Attachment 0006 RFP Questions.pdf

ATTACHMENT 0006- RFP QUESTIONS

Phase I and Phase II Instructions:

Q. Please confirm that offerors are to submit their Phase 1 and Phase 2 response by the current deadline of January 20th.

A. Only Phase I response is due by 05:00PM CENTRAL 20 January 2023. Please see updated Attachment 0001.

Q. Can the Government please confirm that offers should submit responses for Phase I and Phase II in separate documents?

A. Yes. Responses for Phase I shall be no longer than 5 pages, excluding cover page and any questions. Responses for Phase II shall be no longer than 7 pages, excluding cover page and any questions.

Q. Can the Government also confirm that the five questions in the Questionnaire are part of Phase II evaluation only?

A. Yes

Q. Phase I asks vendors to provide examples of corporate experience. Is there a minimum or maximum number of examples that should be provided?

A. Responses for Phase I shall be no longer than 5 pages, excluding cover page and any questions. The number of examples will be a business decision for each vendor, as long as it does not exceed the 5-page maximum.

Q. How many Past Performance/Use Case examples would the Government like to see be provided as part of Phase I?

A. Responses for Phase I shall be no longer than 5 pages, excluding cover page and any questions. The number of examples will be a business decision for each vendor, as long as it does not exceed the 5-page maximum.

Q. Per Attachment 0001 (Instructions and Evaluation Criteria), Phase II requests that offerors demonstrate staffing capabilities by responding to the “questionnaire” provided.

Meanwhile, Attachment 0005 (RFP Questions) indicates a 7-page limit on the response for Phase II. Please confirm the reference “questionnaire” to be addressed in the 7-page Phase II response is the similarly titled section on page 4 of Attachment 0001.

A. As stated in Attachment 0001, Phase II evaluation criteria will be based on the questionnaire in Attachment 0001. As stated in Attachment 0005, responses for Phase II shall be no longer than 7 pages, excluding cover page and any questions.

Q. Would the government please provide an editable SF1449 in Microsoft word?

A. No. The Government does not provide an editable SF1449. Any questions or concerns should be brought forth during the question-and-answer timeframe.

Q. The Government requires Arial font, 12-pt for the cover letter. Would the Government like the responses to be in Arial font, 12-pt as well?

A. Yes, the Army’s preferred font is Arial 12.

Q. Would the Government accept a 10-pt font in the headers and footers?

A. No, the Army’s preferred font is Arial 12.

Q. Would the Government like our reps and certs or just a statement in the cover letter that states they are up to date in Sam.gov?

A. Per Attachment 0001, page 2, the cover letter shall include ‘acknowledgement of representations and certifications in beta.sam.gov are correct and up to date’.

Q. Does there also need to be a separate deliverable that addresses “AI Talent 2.0 BOA PWS” point by point?

A. No

Q. Can the Government clarify or verify the proposal submission documents for 20 January 2023 are:

• Cover Letter

• Completed and signed SF1449

A.

• Cover Letter – Submit for Phase I

• Completed and signed SF1449 – Submit for Phase II

Teaming:

Q. Please confirm that all performance and capability cited in Phase 1 and Phase 2 are limited to that of the prime offeror.

A. Teaming is a business decision by each vendor. Please note, that AI Talent 2.0 is a 100% small business set-aside.

Q. Specifically, if a company chose to respond to the (5) Phase I questions, but want to partner with another company. How does the CDAO prefer those questions be answered? I.E. by each company or have the PRIME mention the key sub partner company as part of their response?

Q. Regarding 'sub-contractors and partners' if we intend to submit a response to both Phase 1 and Phase 2 reflective of a 'Team' - inclusive of partners, is there a preferred way the Government wants to have that stated with the Phase 1 & 2 questionnaire responses?

Q. Is teaming allowed? If teaming is allowed, can the experience of teaming partners be used in responding to any of the questions posed?

Q. For the Phase I response requiring descriptions of examples of corporate experience, please clarify that corporate subject matter expertise and staffing capabilities described must be that of the Prime Small Business and not of any large business subcontracted team members.

