producing audio voice-overs, to make training and communications more scalable and effective? | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. | |
| 35 | Description of Solution and Services | The RFQ lists "analysis" as a key task for the AI Assistant. To empower non-technical staff and accelerate data-driven decisions, have you considered use cases where the AI Assistant could directly query structured data sources, like SQL databases? This would allow an employee to ask a question like, "What was the total grant expenditure in Q2 by county?" and receive an immediate answer without needing to file a data request. | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. Please see question No. 155 for additional information. | |
| 36 | Background | A key part of making data useful is clear communication. To that end, have you considered the need for the AI Assistant to natively generate data visualizations directly within the chat interface? For example, could a user ask, "Show me a pie chart of IT ticket categories for the last 30 days," and instantly receive the chart, rather than just a table of numbers? | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. | |
| 37 | Description of Solution and Services | Looking ahead, do you see a future need for the AI Assistant to not only answer one-off questions but also help employees build and customize simple, interactive data dashboards through a conversational interface, further democratizing access to critical business intelligence? | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. | |
| 38 | Cover Page | Will the Commonwealth provide a two (2) week extension to the due date of the RFQ? | No | |
| 39 | NA | If a contract holder of ITS60 or ITS75 would like to subcontract services, are they permitted to do so? | See response to question No. 21. | |
| 40 | NA | Can the Commonwealth elaborate on the criteria they will use to evaluate a vendor's response? | See response to question No. 22. | |
| 41 | Data retention | Will the Commonwealth require zero data retention for all interactions, or only for certain data types or agencies? | N/A | |
| 42 | Enterprise Integration | What systems (e.g., M365, ServiceNow, Salesforce) must the AI Assistant integrate with during Phase 1? | Bidders should describe how their solution supports secure API/connector integration and propose integration targets or provide examples of integrations from previous implementations. | |
| 43 | Functional Requirements | Will the AI Assistant need to support multilingual interactions? If so, what languages? | See response to question No. 31. | |
| 44 | Implementation | What does EOTSS imagine a successful implementation to be? Is it that all 40,000 employees in the Commonwealth have access to the AI Assistant within 6 months? Or is it that some subset of these employees have been trained on and can use the AI Assistant, tailored to their use case and context within 6 months? | See response to question No. 6. | |
| 45 | Implementation | Are there critical milestones or agency priorities that should guide the rollout plan? | No. | |
| 46 | Licensing | How does the Commonwealth anticipate ramping up its licenses after the 6-month implementation – by agency or function or some other way? | The Commonwealth would like to hear from the bidders on their recommended approach. | |
| 47 | Licensing | Can the Commonwealth clarify what constitutes a “concurrent user” for this engagement? Is there a peak usage estimate or historical data to help us model pricing? | See response to question No. 14. | |
| 48 | Licensing | Will all 40,000 users require access during the 6-month implementation period? | See response to question No. 14. | |
| 49 | Licensing | Would the Commonwealth be open to solutions that are consumption-based pricing models? | Yes, it is something the Commonwealth may consider. | |
| 50 | Nearshore/Offshore | Do resources need to be US-based or can we explore using nearshore or offshore resources? Is this true for both the implementation and the ongoing maintenance and support? | It is the Commonwealth's preference for offshore resources to not have access to any Agency Data. | |
| 51 | Response format | Form 1 – RFQ Response Form, section III does not include any requirements – how should the bidder respond to these? | Please refer to RFQ Section V. and see response to question No. 8. | |
| 52 | Response format | Should the bidders respond with in-line responses in Form 1 – RFQ Response Form? If so, is there a page limit? If not, will EOTSS allow for an attachment that describes the business and technical response for collaboration and partnership, training, change management, value determination, impact and alignment, and the technical requirements (i.e., architecture, implementation approach, technical requirements)? | The Commonwealth will entertain alternative formats, provided they include the required information. | |
