ADTS RFI Responses To Questions.pdf

Question # RFI Category Question Government Response

1 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

We are unable to complete the Microsoft Forms portal submission because Question 18 requires the selection of a specific federal contract vehicle. Could the Government please update the form to include a 'not applicable' or 'other' option, or otherwise adjust the requirement to allow for submission?

The RFI Form has been updated.

2 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Can you confirm the preferred response format and whether ICE is open to a short capability discussion or one-on-one session as part of its market research?

The response format for this RFI is the Microsoft Form.

One-on-one sessions are not currently scheduled. The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to invite select vendors for one-on-one sessions to demonstrate their products and/or services.

3 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Would you please provide a downloadable copy of the complete questionnaire, including all 14 pages, response instructions, and any attachments or amendments?

The linked Microsoft Form requires answers to the questions on page 12 before later pages can be viewed.

We would like to review the complete requirements before preparing a response, without entering placeholder answers. Please include any response length limits, attachment requirements, and submission instructions that appear on the remaining pages.

The RFI Form has been updated. The PDF version of the RFI Microsoft Form was added to the SAM.gov posting on September 30, 2026.

4 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Ahead of the October 16 deadline, could you confirm whether ICE wants responses in a specific format or page limit, and whether any attachments beyond the SAM notice describe the three functional areas in more detail?

The response format for the RFI is the Microsoft Form.

5 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Before preparing a capability response, could you confirm whether ICE will consider submissions from specialized small businesses covering a defined subset of the functional areas, or whether respondents must demonstrate prime-level capability across AI, data, and technology architecture?

All vendors can provide responses to the RFI.

6 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Could you please confirm whether the “Link for Respondents” in SAM.gov is the required submission route and whether there are any preferred response-format, page-limit, or demonstration instructions beyond the notice?

Yes, please submit your RFI response using the link to the Microsoft Form provided in the SAM.gov posting.

7 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

We would like to understand the appropriate path for a small technology firm to respond, participate through teaming/subcontracting, or be considered for future AI/data/architecture work arising from this market research.

All vendors can provide responses to the RFI.

8 7. Governance, Independence, and Conflict of Interest

Section 3.1.3 describes an independent assurance boundary (application security testing, software composition analysis, secrets detection, SBOM and provenance verification, AI adversarial testing, and release enforcement), and the Single vs. Multi-Vendor question lists "independent evaluation/compliance" as a possible separate component. Section 1.0 states that "generation, assurance, and authorization must remain distinguishable," and Section 3.3.2 calls for "separation of duties between generators and approvers."

Is the Government considering performing that assurance function under a separate contract, lot, or CLIN from the O&M and development work it evaluates? If it stays within a single award, does the Government intend to apply organizational conflict of interest or separation-of-duties provisions so that the team producing software is not the team approving its release?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

9 8. One-on-One Sessions and Future Engagement

For vendors invited to the one-on-one sessions described in the RFI, will the Government provide an environment, sample application, or data set for demonstrations, or should vendors bring their own representative, non-Government artifacts? Is there an expected session length or format?

One-on-one sessions are not currently scheduled. The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to invite select vendors for one-on-one sessions to demonstrate their products and/or services.

10 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

The Microsoft Form has no file-upload field. Should the optional two-page supplement described in Section

6.0 be emailed to OAQ-ITD-SD-requirements@ice.dhs.gov, and if so, with what subject line so it is matched to the form response? Do the form's text fields carry a character limit?

Per the RFI, the optional two-page supplement can be emailed to OAQ-ITD-SD-requirements@ice.dhs.gov, using the subject “RFI # RFI-ICE_ADTS_Sep2026."

The character limit for a single long answer response in Microsoft Forms is 4,000 characters (including spaces and line breaks).

11 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

What background investigation or suitability determination is anticipated for contractor personnel under the eventual contract, and would staff be required to hold a favorable determination before starting work or may they begin with an interim determination?

All contractors must comply with ICE personnel vetting requirements, including, but not limited to, U.S.

citizenship and the ability to obtain Public Trust Fitness Approval.