Q. For the Phase II response Questionnaire for all questions, please clarify that prime corporate experience described must be that of the Prime Small Business and not of any large business subcontracted team members.

Cost Data:

Q. The solicitation (attachment 0001) refers to 'costs based on the supplied LCAT Pool and PWS'. Does the Government expect costing information as part of the Phase 1 or Phase 2 response? If so, what does that consist of (burdened rate card, same task-order, etc)?

A. Amendment 0002 removes the sentence ‘and costs based on the supplied LCAT Pool and PWS' from Attachment 0001 - ATT 0001 AI TALENT 2.0 BOA QUESTIONNAIRE INSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA_4 Jan. No pricing data is needed for Phase I or Phase II.

Misc.

Q. The cover letter should be entitled "Section 1 Offeror Name AI Talent 2.0 BOA Cover Letter" while the SF 1449 should be "Section 4 Offeror Name AI Talent 2.0 BOA SF1449" What should the Phase I - Examples of corporate experience and Phase II - Questionnaire documents be entitled? Are those Sections 2 and 3, respectively?

A. Since only Phase I is due 20 JAN 2023, it is not necessary to title it. If invited to participate in Phase II, per Attachment 0001 for Phase II, the document shall be submitted as a pdf, entitled: Offeror Name AI Talent 2.0 BOA Questionnaire.

Q. Regarding the 5-page limit for Phase 1 and the 7-page limit for Phase 2 responses, will there be additional/different questions for Phase 2 or does the same 5-question questionnaire apply and for Phase 1 it's AI/ML past-performance centric and in Phase 2 staffing-process centric?

A. Reference Attachment 0001 – ATT 0001 AI TALENT 2.0 BOA QUESTIONNAIRE

INSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA_4 JAN:

Phase I – Interested parties shall provide examples of corporate experience (real use cases vs past performance/CPARS) within the field of AI/ML/Data Science. This phase will be used to down-select Offerors into Phase II who have actual AI development or staffing experience vs general Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) staffing.

Phase II – Evaluation criteria will be based on the questionnaire. The questionnaire is only for Phase II and is on an invite only basis, dependent on the down select of Phase I.

Q. 13 C.F.R. § 121.103(h)(4) allows for contracts to be awarded to joint ventures where the security portion of the contract requiring a facility security clearance is ancillary to the principal purpose of the procurement and the partner to the joint venture that will perform that work possesses the required facility security clearance.

Classification requirements at the task order level seems to be ancillary-- are joint ventures where the lead partner does not possess a clearance, but the other partner holds a Top Secret FCL eligible for this contract?

A. This will be dependent at the Task Order level.

Q. Is the Government intending to hold any type of industry day? If not, is the Government allowing potential vendors to provide a brief introductory presentation?

A. No

Q. Under this BOA will it be acceptable for most work to be performed at the contractor location(s), or is this mostly for work on-site at government facilities?

A. Reference Attachment 0002 -AI Talent 2.01 BOA PWS, 6.1.1 Duty Hours.

Q. Is the ask for us to find/vet ML engineers/Data scientists for employment by the government? Or are we being asked to demonstrate our ability to staff engineers/scientists internally in order to scale up to fulfill AI/ML government contracts and projects? Can you elaborate on what is being required of our company should we be awarded?

A. Reference Attachment 0001 – ATT 0001 AI TALENT 2.0 BOA QUESTIONNAIRE

INSTRUCTIONS AND EVALUATION CRITERIA_4 JAN:

Phase I – Interested parties shall provide examples of corporate experience (real use cases vs past performance/CPARS) within the field of AI/ML/Data Science. This phase will be used to down-select Offerors into Phase II who have actual AI development or staffing experience vs general Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) staffing.

Phase II – Evaluation criteria will be based on the questionnaire

Should your company be awarded a BOA, please reference Attachment 0002 -AI Talent

2.01 BOA PWS, 1.2 Scope:

The Contractor shall provide industry-leading, AI-related, non-traditional program and technical management support services and work products to DoD programs, cyber community, and customers under individual task orders. Specific task order scope will be identified at the task order level.

