AI has revolutionized the commercial world, supercharging teams and driving significant productivity gains in a very short amount of time. The stats speak for themselves. 99% of Fortune 500 companies have incorporated AI into their operations. And already, skilled workers have reported productivity gains of ~40 percent. It’s no wonder that ~$80 billion of venture dollars is projected to flood into AI companies in 2024 alone.
Yet, despite this momentum, the U.S. government continues to lag behind in AI adoption. The reasons for this are well-documented and include stringent compliance requirements like FedRAMP and ATO, which can take years to achieve, complex procurement systems layered with bureaucracy and reliance on defense prime contractors, which often add cost, complexity and delays. While these challenges aren’t new, they remain critical barriers that have slowed the government’s ability to fully unlock AI’s potential, as highlighted in our blog from earlier this year.
Enter Ask Sage, a pioneering GenAI platform that’s rewriting the playbook for AI adoption in government. Despite the challenges of selling to public agencies, Ask Sage has already expanded its reach to over 14,000 government teams, proving its ability to navigate the complex procurement landscape. At Sapphire Ventures, we believe AI adoption will only accelerate across the government, especially as federal agencies urge broader use of AI and expand their budgets. Within the DoD, $557 million was committed to AI contracts last year – that’s three times the previous year.
With this momentum, we’re excited to lead the Series A for Ask Sage, a transformative GenAI platform that is making waves across the DoD and regulated industries with secure, LLM-powered solutions tailored for the particular needs of these entities.
A GenAI platform trusted by DoD and Government teams
At its core, Ask Sage is a Generative AI platform built for the government, as well as regulated environments, with a focus on defense teams to enable secure, efficient and intelligent operations for mission-critical tasks.
Traditional AI solutions often fail to meet the unique demands of DoD and government use cases. For example, many platforms lock agencies into specific models, limiting flexibility and adaptability. Others fall short of stringent security standards, making them unsuitable for handling highly sensitive or classified information. These gaps have left public sector teams unable to fully harness AI’s potential, particularly in environments that require air-gapped networks or compliance with certifications like FedRAMP and DoD IL5.
Ask Sage addresses these challenges head-on. Its multi-modal, LLM-agnostic platform allows agencies to integrate 150+ leading AI models—such as Azure OpenAI Gov GPT, AWS Bedrock, Mistral and Anthropic Claude—while avoiding vendor lock-in. The platform’s natural-language interface is customizable, enabling real-time data access, automation and decision support across workflows like compliance, contracting and cybersecurity.
Crucial to government teams and work, security is at the heart of Ask Sage’s design. As the first GenAI platform to achieve both DoD IL5 and FedRAMP High ATO certifications, it meets the highest government standards for safeguarding classified data. Its “fire-and-forget” architecture ensures zero data retention, protecting user privacy, while its ability to deploy on air-gapped networks makes it a trusted choice for agencies like the Air Force and Navy.
Empowered by visionary leadership with firsthand defense experience
Nic Chaillan,
Founder and CEO, Ask Sage
At the forefront of Ask Sage’s vision and leadership is Nic Chaillan, whose tenure as the first Chief Software Officer of the U.S. Air Force and Space Force provides unmatched insight into the defense sector’s unique challenges and opportunities. From founding his first company at age 15 in France to leading the DoD’s DevSecOps initiative to securing the fastest IL5 ATO in history, we believe Nic has demonstrated a rare ability to overcome both technological and bureaucratic hurdles.
From the moment we first met Nic during his time at the Air Force, spearheading the Platform One initiative, a connection was instantly made. That bond deepened following our investment in Defense Unicorns, a company founded by Rob Slaughter and Jeff McCoy—both of whom Nic had previously recruited into Platform One. Nic’s leadership, combined with the platform’s cutting-edge capabilities, has positioned Ask Sage as a central player when it comes to AI innovation in government, driving rapid adoption among over 70,000 DoD users to-date.
Continuing to back the future of GovTech
At Sapphire Ventures, we believe in the transformative power of technology to solve critical challenges, especially in sectors like the federal government, where modernization is vital but often slow-moving. We believe Ask Sage is not only differentiated, but also indispensable, with a defensible moat built on regulatory compliance, user trust and a bold vision for growth. We’re proud to support Nic and his team as they chart an ambitious path forward, empowering governments and enterprises to leverage AI securely, effectively and responsibly.
If you’re a company seeking to modernize your workflows with secure AI or a government agency looking to enhance operational efficiency, we encourage you to explore Ask Sage’s solutions. To learn more or join their team, visit their website here.
Legal disclaimer
Nothing presented within this article is intended to constitute investment advice, and under no circumstances should any information provided herein be used or considered as an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy an interest in any investment fund managed by Sapphire Ventures (“Sapphire”). Information provided reflects Sapphires’ views as of a time, whereby such views are subject to change at any point and Sapphire shall not be obligated to provide notice of any change. Companies mentioned in this article are a representative sample of portfolio companies in which Sapphire has invested in which the author believes such companies fit the objective criteria stated in commentary, which do not reflect all investments made by Sapphire. A complete alphabetical list of Sapphire’s investments made by Its direct growth and sports investing strategies is available here. No assumptions should be made that investments described were or will be profitable. Due to various risks and uncertainties, actual events, results or the actual experience may differ materially from those reflected or contemplated in these statements. Nothing contained in this article may be relied upon as a guarantee or assurance as to the future success of any particular company. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