12 3. Transition, Incumbents, and Existing Environment

To help industry understand the transition described in the Transition-In question, can the Government identify the current contract(s) supporting the STELLA Platform and Application Portfolio, the Lakehouse, and the enterprise architecture practice?

The Government anticipates a one-month transition-in and one-month transition-out, but will accept recommendations for specific tasks and other durations.

Incumbent contract information:

- Contract Number: 70CTD023FR0000088

- Incumbent Contractor: Deloitte Consulting LLP

- Period of Performance: 09/20/2023-03/19/2028

- Contract Type: Firm-Fixed Price (FFP)

- Contract Vehicle: OASIS

13 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Can you post the character or page limit to the responses to the main questions in the form? The character limit for a single long answer response in Microsoft Forms is 4,000 characters (including spaces and line breaks).

14 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Can you please send us the RFI documents if this is still “live”? The RFI submission deadline was extended on October 15, 2026. The submission deadline was extended from October 16, 2026, at 10:00 AM ET to October 23, 2026, at 2:00 PM ET. The PDF version of the Form can be found on the SAM.gov posting.

15 9. Operational and Support Expectations

Does ICE anticipate that contractor personnel will be required to work onsite in Washington, DC on a routine or full-time basis, or may architecture, AI/data engineering, DevSecOps, cybersecurity, O&M, application support, and program-management functions be performed primarily remotely with onsite presence for mission-required meetings, transition activities, workshops, and major events?

It is not anticipated that contractor personnel would be required to work onsite on a full-time basis but may be required to be onsite for specific tasks.

16 9. Operational and Support Expectations

For the stated 6:00 AM–9:00 PM Eastern Time support window and 24x7 outage support, does ICE expect dedicated staffed shifts throughout the full period, or may the contractor use overlapping core-team schedules with an on-call escalation model outside normal business hours?

Vendors can suggest how to fulfill the support window requirements.

17 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

What personnel security requirements does ICE anticipate for this effort, including DHS/ICE suitability, Public Trust, Secret, Top Secret, or other clearance requirements? Will any positions require access to classified systems or information?

All contractors must comply with ICE personnel vetting requirements, including, but not limited to, U.S.

citizenship and the ability to obtain Public Trust Fitness Approval.

18 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

What is the current authorization posture of the STELLA platform and associated applications? Will the selected contractor inherit existing ATO, RMF, control-assessment, POA&M, SSP, and related security artifacts, or should the contractor anticipate establishing or substantially rebuilding authorization packages?

STELLA and associated applications have an interim ATO.

19 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Does ICE anticipate providing Government-furnished laptops, network access, development environments, repositories, cloud tenant access, cybersecurity tools, and other required Government systems to contractor personnel?

For any potential future procurement, ICE anticipates providing majority of necessary government-furnished equipment, access, and tools. However, ICE may require the contractor to acquire specialized tools or software via Other Direct Cost (ODC) Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) for specific tasks.

20 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Does ICE anticipate that cloud consumption, foundation-model/API usage, GPU resources, Databricks or similar platform consumption, OEM software licensing, security tooling, observability platforms, and other technology subscriptions will be Government-furnished or Government-funded separately from contractor labor?

For any potential future procurement, ICE anticipates providing majority of necessary government-furnished equipment, access, and tools. However, ICE may require the contractor to acquire specialized tools or software via ODC CLINs for specific tasks.

21 3. Transition, Incumbents, and Existing Environment

What transition-in period does ICE anticipate? Will the incumbent be required to provide structured knowledge transfer, current architecture documentation, source repositories, infrastructure-as-code, runbooks, application/model inventories, data-pipeline documentation, security artifacts, configuration information, and operational history?

The Government anticipates a one-month transition-in and one-month transition-out, but will accept recommendations for specific tasks and other durations. Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized. Yes, incumbents will provide a tranisition out knowledge transfer.

22 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Approximately how many production applications, AI use cases, models, agents, data pipelines, APIs, cloud accounts/subscriptions/projects, and major shared platform components are currently within the anticipated scope?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

23 9. Operational and Support Expectations

Does ICE anticipate formal SLAs, service credits, liquidated damages, or other financial penalties associated with availability, incident response/resolution, security remediation, deployment frequency, recovery objectives, or other service-performance measures?