| 53 | Support | What maintenance and support does EOTSS expect as part of this RFQ? | The Commonwealth expects the AI Assistant to be supported and maintained in line with standard SaaS best practices (regular updates and upgrades, bug fixes, security patches, availability monitoring, technical support, etc.) Bidders should describe the level of support, maintenance, and service-level commitments they will be providing. | |
| 54 | Template SOW | Form 3 – Template Statement of Work FFP describes a fixed price agreement. Will EOTSS need a fixed price for the full 2-year term, inclusive of implementation of the AI Assistant for all 40,000 employees plus training, change management, value determination, etc. for all 40,000 employees? Or would EOTSS accept a fixed fee for the implementation and a T&M rate card to price work that EOTSS and the vendor would co-define during the initial 6-month implementation period? | The bidders must provide their hourly rates, an estimate of hours needed per task/deliverable, and licensing cost. The Commonwealth may give preference to bidders that guide the Commonwealth resources in a cost-effective way to deliver a successful implementation of their AI Assistant solution. | |
| 55 | Template SOW | Form 3 – Template Statement of Work FFP describes a fixed price agreement. Does EOTSS have a list of expected deliverables and acceptance criteria for those deliverables? | The Commonwealth expects the bidder to propose an implementation plan. | |
| 56 | Training and Change | Are there other AI initiatives or projects that may impact stakeholders when engaging them? | The question as submitted is too broad to provide a specific response. | |
| 57 | Training and Change | For Learning / training and communications, will there be internal teams we will partner with (centrally or across agencies)? About how many people will be available to partner with the bidder and about how much of their time will be made available? | Bidders should describe approaches and methods that have been successful in other large-scale deployments. | |
| 58 | Training and Change | What is the expected format and cadence for learning / training (e.g., live sessions, LMS modules, train-the-trainer, tip-sheets)? | The Commonwealth expects the bidder to propose the required learning and training cadence. | |
| 59 | Training and Change | Will learning / training be centralized through EOTSS or decentralized by agency? How many LMS(s) might the bidder need to use? | Bidders should describe approaches and methods that have been successful in other large-scale deployments. | |
| 60 | Training and Change | Will EOTSS lead change management centrally, or is the vendor expected to provide embedded change agents across agencies? | Bidders should describe approaches and methods that have been successful in other large-scale deployments. | |
| 61 | Use Cases | Can the Commonwealth clarify or provide any examples of what they consider impactful use cases? | Bidders should propose high-value use cases as part of their response and are encouraged to highlight those that showcase the strengths of their solution. | |
| 62 | Data retention | Will the Commonwealth require zero data retention for all interactions, or only for certain data types or agencies? | We require solutions to support configurable data retention policies, including the option for zero retention. | |
| 63 | Enterprise Integration | What systems (e.g., M365, ServiceNow, Salesforce) must the AI Assistant integrate with during Phase 1? | See response to question No. 42. | |
| 64 | Section V. Data Classification and the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) | Can we submit exceptions and/or proposed modifications to RFQ Section V. Data Classification and the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) within our response? | Yes, but such exceptions and/or modifications may be considered by the Commonwealth in its scoring. | |
| 65 | EOTSS RFQ 26-04261: AI ASSISTANT AND IMPLEMENTATION PARTNER | Within our proposal, can we submit exceptions or proposed modifications to any of the terms and conditions contained within RFQ and associated attachments? | Yes, but such exceptions and/or modifications may be considered by the Commonwealth in its scoring. Please note, no exceptions or modifications may be made to the Standard Contract Form or the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions or the Commonwealth Terms and Conditions for Information Technology Contracts. | |
| 66 | Intellectual Property, Accuracy, Bias, Discrimination Mitigation and Quality Control of GenAI. | Could you define what an acceptable and scalable non-automated quality control process would look like from your point of view in a daily, high-output environment? Given that 40,000 individuals will be using this to improve their productivity, reviewing every interaction, could cause a major bottleneck. | Bidders should describe the safeguards their solution provides to prevent data loss and unauthorized disclosure. | |
