Forward Edge Ai Inc.

Forward Edge AI Inc., doing business as Tag, operates as a prime contractor delivering artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, and defense systems research and development to federal agencies under full-and-open competition without set-aside designations. The company is a minority-owned, Black American-owned small disadvantaged business based in San Antonio, Texas, structured as a for-profit corporation and a DOT-certified DBE, competing entirely as a prime across a portfolio of 38 awards with combined potential value of $561.3 million.

Forward Edge AI's capability footprint spans three distinct domains: enterprise automation and RPA services to FEMA; advanced defense R&D (quantum-resistant encryption, industrial control system cybersecurity, space communications security, and chemical/biological threat detection) across Air Force, Navy, and Missile Defense Agency components; and AI-focused services under large DoD vehicles. The company self-performs all work—SCI records show zero subcontractor hours across 12 reportable service contracts—and operates with no teaming relationships as a sub to other primes. On the FEMA RPA side, SCI-reported invoicing hit $3.3 million in FY2024 across 28 FTEs on firm-fixed-price maintenance and development tasks; government-paid rates on SCI-reportable contracts ranged from a 10th percentile of $38.68 per hour to a 90th percentile of $113.67 per hour, with median pricing around $59.90 per hour. The company scaled rapidly from zero SCI FTEs in FY2022 to 28 in FY2024, then dropped to zero in FY2025, reflecting contract completion cycles rather than sustained staffing.

Customer concentration is heavily skewed by two large DoD vehicles anchoring the portfolio's dollar value. The Office of the Secretary of Defense accounts for 98% of combined potential value through two IDVs: a $249 million multiple-award Basic Ordering Agreement for AI Talent 2.0 services (May 2023 through May 2028) and the recently awarded $151 billion Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD) multiple-award IDIQ (December 2025 through December 2035, with a $500 initial delivery order). By award count, the Federal Emergency Management Agency leads with 13 orders representing $11.3 million potential value, followed by the Air Force Research Laboratory with 9 orders totaling $6 million, and the Naval Air Systems Command and Naval Air Warfare Center with 2 orders at $1.4 million combined. The National Science Foundation has placed 2 grant awards totaling $275 thousand and $997 thousand (cooperative agreement) for space cybersecurity and blockchain communication-channel integrity research. Activity peaked in 2023 with 11 awards, declined to 6 in 2024, recovered to 9 in 2025, and has slowed to 3 awards so far in 2026.

Forward Edge AI holds four parent vehicles enabling ongoing task order issuance: the SBIR RPA AI BPA with FEMA (single-award, $6 million ceiling, September 2022 through September 2027, 10 task orders valued at $4.3 million combined potential value); the AI Talent 2.0 Basic Ordering Agreement with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (multiple-award, $249 million, May 2023 through May 2028); the Joint Artificial Intelligence Center Test and Evaluation BPA with the Office of the Secretary of Defense (multiple-award, $250 million, January 2022 through January 2027); and the SHIELD IDIQ (multiple-award, $151 billion, December 2025 through December 2035). The FEMA BPA generates steady RPA operations-and-maintenance work (UiPath bot sustainment, ECFS file transfer, SAP closeout automation, supervisor dashboards), while the DoD vehicles position Forward Edge AI for larger R&D and AI services opportunities across the defense enterprise.

Recompete exposure materializes in the next twenty-four months: nine awards with combined potential value of $40.7 million reach ultimate completion inside that window, including multiple FEMA RPA maintenance tasks (through May–October 2026), Air Force space-communications and encryption development efforts (through June 2026), and Navy Phase II and Phase III SBIR R&D work (through September 2028 for a $1.3 million effort). The awards portfolio tilts heavily toward research and development (19 awards under NAICS 541712 for physical and engineering sciences R&D, and 13 under NAICS 541511 for computer systems design services), with applied research and experimental development dominating the PSC coding. Obligated dollars lag significantly behind potential value—$54.4 million obligated against $561.3 million ceiling—reflecting the multi-year, uncertain-demand nature of the DoD IDVs, particularly SHIELD. The portfolio includes representative SBIR Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III work across Space Force, Army, Navy, and Air Force commands on topics spanning industrial control systems, quantum-resistant encryption, hydraulic contamination detection, and biological/chemical threat detection; most recent awards carry Total Small Business set-asides or no set-aside designation.