Vendors are encouraged to provide recommendations regarding methodologies and mechanisms for operational management and control.

24 9. Operational and Support Expectations

Does ICE anticipate identifying mandatory key personnel positions or minimum staffing levels in a future solicitation, or will offerors be permitted to propose staffing structures based on workload, required coverage, and performance outcomes?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

25 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

Would ICE permit contractors to use qualified subcontractors or specialized teaming resources for limited areas such as independent AI evaluation, specialized continuous-ATO/RMF support, OEM expertise, or cleared personnel while retaining prime-contractor responsibility for overall integration and performance?

Any future solicitation may allow for subcontracting/teaming arrangements. Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

26 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

ICE’s RFI asks industry to recommend acquisition vehicles. Is ICE currently considering GSA MAS as one of the potential acquisition approaches for the resulting requirement, including applicable IT/cloud professional-services SINs?

This RFI is being used to inform our market research and to aid in the development of our acquisition strategy. No contract vehicle has been selected at this time.

27 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

Could you please confirm whether a Morocco-based company can participate in this RFI and advise us on the required process, eligibility conditions, and submission requirements?

All vendors can provide responses to the RFI.

28 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Could you please share the complete RFI requirements, Statement of Work/Performance Work Statement, attachments, and any other supporting documents available for industry review?

All relevant information and updates regarding this RFI are available via the official SAM.gov posting.

29 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Should the two supplemental pages be emailed before or after the Microsoft Form is submitted, and will ICE match them to form responses by company name and UEI?

Interested parties may submit up to two optional supplemental pages. These pages may be emailed either before or after the form response is submitted, provided they are received no later than the established RFI deadline. ICE will match the optional two-page submission by using the Company Name.

Project Name/SAM.gov Notice ID: ICE Enterprise AI, Data, and Technology Strategy/Arch.: O&M, Enhancement, and Design / RFI-ICE_ADTS_Sep2026 RFI Questions & Responses Tracking Template

30 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

May form answers refer to figures in the two-page supplement? Form responses may refer to the two-page supplement; however, vendors are responsible for ensuring that all references are clear and easy to locate.

31 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Does ICE expect to reserve any functional areas or lanes for small business, as it did for two of the SWIFT domains?

ICE anticipates small business involvement but has not determined any set-aside status.

32 7. Governance, Independence, and Conflict of Interest

Does ICE expect to acquire the independent assurance boundary separately from sustainment and Agentic Software Factory build-out?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

33 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Will the Government furnish the reference architecture, interoperability rules and evidence schema to all vendors, or does ICE expect a contractor to help develop them under the Technology Strategy / Architecture area?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

34 8. One-on-One Sessions and Future Engagement

Would ICE consider a Government-hosted, hands-on technical exercise with a published scoring rubric as part of the evaluation for a follow-on solicitation?

Yes, vendors may recommend specific evaluation criteria for consideration. Please include these suggestions within your RFI submission.

35 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Will ICE publish answers to industry questions, and if so, when? Answers to industry questions will be provided as an attachment to an amendment on the official SAM.gov posting.

36 8. One-on-One Sessions and Future Engagement

Does ICE expect to hold the one-on-one sessions before a draft solicitation is released? One-on-one sessions are not currently scheduled. The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to invite select vendors for one-on-one sessions to demonstrate their products and/or services.

37 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

You may have gotten this question before - is it possible to post a PDF of the RFI/Sources Sought so we can read the questions, etc as a consolidated document? I understand the use of the form for responses, but if possible, it would definitely help respondents to see the consolidated RFI document as an attachment.

The PDF version of the RFI Microsoft Form was added to the SAM.gov posting on September 30, 2026.