| 67 | B. Description of Solution and Services | What are the benefits that are being sought by going with a SaaS model versus other Managed IaaS/PaaS models? Is the Commonwealth open to other managed cloud-based custom solutions? | We require a cloud-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution, as specified in the RFQ. | |
| 68 | Description of Solution and Services - Technical Requirements | Can you please share a list of Systems and Applications that’ll need to be integrated? | See response to question No. 42. | |
| 69 | Description of Solution and Services - Technical Requirements | Whose responsibility will it be to integrate the provided API for the States Systems and Applications | The Commonwealth's responsibility or a third-party contracted by the Commonwealth. | |
| 70 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| B Description of Solution and Services | Can you provide a breakdown of the 40,000 employees by Agency, department, or function? Are there specific Agencies or roles that are considered high-priority for the initial rollout? | The Commonwealth declines to respond to this question. | ||
| 71 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| B Description of Solution and Services | Are there specific translation or multilingual support requirements for the platform interface, training materials, or user documentation? | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. | ||
| 72 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| B Description of Solution and Services | Beyond the technical implementation within six months, how will the Commonwealth define and measure the success of the AI Assistant's adoption? Are there specific key performance indicators (KPIs) for employee engagement, usage rates, or productivity gains that have already been set? Will KPIs be set at the Commonwealth level or for each Agency? | Bidders should propose the metrics and approaches their solution uses to measure and demonstrate impact. | ||
| 73 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| A Background | Has the process for capturing and evaluating use cases started or will we be building this as part of the program? Has the State identified any priority use cases and can share descriptions of the use cases? | Bidders should propose high-value use cases as part of their response and are encouraged to highlight those that showcase the strengths of their solution. | ||
| 74 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| A Background | Is there a ballpark for total number of use cases? | Bidders should propose high-value use cases as part of their response and are encouraged to highlight those that showcase the strengths of their solution. | ||
| 75 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| B Description of Solution and Services | Data connectors will drive what users can and cannot generate with this solution. Will the connectors vary by Agency or be standard across the Commonwealth? | The Commonwealth has not identified specific connectors. Bidders should propose integration approaches and may highlight connectors that demonstrate the strengths of their solution. | ||
| 76 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| B Description of Solution and Services | Is there an existing data governance body or data leadership council that will be involved in the decisions related to connectors, API approvals, etc.? | There are various governance bodies within the Commonwealth that may be involved in data-related items. | ||
| 77 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| B Description of Solution and Services | Are there any known data retention policies for prompts or generative outputs? | We require solutions to support configurable data retention policies, including the option for zero retention. | ||
| 78 | Description and Purpose of Procurement | |||
| B Description of Solution and Services | Will the EOTSS function as the change management lead Commonwealth-wide or will we be coordinating communications and trainings with each Agency? | Bidders should describe approaches and methods that have been successful in other large-scale deployments. | ||
| 79 | C. Event Calendar | Can we request a 2-week extension to the Request for Quote (RFQ) deadline? Upon review, we have identified areas that require State clarification before we can provide an accurate and comprehensive quote. | No. | |
| 80 | A. Background | Can you provide information on what AI tools the state may be using today? | The question as submitted is too broad to provide a specific response. | |
