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Thinking out loud

What we've learned building with AI in federal programs.

Essays, field notes, Ground Truth papers, and company news on human-centered AI, modernization, and delivery in federal programs and regulated organizations.

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Ground Truth · paper series

Ground Truth: four papers, one argument.

Four papers written from delivered work, from the build to the people around it to governing AI that acts. Two are out now.

Explore the series
01Rewriting the Build 02Rewiring the Role
03NextEarning Autonomy
04PlannedGoverning the Agent
Essay

The Great Compression

How AI is re-engineering the software delivery value chain: the blur between phases, what happens to Agile, and the demo-driven culture.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 9 min
Essay · Federal acquisition, Part 1

Challenges and Opportunities in the Federal Marketplace

What small firms face, what reform has changed, and why incremental change may not be enough.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 9 min
Essay · Federal acquisition, Part 2

Reimagining Federal Acquisition

Anonymous competitions, verified performance records, and prototype-first evaluation. An aspirational, and achievable, picture.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 10 min
Note

Scorecards before strategies

An AI strategy without a readiness assessment is an aspirational document. Includes our one-workflow readiness scorecard.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 2 min
Note

AI governance is becoming the new cybersecurity

Security went from afterthought to mandatory. AI governance is heading down the same path.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 2 min
Note

AI won't fix a broken process. It exposes it.

Before you automate a workflow, ask whether you would be proud of it automated.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 2 min
Note

The imagination tax

AI adoption stalls when leaders can't picture what's possible. Prototypes lower the cost of imagining.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 2 min
Note

From projects to products

AI systems keep changing after launch, which pushes federal modernization toward continuous product delivery.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 2 min
Note

Alignment before velocity

The most successful programs create alignment first. AI will accelerate delivery, or accelerate chaos.

Ashok NareOct 2026 · 1 min
Ground Truth · Paper 2 of 4

Rewiring the Role

If AI can write the status report, draft the epics, and maintain the RAID log, what is a coordination role responsible for? Paper 2 in the Ground Truth series.

Kollabio2026 · 1 min
Ground Truth · Paper 1 of 4

Rewriting the Build

AI in software development is amplification, not revolution. Paper 1 in the Ground Truth series walks the full lifecycle, from product and design through QA and operations.

Kollabio2026 · 1 min
Note

The four types of AI users

Critics, Observers, Power Users, and Experts. Where you sit today matters less than which direction you're moving.

Ashok NareMay 2026 · 2 min
Note

10× more productive than three months ago

A personal AI stack, the guardrails that keep it responsible in regulated work, and why it takes deeper thinking up front.

Ashok NareFeb 2026 · 2 min
News

Kollabio named No. 22 on the Inc. Regionals 2025: Mid-Atlantic list

The company's first appearance on the regional list, on two-year revenue growth of 293%.

KollabioApr 2025 · 1 min
News

Kollabio certified a Great Place To Work for the second year in a row

Certification is based on anonymous employee feedback on trust, respect, camaraderie, and satisfaction.

KollabioMar 2025 · 1 min
News

Kollabio ranks No. 1404 on the 2024 Inc. 5000

Inc.'s annual list of the fastest-growing private companies in America, ranked on 2020–2023 revenue growth.

KollabioAug 2024 · 1 min

KollabNotes

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