38 7. Governance, Independence, and Conflict of Interest

Sections 2.0 and 3.1.3 describe an independent assurance boundary, and question 8 lists independent evaluation and compliance as a possible separate component. Does ICE anticipate acquiring the independent assurance boundary, including AI evaluation and governance review, separately from the O&M and enhancement vendor whose work it would assess?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

39 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Could you please clarify that in Section 4.0 INFORMATION REQUESTED FROM INDUSTRY, there are only 12 questions associated with the response? I am unable to move to page 13 in the web-form without answering the 12 questions and want to confirm there are not additional technical questions that require a response on page 13 or 14?

Yes, there are only twelve (12) questions associated with this RFI. The RFI Form has been updated to move through all pages.

40 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

May a small-business respondent describe the relevant experience and capabilities of proposed teaming partners when those contributions are clearly identified and attributed, or should all experience described in the response be limited to the respondent’s own corporate past performance?

Vendors can provide responses based on their individual or team capabilities.

41 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Please confirm whether the optional two-page supplemental submission should be emailed to OAQ-ITD-SD-requirements@ice.dhs.gov after completing the Microsoft Form. If so, please identify any required file format, naming convention, or maximum file size.

Per the RFI, the optional two-page supplement can be emailed to OAQ-ITD-SD-requirements@ice.dhs.gov, using the subject “RFI # RFI-ICE_ADTS_Sep2026." These pages may be emailed either before or after the form response is submitted, provided they are received no later than the established RFI deadline. ICE will match the optional two-page submission by using the Company Name. PDF submission is acceptable.

42 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

If ICE proceeds from this RFI to a formal acquisition, would the anticipated structure permit a qualified prime contractor to include a specialist subcontractor / subject-matter expert for a bounded AI assurance or runtime-governance workstream?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

43 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Is submission of a response to this RFI compulsory to take part in future solicitations? No.

44 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

Are teaming arrangements, including prime contractor/subcontractor or other partner arrangements, permitted or contemplated for this requirement?

Requirements for personnel, subcontracting, teaming arrangements will be determined and described in future requests.

45 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

Would a U.S.-based prime contractor be permitted to team with or subcontract portions of the work to a company based in South Africa, subject to all applicable security, data-access, personnel, and contractual requirements?

All contractors must comply with ICE personnel vetting requirements, including, but not limited to, U.S.

citizenship and the ability to obtain Public Trust Fitness Approval.

46 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

Is any offshore performance permitted under the contemplated requirement? If so, are there particular functions that must be performed exclusively by U.S.-based personnel or from U.S.-based facilities?

All contractors must comply with ICE personnel vetting requirements, including, but not limited to, U.S.

citizenship and the ability to obtain Public Trust Fitness Approval. Additionally, specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized. These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

47 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

Does ICE anticipate that performance will be primarily on-site at Government facilities, off-site/remote, or a hybrid arrangement? If an on-site presence is anticipated, could ICE please identify the expected locations and any functions for which on-site personnel would be required?

It is not anticipated that contractor personnel would be required to work onsite on a full-time basis but may be required to be onsite for specific tasks.

48 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Are there anticipated U.S. citizenship, residency, personnel security clearance, suitability, or background-investigation requirements that would restrict participation by foreign-national personnel or non-U.S.

subcontractors?

All contractors must comply with ICE personnel vetting requirements, including, but not limited to, U.S.

citizenship and the ability to obtain Public Trust Fitness Approval.

49 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Is ICE considering multiple awards by functional area (for example, a separate award for independent assurance and AI governance), and would any functional area be considered for a small business or SDVOSB set-aside?

This RFI is being used to inform our market research and to aid in the development of our acquisition strategy. ICE anticipates small business involvement but has not determined any set-aside status.

50 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Is there a character limit on the Microsoft Form answer fields? The character limit for a single long answer response in Microsoft Forms is 4,000 characters (including spaces and line breaks).

51 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Section 2.0 says multiple vendors, models, and deployment environments should be able to coexist under Government-owned interoperability standards. Does ICE anticipate extending STELLA workloads or Agentic Software Factory capabilities beyond the current AWS, Azure, and GCP environments? Examples would be on-premises, field, or disconnected/DDIL settings supporting ERO or HSI operations. If so, should respondents address deployment environment portability under Question 12?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

52 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

The notice directs submission via Microsoft Form, while §6.0 also references emailing the Contracting Officer. Is the Form the sole submission channel?