| 81 | Section II.B. Description of Solution and Services | In Section II.B. Description of Solution and Services of the RFQ, the Commonwealth states “The platform should allow staff to interact through natural language prompts for common tasks such as drafting, summarization, analysis, and translation, and must be reliable for use across the enterprise." Can the Commonwealth please clarify if analysis includes data analysis? | Bidders may feel free to include information about their product’s data analysis capabilities if relevant to their solution. | |
| 82 | Section II.B. Description of Solution and Services | In Section II.B. Description of Solution and Services of the RFQ, the Commonwealth states “The platform should allow staff to interact through natural language prompts for common tasks such as drafting, summarization, analysis, and translation, and must be reliable for use across the enterprise." Can the Commonwealth please clarify which languages are required for translation? | See response to question No. 31. | |
| 83 | Section B. Description of Solution and Services | In Section II.B. under "Value Determination" the Commonwealth mentions the "implementation of impactful use cases". Can the Commonwealth clarify or provide any examples of what they consider impactful use cases? | The Commonwealth is asking bidders to propose impactful use cases and assist the Commonwealth with tracking and reporting on value to the Commonwealth. | |
| 84 | Section IV. Cost Response | Would the Commonwealth be open to solutions that require a consumption-based pricing model? | See response to question No. 49. | |
| 85 | Vendor Preference | Is there a preferred Cloud vendor or Hyperscaler platform that the Commonwealth prefers to work with? | No preference, the Commonwealth will evaluate responsive bids to determine which best meets the Commonwealth's requirements and delivers best value. | |
| 86 | Data Residency & Sovereignty | Where will Commonwealth data be physically stored and processed? Will it be required it remains within US borders or specific geographic regions? | Please review the terms of the statewide contract. The requirements for where data may be physical stored and processed are clearly outlined there. | |
| 87 | Zero Retention Policy | What is needed to happen to conversation history, and can users access their own past interactions if needed? | The Commonwealth requires a solution to support configurable data retention policies, including the option for zero retention. Please also see questions 62 and 77. | |
| 88 | API Integration Scope | What specific Commonwealth systems do you envision integrating with the AI Assistant? Are there existing APIs to work with? | See response to question No. 42. | |
| 89 | Compliance Timeline | For any data types where you're not currently compliant (CJIS, IRS 1075, etc.), do you have specific timelines and commitments for achieving compliance? | This will depend on whether the selected solution supports these types of data. | |
| 90 | Disaster Recovery | What are the specific requirements for the second instance mentioned for disaster recovery? How would you like failover to work? | The Commonwealth requires an enterprise solution that ensures service availability. | |
| 91 | Model Updates | How frequently would you want to update the underlying AI model, and what notice/testing period will the Commonwealth need before updates go live? | The Commonwealth relies on the bidders to specify a schedule for model updates. | |
| 92 | Audit Access | What specific audit reports (SOC 2, FedRAMP, etc.) are needed for Compliance Frameworks? | See response to question No. 9. | |
| 93 | Rollout Strategy | What's your recommended phased approach to reach 40,000 users? What's realistic for pilot, early adopter, and full deployment phases? | The Commonwealth expects the bidders to propose their recommended phased approach. | |
| 94 | Training Delivery | How will training be delivered at scale? Virtual? In-person? Self-service? What's the expected time investment per employee? | See response to question No.7. | |
| 95 | Week extension | We would like to ask for an additional week of time to respond to this RFQ. We want to make sure we have the internal resources aligned for delivering and implementing this AI based solution, so having this additional week would help us prepare for this. | No | |
| 96 | Evaluation | Can you provide the percentage weighting of the evaluation criteria? | No, the Commonwealth does not share specific weighting during this phase of the procurement process. | |
| 97 | Evaluation | Can you confirm how functionality, price, and partnership approach will be weighted in the evaluation? | See response to question No. 96. | |
| 98 | Pricing | The RFQ discourages named-user licensing in favor of concurrent or enterprise models. Will the Commonwealth mandate this, or allow flexibility? | It is something the Commonwealth will consider but it may affect the overall scoring. | |