Q. Besides the BOA Manager, are there any key personnel requirements?

A. Please reference Attachment 0002 -AI Talent 2.01 BOA PWS for key personnel requirements.

Q. You mention wanting to receive Use Cases versus Past Performance examples.

Our assumption is that you would like to receive all pertinent contract information (dollar values, FTE count, Period of Performance, etc.) in conjunction with specific Use Case descriptions for each contract sample. Is this assumption correct?

A. It is dependent upon the Offeror’s decision as how to best display its ‘real use cases’ to the Government in order showcase how they can achieve Phase I.

Q. The evaluation for this BOA is focused on identifying companies with AI, ML, and Data Science capabilities. Section 2.1 of the PWS, however, lists several Task Areas outside of the AI, ML, Data Science swim lanes. Why are none of these tasks represented in either Phase I or Phase II of the evaluation?

A. The Government is not only looking for companies with AI, ML, and Data Science capabilities, but companies that can holistically solve the problem sets presented to them. There are other tasks that will support the necessary AI and ML capability sets required by the Government.

Q. Reference: ATTACHMENT+0002+AI+TALENT+2.0+BOA+PWS_, Page 17, Section

6.7.7 Second Paragraph 1st sentence. “The security requirements are in accordance with the attached DD Form 254.”

Is there a DD Form 254 required for proposal submission and if so, where is located within the RFP package?

A. DD Form 254 will be required at the Task Order level

Q. The request for Phase I states “…dissect and understand Government requirements based on a short scope description.” There does not appear to be a scope description or sample task provided. Will the Government provide a sample task, scope description or outline for the response to ensure standardized evaluation criteria and ratings, that will foster enhanced discriminator analysis?

A. Please reference Attachment 0002 -AI Talent 2.01 BOA PWS, 1.2 Scope:

The Contractor shall provide industry-leading, AI-related, non-traditional program and technical management support services and work products to DoD programs, cyber community and customers under individual task orders. Specific task order scope will be identified at the task order level.

Q. 6.4.3 Incumbent Employees. … the Contractor will have the first right of refusal.”

Please clarify if this means the incumbent contractor can refuse to release employee names to a successor; or, as implied by FAR 52.237-3 Continuity of Services (Jan 1991)(c) the incumbent will be mandated to release employee names? Due to the specialized and technical nature of the personnel likely to work under this contract, we generally wish to retain employees for other tasking to the greatest extent possible, instead of transitioning them to a competitor.

A. FAR 52.237-3 has been added to the W519TC-23-R-0028 solicitation. Contractor still has the right of refusal unless FAR 52.237-3 is enacted at the Task Order level.

Q. 6.4.3 Incumbent Employees “Items that are not accountable, such as desks, chairs, telephones, and other normal office equipment and office supplies during the orientation period, will only be transferred to the incoming Contractor if items were solely purchased by the current Contractor’s company.” Please clarify this requirement, it appears to create an obligation for incumbent contractors to transfer office furniture and supplies to a successor contractor. If this is correct how will the out-going contractor be compensated for the value of this equipment, furniture and supplies? Additionally, who will be responsible for the costs associated with physically moving the above from the outgoing to the incoming contractor?

A. Any non-government furnished property, i.e., desks, chairs, telephones, office equipment, and offices supplies required for a specific Task Order, should be accounted for in the Contractor’s price proposal.

Q. Section 6.12: Data rights. Will the government consider proposals which leverage AI technology developed under the SBIR program? While SBIR data rights and technologies are not applicable to the overall BOA our technology may be an applicable solution to particular task orders.

A. If awarded a BOA, data rights would be discussed at the Task Order level.

Q. Is there an incumbent contractor currently providing these services? If yes, can you please provide the contract number?

A. Yes.

Barbaricum: FA701420A0018 CyberPoint: FA701420A0021 Elder Research: FA701420A0019 Enterprise Resource Performance, Inc. (ERPi): FA701420A0022 Redhorse: FA701420A0020 Sancorp Consulting, LLC: FA701421A0008