RFI submissions should be via the Microsoft Form. The optional two-page supplement can be emailed to OAQ- ITD-SD-requirements@ice.dhs.gov, using the subject “RFI # RFI-ICE_ADTS_Sep2026."

53 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Which NAICS code (541519 per Q16, or other) and what size standard will govern the anticipated acquisition? Is a small-business set-aside, and specifically a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) set-aside, being considered?

This RFI is being used to inform our market research and to aid in the development of our acquisition strategy. ICE anticipates small business involvement but has not determined any set-aside status.

54 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Will the anticipated acquisition use an existing vehicle (e.g., SWIFT, GSA MAS, OASIS+) or a new vehicle, and will it be open to new vendors?

No contract vehicle has been selected at this time, and vendors are encouraged to submit recommendations for potential acquisition vehicles.

55 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

Would the Government consider other established vehicles, such as NASA SEWP VI, a GSA MAS contract, or the DoD Tradewinds marketplace, as acceptable ordering paths for this requirement?

No contract vehicle has been selected at this time, and vendors are encouraged to submit recommendations for potential acquisition vehicles.

56 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

What are the anticipated security requirements for contractor personnel (suitability level, U.S. citizenship, on-site vs. remote), and the Government-furnished environment (ICE Cloud, FedRAMP level)?

All contractors must comply with ICE personnel vetting requirements, including, but not limited to, U.S.

citizenship and the ability to obtain Public Trust Fitness Approval.

It is not anticipated that contractor personnel would be required to work onsite on a full-time basis but may be required to be onsite for specific tasks.

57 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Are the three functional areas expected to be awarded together as a single award, or as separable lots? Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

The Government is accepting recommendations on potential award types and structures across the draft areas of support areas.

58 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Does the Government anticipate a single prime contractor with subcontractors, or would it consider multiple prime awards? Are there any limits on subcontracting or teaming that vendors should plan for? Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

The Government is accepting recommendations on potential award types and structures across the draft areas of support areas.

59 8. One-on-One Sessions and Future Engagement

Will the Government publish a Q&A summary and/or an industry day? Answers to industry questions will be provided as an attachment to an amendment on the official SAM.gov posting.

60 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

For one-on-one sessions, what format and timeline should vendors expect? One-on-one sessions are not currently scheduled. The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to invite select vendors for one-on-one sessions to demonstrate their products and/or services.

61 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Please confirm whether an interested vendor may submit the five-page capability response by the October 16, 2026 deadline while the CAGE assignment is pending, or whether an active CAGE code is mandatory at the time of response.

The response format for the RFI is the form and the RFI contains instructions for submittal of the optional two-page supplemental document. An active CAGE code is not required in order to submit an RFI response.

62 7. Governance, Independence, and Conflict of Interest

Does ICE currently anticipate a single award covering all three verticals of AI, Data, and Technology Strategy and Architecture, or separate awards aligned to one or more of those verticals or to the agentic software factory layers?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

The Government is accepting recommendations on potential award types and structures across the draft areas of support areas.

63 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Does ICE intend the same prime to perform both steady state O&M and the independent assurance boundary, or does ICE expect to separate generation from assurance across different awardees to preserve independence?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

The Government is accepting recommendations on potential award types and structures across the draft areas of support areas.

64 8. One-on-One Sessions and Future Engagement

For the data vertical, does ICE require demonstrated experience with the specific tool stack of Collibra, Databricks, MuleSoft, and Traceable, or will ICE accept equivalent governed data lake/data warehouse and data governance experience consistent with its stated portability and open standards posture?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process. Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized. These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

65 8. One-on-One Sessions and Future Engagement

For the evaluation approach in Section 4 Question 1, does ICE intend to use live technical demonstrations, scenario-based exercises, or a technical challenge during the one-on-one sessions, and will ICE provide a reference baseline or scoring rubric that vendors can prepare against?

One-on-one sessions are not currently scheduled. The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to invite select vendors for one-on-one sessions to demonstrate their products and/or services.