| 99 | Pricing | Will the Commonwealth accept a tiered pricing model based on adoption/use cases, or is a flat enterprise license preferred? | The Commonwealth will evaluate all proposed pricing models. Preference may be given to enterprise licensing approaches that maximize value for the Commonwealth. | |
| 100 | Pricing | During the six-month implementation period, the RFQ suggests preference for vendors that do not charge license fees. Can you confirm whether this is a requirement or an evaluation preference? | It is a strong preference and it may affect the overall scoring. | |
| 101 | Pricing | What is the allocated budget range for this program? | The Commonwealth declines to respond to this question. | |
| 102 | Information Technology | Which systems must the AI Assistant integrate with initially (e.g., EntraID, ticketing systems, knowledge bases)? | See response to question No. 42. | |
| 103 | Information Technology | Will vendors be expected to provide APIs to Commonwealth systems, or will middleware be provided by EOTSS? | The Commonwealth requires secure API access to enable integration with Commonwealth systems and applications. No specific APIs have been defined. | |
| 104 | Information Technology | Are there preferred cloud hosting environments (e.g., Azure vs. AWS) or must the solution align with the Commonwealth’s existing infrastructure? | The Commonwealth requires a SaaS solution. We have not specified a preferred hosting environment, provided the solution meets the Commonwealth’s security and compliance requirements. | |
| 105 | Information Technology | For sensitive data types (PHI, FTI, CJIS, SSA data), will the Commonwealth provide separate environments or expect the AI Assistant to be certified across all categories? | The Commonwealth expects the bidders to share in their proposal which data types they are certified to handle as part of this proposed solution. | |
| 106 | Information Technology | Will vendors be required to meet FedRAMP or equivalent certification for cloud-based AI services? | Preference will be given to the AI Assistant solution that is FedRAMP certified. | |
| 107 | Information Technology | What is the Commonwealth’s position on offshore support? Are all AI systems and data strictly required to remain in the U.S.? | If offshore resources are proposed, it is the Commonwealth's preference for offshore resources to not have access to any Agency Data. Please review the terms of the statewide contract. The requirements for where data may be physically stored and processed are clearly outlined there. | |
| 108 | Training | What level of training is expected—end-user training for all employees, or train-the-trainer programs for agency leads? | See response to question No.7. | |
| 109 | Training | How does the Commonwealth envision ongoing skill-building for staff as AI capabilities evolve? | The Commonwealth would like to hear from the bidders on their ongoing skill-building for staff using their solution. | |
| 110 | Training | Will existing knowledge bases be provided to train the AI Assistant, or should vendors expect to build these from scratch? | Agency Data may not be used to train models without Agency's prior written consent. Bidders may describe how their proposed solution can securely use Agency Data for retrieval or other Commonwealth business purposes. | |
| 111 | Escalation Procedures | What is the Commonwealth’s process for escalating issues with the AI Assistant (e.g., accuracy problems, security incidents)? | The Commonwealth has an established escalation process for addressing issues, including those related to the AI Assistant. | |
| 112 | Escalation Procedures | Who are the designated escalation contacts for governance, technical, and security matters? | The Commonwealth has an established escalation process for addressing issues, including those related to the AI Assistant. Bidders should describe their support model, including escalation procedures and service levels, as part of their proposal. | |
| 113 | Reporting | What reports are expected from the vendor (e.g., adoption metrics, training effectiveness, error/bias detection, performance dashboards)? | Bidders should propose the metrics and approaches their solution uses to measure and demonstrate impact. | |
| 114 | Reporting | What is the preferred frequency and format for reporting (monthly, quarterly, real-time dashboards)? | Bidders should propose their recommended frequency and format for reporting. | |
| 115 | Quality Assurance | Does the Commonwealth expect vendors to provide continuous monitoring and reporting on accuracy, bias, or discriminatory outcomes of the AI system? | The Commonwealth requires vendors implement safeguards to mitigate bias and accuracy risks on a continuous basis. Bidders should describe the safeguards, controls, and policies their solution provides. | |
