As the federal sector adopts technology transformations, Christian Hoff, an executive at Amazon Web Services, understands the trends aren’t just about having the shiniest new tools and services. They’re about meeting the mission in ways that impact the U.S.’s leadership at home and beyond.
Recent executive orders emphasize artificial intelligence leadership, interagency system interoperability and software modernization, suggesting cloud adoption will be increasingly prioritized to enhance efficiency, agility, scalability and security, Hoff said. And AI and cloud computing are foundational elements of the larger federal push toward modernization.
“The administration’s focus indicates that agencies will likely be encouraged to accelerate their adoption of cloud services and AI technologies, while maintaining appropriate governance and security controls,” according to Hoff, director of the U.S. Federal Civilian and Health Team at AWS. “Ultimately, a well-executed cloud strategy will be essential for maintaining U.S. leadership in AI.”
Driving efficiency and fraud prevention
AWS helps government agencies achieve greater efficiency and innovation while also preventing fraud, waste and abuse, Hoff said. It’s a natural move as Amazon originally launched AWS to create efficiencies within its own operations before turning its internal tools into a service for external customers, he said.
AWS provides solutions to address threats related to payment integrity, fraudulent claims, supply chain vulnerabilities, procurement abuses and anomalies in asset management.
“We already do this with machine learning and AI services for pattern detection; real-time monitoring and alerting capabilities; large-scale data analytics; secure data sharing across systems; automated compliance checking; case management tools for investigations; and identity and access management controls,” Hoff said. “With tools like generative AI, we are regularly innovating with our customers while contributing to the administration’s goal of AI leadership.”
One example of AWS’ work in fraud detection is Fraud Safe, a modular risk-identification architecture that provides automated identification and classification of suspected fraudulent or high-risk activity within federal programs. Fraud Safe integrates with existing systems, performing comparative analyses of documents, images and data to detect and categorize risks, he said.
Additionally, AWS offers Amazon Bedrock, a fully managed service that provides access to multiple leading AI foundation models through a single API. Customers can evaluate and compare models from providers like Anthropic, AI21 Labs, Cohere, Meta, Stability AI and Amazon’s Titan and Nova models.
Transforming government operations
AWS has helped modernize IT infrastructure across multiple federal agencies:
- Customs and Border Protection migrated three call centers to AWS Connect within 10 days, cutting operational costs and labor while improving response times and transparency.
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the nation’s largest healthcare purchaser, processes 14–15 TB of log data daily and needed to cut storage costs. Using OpenSearch, it reduced those costs by 67%, saving millions that could be reinvested in modernization, according to an AWS case study. CMS also faced constant security threats. OpenSearch quickly identifies affected data, and instead of taking two engineers two weeks to find what was lost, the system can now fix itself.
- AWS is working with the government in various capacities to combat the opioid crisis and trafficking.
Additionally, AWS supports agencies in their efforts to demonstrate the nation’s global leadership in AI, Hoff said.
“Artificial intelligence is an area where we’re leaning in by working with federal agencies to achieve their missions quickly, securely and efficiently,” Hoff said. “Amazon is not new to AI, and has been developing and deploying AI solutions for decades.”
But there’s still room to grow, especially in generative AI, which can improve operations and service delivery. Hoff said AI-powered tools are already streamlining document processing, citizen services, fraud prevention, process optimization, regulatory compliance and more. AI-generated reports, meeting summaries and email automation free up staff for higher-value work.
The list goes on. Emerging trends and technologies will continue shaping the public sector’s use of cloud and AI for years to come, he added.
“We align with the U.S. government’s goal to demonstrate leadership in AI and security, and AWS is committed to helping government partners innovate with AI while helping to secure our nation’s technology infrastructure,” Hoff said. “AWS is architected with comprehensive security capabilities to satisfy the most demanding information security requirements.”
Security and high-performance computing
Security remains a central priority for AWS, particularly in defense and national security applications.
“At AWS, security is job zero,” Hoff said. “We’re proud to have deployed the highest-performing Foundation Models for use across defense and national security customer agencies. This includes providing access to Anthropic Claude family of models across various classification levels.”
Hoff sees high-performance computing as a logical next step for agencies looking to process large volumes of data more efficiently.
“Customers will be able to leverage thousands of CPUs and GPUs with Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA), powered by the AWS Nitro System,” he said. “Agencies can distribute machine learning applications faster with purpose-built, low-latency and low-jitter channels for inter-instance communications.”
He anticipates federal agencies will work to break down data silos and allow interoperability, adopting what he called “the force-multiplying benefits of a cloud-based platform for government operations.”
“Data sharing and interoperability are possible with the cloud; in turn streamlining support for our veterans, protecting our borders and transportation infrastructure, and improving the overall citizen experience,” he said.
A Mission-Driven Approach to Technology
After 22 years of military service, Hoff transitioned to the private sector to continue serving the nation through technology.
“My passion stems from the opportunity to leverage technology to improve the everyday lives of American citizens, making their interactions with services more efficient and accessible while ensuring responsible stewardship of taxpayer dollars — aligning perfectly with Amazon’s ‘customer obsession’ principle,” he said.
“The ability to transform complex systems into user-friendly solutions that benefit millions of people gives me the same sense of purpose I felt while serving in uniform, especially when we can deliver better services at reduced costs while insisting on the highest standards,” he added.
But what truly drives Hoff today is knowing the work he does is creating a “safer, more connected and cost-effective future for our children, while upholding the same values of service, excellence and dedication that I learned in the military,” he said.