66 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

In those demonstrations, will ICE accept hands on evidence drawn from a vendor's own representative environment or prior federal work, rather than evidence produced on ICE systems, as a valid basis for scoring demonstrated capability?

One-on-one sessions are not currently scheduled. The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to invite select vendors for one-on-one sessions to demonstrate their products and/or services.

67 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Sections 2 and 4 describe replaceable capabilities and multi-vendor delivery. Would ICE consider a response limited to a defined independent-assurance component when the respondent discloses that it cannot independently operate all three AI, data and EA verticals?

Could such a response be considered for a one-on-one session?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

Additionally, one-on-one sessions are not currently scheduled. The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to invite select vendors for one-on-one sessions to demonstrate their products and/or services.

68 7. Governance, Independence, and Conflict of Interest

Section 2 states 12 fully deployed STELLA applications while Q2 refers to dozens. Which population should respondents use for transition and support sizing? Could a later solicitation provide a non-sensitive inventory by criticality, cloud, authorization boundary and support level, including the scope of STELLA Chat?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process. Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized. These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

69 2. Submission Mechanics and Process

Must independent assurance be performed by a legally separate contractor from the runtime operator, or can it be a segregated workshare under one accountable prime if ICE controls policy, challenge data and release authority? Should respondents assume evaluation stays within ICE-approved environments with synthetic or separately authorized data?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

70 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Section 6 requires the Microsoft Form, permits a two-page supplement and also refers to email submission.

Should the supplement be emailed separately while substantive answers go in the Form? If so, what format and identifying information should it include?

Yes. Answers should be submitted in the Microsoft Form, and the optional two-page supplement can be emailed to OAQ-ITD-SD-requirements@ice.dhs.gov, using the subject “RFI # RFI-ICE_ADTS_Sep2026." PDF Submission is acceptable. ICE will match the optional two-page submission by using the Company Name.

Additionally, the RFI states, "Up to two (2) pages using single space, single sided, 8-1/2 x 11 size, 10pt (or larger) Times New Roman/Arial font, can be submitted if additional space is needed to provide requested information. It is recommended that these additional pages be limited to graphics, diagrams, flow charts, etc."

Vendors may use the two (2) additional pages for their submission to include narratives; however, it is the preference of the Government these pages be used to enhance the Government's understanding of your responses to the questions using graphics, charts, etc.

71 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Can the Government describe the general categories of data currently being ingested into and available through the STELLA Platform and STELLA Chat? For example: internal ICE/DHS systems of record, other federal sources, or external and open-source data. Are those sources mainly structured, unstructured, or both?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

72 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Can the Government give the approximate current size of the enterprise data lakehouse and its expected growth? This includes how many new data sources it expects to add, and how often, during the period of performance.

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

73 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

To help with transition and staffing planning, does the Government expect new data sources to be added to the lakehouse early in performance, or after steady-state O&M is in place?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

74 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

What does the Government currently expect with regards to the leveraging of consistent identifiers or matching records across the data sources behind the deployed AI applications? Does it expect the O&M contractor to do this work?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

75 3. Transition, Incumbents, and Existing Environment

If multiple vendors work within the environment, how does the Government plan to coordinate data pipeline standards, schemas, and data quality responsibilities among them?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

The Government is accepting recommendations on potential award types and structures across the draft areas of support areas.

76 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

How does the Government plan to distinguish Government-owned data and artifacts, contractor-developed components, and commercially licensed third-party content for data rights and transition purposes?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

77 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

Is ICE considering a modular or multi-award approach, with separate lanes for platform and data O&M, enhancements, and independent assurance or enterprise architecture? If so, would ICE consider setting aside one or more lanes for service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (SDVOSBs)?

This RFI is being used to inform our market research and to aid in the development of our acquisition strategy. The Government is accepting recommendations on potential award types and structures across the draft areas of support.

ICE anticipates small business involvement but has not determined any set-aside status.

78 5. Security, Suitability, and

Compliance What personnel suitability or clearance level does ICE expect for contractor staff (for example, Background Investigation, Secret)? Will a Facility Clearance (FCL) be required at the prime or subcontractor level?