| 116 | Quality Assurance | What review or approval process will the Commonwealth apply before AI outputs can be used in business operations? | The Commonwealth has an internal review and approval process in place to govern the use of AI outputs within business operations but would like to hear Bidders recommendations. | |
| 117 | Work Strategies | What guardrails or governance frameworks does the Commonwealth require vendors to follow regarding responsible AI use (e.g., transparency, explainability, bias testing)? | The Commonwealth requires vendors implement safeguards to mitigate bias and accuracy risks. Bidders should describe the safeguards, controls, and policies their solution provides. | |
| 118 | Work Strategies | Will Agency Data be permitted for AI model fine-tuning or training, or must all solutions operate strictly on zero-retention unless expressly approved? | See response to question No. 11 | |
| 119 | Work Strategies | What are the expectations around bias and accuracy testing (frequency, scope, and reporting of results)? | The Commonwealth expects the bidders to share as part of their proposal the established frequency, scope, etc. of the bias and accuracy testing for their AI Assistant solution. | |
| 120 | Volume and Metrics | Beyond the stated tasks (drafting, summarization, analysis, translation), what are the priority “high-value” use cases the Commonwealth has identified for adoption? | The Commonwealth is asking bidders to propose impactful use cases that demonstrate how their solution can deliver value. The Commonwealth is not prescribing specific use cases. | |
| 121 | Volume and Metrics | How does the Commonwealth plan to measure impact and value of the AI Assistant (e.g., productivity metrics, user satisfaction, cost savings)? | Bidders should propose the metrics and approaches their solution uses to measure and demonstrate impact. | |
| 122 | General | Who is the current AI or productivity vendor (if any pilot or incumbent exists)? | The Commonwealth declines to respond to this question. | |
| 123 | General | How many vendors does the Commonwealth intend to select under this RFQ? | One vendor award is planned. | |
| 124 | General | Who are the primary stakeholders for the AI Assistant program? | EOTSS and a number of representatives from other executive branch agencies. However, this is subject to change. | |
| 125 | General | Which user groups or agencies will be prioritized for rollout? | Please see response to question No. 46. | |
| 126 | General | Are agencies outside the Executive Branch (e.g., municipalities, higher education) expected to have access under this contract? | The question is answered in the RFQ. Please review section 1. D of the RFQ. | |
| 127 | General | Beyond chat-based AI, does the Commonwealth anticipate expanding to voice or multimodal capabilities in the future? | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. | |
| 128 | General | Will the AI Assistant rollout be phased across agencies, or will all 40,000 Executive Branch employees go live at once? | See response to question No. 6 | |
| 129 | General | Does the Commonwealth anticipate a sandbox or pilot phase with shortlisted vendors prior to award? | No. | |
| 130 | Governance | What are the specific GenAI guidelines for transparency, equity, and beneficial use? Is there an existing framework/KPIs the Commonwealth uses to evaluate the guidelines? | Please include this as part of the proposal if this is something your solution offers. | |
| 131 | Governance | What is the preferred logging mechanism? Will logs be consumed by other applications/services? | Bidders must provide logs with time stamps and user identity metadata, and ensure usage data can be exported for public records requests, SIEM, centralized logging, and e-discovery. Please also see response to question No. 10. | |
| 132 | Security | Are there specific accessibility requirements (multi-lingual, ADA etc.) for the solution? | Please review the Commonwealth's accessibility requirements included in the RFQ. See RFQ section VI.B. | |
| 133 | Security | What type of system audits are considered sufficient to comply with Risk Management? | Please review the Commonwealth's Enterprise Information Security Policies and Standards. | |
| 134 | Security | Are there any agency-specific compliance standards that the solution must comply with? | Yes, compliance standards are outlined in the RFQ, its attachments and links to Commonwealth's policies. | |
| 135 | Security | What authentication/authorization systems are in place beyond EntraID (e.g., Okta, OAuth, SAML, OIDC)? Should the AI solution leverage existing role-based access controls? | Please see response to question No. 2. | |
| 136 | Security | What is the business continuity or failover requirement if the AI service goes down? | Please see response to question No. 90. | |
