Empower AI has won a potential five-year, $255.4 million recompete contract from the Defense Information Systems Agency to continue providing enterprise IT support for the Pentagon and the National Capital Region, the company announced June 16, 2026. The Reston, Virginia-based firm retains the J6 Service Delivery work it has held under a bridge contract awarded in June 2025, securing one of the most consequential managed-services roles in the federal government and cementing its position as the primary IT support vendor for the Pentagon's Fourth Estate community — the cluster of DoD agencies that sit outside the military services and collectively rely on centralized infrastructure managed by DISA.
Background
DISA J6 is the directorate responsible for IT products, services, and end-user support for the Secretary of Defense's office and all Fourth Estate agencies. That universe includes the Defense Logistics Agency, the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the Defense Contract Management Agency, the Missile Defense Agency, and more than a dozen other organizations whose combined workforce numbers in the tens of thousands across Washington-area facilities. These agencies share a consolidated IT environment managed out of the Pentagon and several National Capital Region locations, spanning both classified and unclassified networks with varying legacy system profiles and security enclave requirements that distinguish each organization's technical footprint.
Day-to-day operations across this environment depend on centralized helpdesk capacity, deskside technicians who physically respond when remote resolution fails, and wireless infrastructure that connects users across multiple buildings and campuses. The operating environment is widely regarded as one of the most complex in the federal government — a characterization that reflects not just scale but the heterogeneity each agency brings to the common support model: different procurement histories, different application stacks, and different clearance configurations that service technicians must navigate simultaneously without disrupting operational continuity for any of the constituent organizations.
Empower AI, formerly NCI Information Systems, has held this work for several years. The company originally won the J6 Service Delivery requirement in fall 2019 under its prior name, at a contract ceiling of $269.9 million. When that vehicle expired, DISA awarded the company a bridge contract in June 2025 to maintain continuity while the formal recompete was structured, scoped, and competed through standard acquisition channels. That bridge contract was scheduled to sunset at the end of June 2026. The recompete process concluded with Empower AI retaining the requirement under a new long-term vehicle announced on June 16, 2026 and awarded via the General Services Administration Multiple Award Schedule program.
Key Details
The new contract runs one base year with four one-year option periods, reaching a potential ceiling of $255.4 million if all options are exercised. In scope are Tier II deskside and remote support, end-user training, customer relations management, and wireless services for Pentagon and National Capital Region users across the Fourth Estate community. Tier II support sits above the first-level helpdesk, handling escalated tickets, direct workstation visits, and device configuration tasks that cannot be resolved remotely — the category of support most dependent on technician experience and institutional familiarity with local network topologies, application dependencies, and clearance boundaries.
Empower AI plans to introduce AI-enabled automation across those workflows to reduce manual workloads and accelerate resolution times. CEO Jeffrey Bohling stated: “We will apply AI-enabled automation where it measurably improves outcomes for DISA J6 mission partners, while maintaining the reliability and security that DISA J6 Service Delivery operations require.” That framing targets automation at specific, measurable workflow improvements rather than broad labor substitution, with the near-term expectation being faster ticket triage and reduced manual routing across a high-volume service environment. Empower AI's existing familiarity with the J6 environment — built across years of prior performance — gives the company a baseline from which to measure and implement those improvements without the learning curve a new entrant would face.
No competing bidders have been publicly identified in reporting on the award. The contract was awarded through DISA's standard acquisition processes.
What It Means for Contractors
The Empower AI outcome reinforces a well-established pattern in large IT managed-services recompetes: incumbents with clean performance records carry a structural advantage that price or technical innovation alone rarely overcomes. Transition risk — the time, cost, and operational exposure of migrating institutional knowledge, personnel clearances, tooling integrations, and established agency relationships to a new vendor — weighs heavily in source selection evaluations for complex support environments. A contract structured with five potential years gives an incumbent enough runway to invest in automation and system integrations that further entrench its position before the next competition opens.
For firms pursuing J6-adjacent or broader DISA IT work, the contract signals that the agency continues to favor longer-term, single-awardee vehicles rather than distributing managed-services requirements across multiple task orders. That model simplifies coordination for DISA but concentrates competitive opportunity into infrequent, high-stakes events. Small businesses and mid-tier firms aiming at future recompetes should build relevant past performance on comparable Fourth Estate or civilian-agency IT support engagements now, and begin positioning for teaming arrangements well before any successor solicitation appears on SAM.gov.
The automation emphasis in Empower AI's approach carries a direct market signal for technology vendors. Firms offering robotic process automation, AI-powered ticket triage, or predictive endpoint management tools should view Empower AI as a potential teaming and subcontracting partner during performance — the company has both the contract vehicle and the stated intent to deploy automation capabilities across a large, stable user base spanning the Pentagon and the broader Fourth Estate community. Firms that can demonstrate measurable resolution-time or throughput improvements in comparable IT support environments will be positioned to contribute to that roadmap and to establish DISA-relevant past performance in preparation for future competitions. The combination of a multi-year vehicle, a declared automation roadmap, and an operationally complex environment makes this contract a notable entry point for technology vendors looking to grow inside the DISA IT supply chain.