All contractors must comply with ICE personnel vetting requirements, including, but not limited to, U.S.

citizenship and the ability to obtain Public Trust Fitness Approval.

Please note that as this is an RFI, a Facility Clearance is not required for a response.

79 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility If an FCL is required, will ICE sponsor qualified small businesses for an FCL under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP)?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

80 9. Operational and Support Expectations

If an FCL is required, may a prime without an FCL perform through a subcontractor that holds the required FCL and cleared personnel? If so, would ICE sponsor the prime for its own FCL during performance, so the prime can take on the cleared work directly over time?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

81 3. Transition, Incumbents, and Existing Environment

Does ICE expect on-site work at ICE facilities, or may contractor staff perform remotely, with on-site support as needed?

It is not anticipated that contractor personnel would be required to work onsite on a full-time basis but may be required to be onsite for specific tasks.

82 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

Can ICE share the current contract number and period of performance for STELLA and ADTS support, and high-level workload data (for example, number of users, monthly ticket volume, and number of active data pipelines)? This would help industry recommend accurate labor mixes and pricing models under Questions 5 and 7.

Incumbent contract information:

- Contract Number: 70CTD023FR0000088

- Incumbent Contractor: Deloitte Consulting LLP

- Period of Performance: 09/20/2023-03/13/2027

- Contract Type: Firm-Fixed Price (FFP)

- Contract Vehicle: OASIS

Please note, this RFI is for market research purposes only, and is not a solicitation. Specific requirements will be determined and defined in future solicitations.

83 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

May a specialist vendor respond for a defined component of the Enterprise Control Plane or Independent Assurance Boundary, identify the broader O&M areas outside its scope, and still be considered for a one-on-one demonstration?

For that type of response, must the vendor identify a prime or complete delivery team at this RFI stage, or may it describe its integration boundaries and teaming needs?

All vendors can provide responses to the RFI. Vendors can provide responses based on their individual or team capabilities.

One-on-one sessions are not currently scheduled. The Government reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to invite select vendors for one-on-one sessions to demonstrate their products and/or services.

84 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

May a respondent address a defined subset of the RFI as a potential specialty subcontractor or research and evaluation contributor, rather than demonstrating responsibility for the entire enterprise operations and maintenance scope?

If so, may a small business that does not currently hold an applicable prime contract vehicle identify its specialty capabilities, desired teaming role, and the categories of operational capacity and past performance it would seek from a qualified prime contractor or teaming partner?

All vendors can provide responses to the RFI. Vendors can provide responses based on their individual or team capabilities.

85 6. Teaming, Subcontracting, and Eligibility

Does ICE envision a single contractor designing, implementing, and operating all three Agentic Software Factory layers, or does ICE anticipate separate vendors for the Enterprise Control Plane, Agentic Orchestration/Runtime Layer, and Independent Assurance Boundary?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

86 1. Scope, Structure, and Acquisition Strategy

What components of the Enterprise Control Plane, Agentic Orchestration/Runtime Layer, and Independent Assurance Boundary currently exist within STELLA versus capabilities ICE expects the contractor to design and implement as net-new functionality?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process. Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized. These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

87 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Will ICE provide the Government-owned reference architecture, interoperability rules, evidence model, evaluation harness, and mission measures at award, or is the selected contractor expected to collaborate with ICE in developing these artifacts?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process. Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized. These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

88 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

What degree of access will the incoming contractor receive to the existing STELLA source code, Infrastructure-as-Code, CI/CD pipelines, architecture documentation, model configurations, RAG configurations, monitoring data, and ATO artifacts during transition?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

89 3. Transition, Incumbents, and Existing Environment

Can ICE provide additional information regarding the current STELLA technology stack, including Kubernetes distributions, CI/CD tooling, observability platforms, LLM proxy technologies, workflow/orchestration frameworks, vector databases, and RAG components? Can government share an Technical Architecture diagram of STELLA?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