| 137 | Security | Is there a central identity authority? Are agencies federated under a single org/tenant? | The question as submitted is too broad to provide a specific response. | |
| 138 | Infrastructure | Any preference where this technology should be implemented (on-prem, off-prem)? | Please see response to question No. 67. | |
| 139 | Infrastructure | Does the Commonwealth currently use a Cloud Solution Provider? | Yes. | |
| 140 | Data Exchange | What is the predominant, underlying data structure? Is it consistent across all departments? Is there a central, cross-agency data lake/warehouse or are datasets siloed? Who owns its governance? | The Commonwealth expects the solution to support multiple data formats. | |
| 141 | Data Exchange | Are there restrictions on what data can be shared across agencies/departments? | Yes. | |
| 142 | Data Exchange | What applications and data sources should be integrated in the first 6 months? | The Commonwealth has not identified specific systems. Bidders should describe how their solution supports secure API/connector integrations and propose integration targets or provide examples of integrations from previous implementations. | |
| 143 | Data Exchange | What types of data will the AI solution have access to (PII, PHI, financial, public records)? Are different controls needed by data type? | The Commonwealth expects the bidders to share in their proposal which data types they are certified to handle as part of this proposed solution. | |
| 144 | Data Exchange | Is there a statewide API management standard that new services must use? | No. | |
| 145 | Existing Solutions | What AI solutions has the Commonwealth already used/piloted? Does the Commonwealth have any AI/ML platforms approved for production? | No additional information is available beyond what is contained in the RFQ. Bidders are encouraged to rely on the information provided in the RFQ. | |
| 146 | Existing Solutions | What is the nature of the tools already in place (custom software vs. vendor supported)? | The Commonwealth is unable to provide a response as the question as written is not sufficiently clear to allow for a meaningful response. | |
| 147 | Existing Solutions | What is the preferred delivery model for the solution (standalone chatbot platform vs. integration into current tools)? | The Commonwealth expects the AI Assistant to have the capabilities to be integrated into current tools. The bidders are encouraged to share successful integrations with their AI Assistant solution. | |
| 148 | Existing Solutions | What tech-stack is used today (cloud provider, identity authority, and productivity suite)? How consistently is it enforced across agencies? | The Commonwealth is unable to provide a response as the question as written is not sufficiently clear to allow for a meaningful response. | |
| 149 | Training | Are there preferred formats or platforms for training (e.g., in-person, virtual, self-paced)? How will the Commonwealth assess training effectiveness and ongoing support? | Bidders should describe approaches and methods that have been successful in other large-scale deployments. | |
| 150 | Training | Do different user groups (knowledge vs. frontline vs. back-office) require different training approaches? How should the vendor segment the 40,000 users for training purposes? | Bidders should describe approaches and methods that have been successful in other large-scale deployments. | |
| 151 | Training | Will Commonwealth IT staff eventually support and maintain the AI solution? What ongoing support and services are expected from the vendor and for how long? | The Commonwealth expects a SaaS solution. | |
| 152 | Internal Resourcing | Does the vendor have an internal partner? Is there a dedicated project team or technical team? | The Commonwealth is unable to provide a response as the question as written is not sufficiently clear to allow for a meaningful response. | |
| 153 | Internal Resourcing | How will responsibilities be divided between the Commonwealth and the vendor? | The Commonwealth expects the bidders to propose the division of responsibilities which will be evaluated as part of their bid response. | |
| 154 | Internal Resourcing | What access will the vendor have to Commonwealth employees, systems, facilities, and end-users during the engagement? | The Commonwealth is unable to provide a response as the question as written is not sufficiently clear to allow for a meaningful response. Bidders are expected to propose their vision in their response. | |