90 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Approximately how many models/model providers are currently integrated with STELLA across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, and does ICE anticipate maintaining existing provider relationships or expanding the model catalog under this effort? Who is the Cloud Service Provider behind STELLA and current AI capabilties?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

91 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Does ICE have a preferred or existing agent orchestration framework that the contractor must extend, or may vendors propose modular/open-standard frameworks provided they satisfy ICE interoperability and portability requirements?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

92 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

What protocols or standards does ICE currently use or anticipate adopting for agent-to-agent and agent-to-tool interoperability, including Model Context Protocol (MCP) or equivalent open interfaces?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

93 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

What evidence schema or machine-readable format does ICE anticipate using to transfer artifacts from generation workflows into the Independent Assurance Boundary and authorization processes?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

94 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

Does ICE anticipate integrating the Independent Assurance Boundary with existing DHS/ICE ATO tooling and workflows, and if so, what interfaces or systems should vendors plan to support? When does the current system's ATO expire?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

95 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

For version-bound approval, does ICE envision authorization at the individual artifact, build, container image, application release, or complete deployment-package level?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

96 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

Can ICE provide the approximate distribution of the 12 existing STELLA applications by low, medium, and high complexity, including technologies, interfaces, user populations, and mission criticality?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

97 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

What are the current and anticipated transaction volumes, concurrent-user levels, model-call volumes, and availability/performance requirements for STELLA, STELLA Chat, and the existing application portfolio?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

98 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

For the required Tier 0–3 support, can ICE provide historical incident volumes by severity and support tier and clarify whether the contractor must provide dedicated 24/7 personnel or an on-call rotation outside the 6:00 AM–9:00 PM ET support window?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards for this effort are still being finalized.

These requirements will be formally determined and defined in future solicitations.

99 9. Operational and Support Expectations

Will ICE establish target thresholds or baselines for the identified Agentic Software Factory outcome measures—such as autonomous completion rate, escalation rate, cost per accepted change, deployment frequency, vulnerability dwell time, reuse rate, and portability—or should vendors propose initial baselines and targets?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards are still being finalized and will be clearly defined in the future solicitation. The Government is accepting recommendations on potential award types and structures across the draft areas of support.

100 9. Operational and Support Expectations

How does ICE intend to measure “cost per accepted change” and “cost per mission capability,” particularly where shared model, cloud, data, observability, and platform services support multiple applications?

Specific requirements, performance metrics, and technical standards are still being finalized and will be clearly defined in the future solicitation.

101 9. Operational and Support Expectations

Can ICE provide approximate scale metrics for the existing Lakehouse, including data volume, number of data products, number of Bronze/Silver/Gold pipelines, ingestion frequency, and number of registered users?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

102 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

What level of integration currently exists among Databricks, Collibra, MuleSoft, Traceable, STELLA, and the enterprise API management layer, and which integrations does ICE expect to modernize under this effort?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

103 4. Technical Specifications and Workload Metrics

For the Data Strike Team model, what historical or anticipated frequency, duration, concurrency, and staffing intensity should contractors assume for surge missions?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

104 9. Operational and Support Expectations

Does ICE anticipate establishing minimum staffing levels for persistent O&M/white-glove support separately from surge/Strike Team staffing?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

105 9. Operational and Support Expectations

Does ICE have an existing enterprise evaluation/red-team framework for AI systems, or should the contractor propose the evaluation harness, adversarial testing methodology, acceptance thresholds, and regression-testing approach?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

106 7. Governance, Independence, and Conflict of Interest

What existing Zero Trust identity services should the Agentic Software Factory integrate with, particularly for assigning machine identities and attributing autonomous agent actions to specific identities and authorizations?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

107 5. Security, Suitability, and Compliance

What Government-furnished cloud accounts, development environments, software licenses, model-provider agreements, data access, and other GFE/GFI should offerors assume will be available at transition? How many non-production environments are currently in operation?

This information is not available for release at this stage of the acquisition process.

108 3. Transition, Incumbents, and Existing Environment

What transition-in period does ICE anticipate, and will incumbent personnel be required to provide structured knowledge transfer, architecture walkthroughs, code/configuration…