| 155 | AI Use Cases | How does the Commonwealth imagine AI will help Executive Branch employees? What is the nature of Executive Branch employee work (e.g., knowledge, frontline, back-office)? What Executive Branch workflows directly impact the delivery of services to residents? | The AI Assistant is intended to support Executive Branch employees with tasks such as drafting, summarization, analysis, and translation. Bidders may highlight how their solution can extend these capabilities across different employee roles and workflows that support resident services. | |
| 156 | AI Use Cases | What resident services is the Commonwealth hoping AI can help expedite with more accuracy and consistency? What are the biggest operational hurdles facing the delivery of resident services today? Any specific use cases that are particularly frustrating or difficult? | Bidders should propose how their solution can improve employee efficiency in ways that strengthen service delivery to residents. | |
| 157 | Project Lifecycle | What is the hard deadline for a solution to be implemented? | Six months from the when the contract is fully executed. | |
| 158 | Project Lifecycle | What is driving the 6-month timeline? Can the vendor adopt a phased approach? | The Commonwealth expects a phased approach, with a strong preference that all implementation and related readiness activities are completed before go-live, and that the first agency or Secretariat go-live occurs within the first 6 months, with as many agencies included as is practical. | |
| 159 | Project Lifecycle | Will the solution be rolled out across all agencies within the first 6 months or should it be piloted within specific agencies/departments? | See response to question No. 6. | |
| 160 | Project Lifecycle | What are the expectations of service after the 6-month timeline? For how long? How does this differ from the 24-month contract term? | The 24-month contract term is for the subscription to the AI Assistant. | |
| 161 | Priorities | What are the top priorities for the organization? | The question as submitted is too broad to provide a specific response. | |
| 162 | Priorities | What does success look like in the first 6 months? Is there an existing framework/KPIs the Commonwealth uses to evaluate impact? | The Commonwealth expects the bidders to define how success will be measured for their proposed AI Assistant solution. | |
| 163 | Form 3 – Statement of Work FFP; Section 5 – Fixed Price Tasks and Deliverables | Can the government please confirm the intent is for the bidders to propose deliverables and the selected vendor will finalize deliverables with the Commonwealth upon contract award? | Yes, but the deliverables proposed must be closely aligned to the bidder's proposed implementation strategy. | |
| 164 | Form 3 – Statement of Work FFP; Section 6.3 – Contract Personnel | Please confirm that only the named personnel with an agreed time commitment to this project are required to be located within the United States. | Yes, however, offshore resources may not have access to any Agency Data. | |
| 165 | Additional Requirements - Accessibility - Products and services must meet the Commonwealth’s Digital Accessibility Standards (WCAG 2.1 A and AA). | Is the vendor required to submit formal VPAT documentation with the proposal, or will this be required only prior to contract execution? | Yes, please submit VPAT and ACR documentation with proposal. | |
| 166 | Additional Requirements - Risk Management - Bidder must indicate the types of system audits or assessments (e.g. SOC 2)… | What is the minimum acceptable certification (e.g., SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, FedRAMP Moderate) to meet the risk management requirements under this RFQ? | The Commonwealth may give preference to bidders with the highest level of security certifications. | |
| 167 | Background - The Commonwealth does not seek a named user licensing model... Instead, we prefer a concurrent or enterprise licensing approach. | Can the Commonwealth clarify which concurrent or enterprise licensing models are acceptable (e.g., per-seat concurrent, unlimited enterprise access, hybrid models)? | Please see responses to questions 14, 183 and 203. | |
| 168 | Business Process - N/A | Does the Commonwealth anticipate a single governing body to vett and approve Commonwealth resources and data for model inclusion and training, or will that privilege be federated to user groups with guardrails and process rules? | This procurement is focused on the AI Assistant in this RFQ. Broader AI governance for the Commonwealth will continue to be addressed separately. | |
| 169 | Data Classification - Bidder agrees and acknowledges that its access... may require certifications, background checks… | Can the Commonwealth confirm which certifications (e.g., CJIS, HIPAA, FedRAMP) are required at the time of award versus those that may be completed prior to accessing protected data? | The Commonwealth expects the bidders to share in their proposal which data types they are certified to handle as part of this proposed solution. |
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