The takeaway: The US government is tapping Silicon Valley to modernize its aging digital infrastructure through a new initiative called Tech Force. Under the program, roughly 1,000 software engineers will spend two years embedded within federal agencies, applying artificial intelligence and contemporary software practices to systems that, in many cases, have remained largely untouched for decades.
Tech Force – spearheaded by the Office of Personnel Management and led by Scott Kupor, a former Andreessen Horowitz venture capitalist – has secured partnerships across the tech industry. Apple, Coinbase, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia, OpenAI, xAI, and Palantir have all agreed to participate, providing executives and training resources to support the program's recruits.
Kupor said the initiative aims to create a fluid exchange between private- and public-sector talent, with companies offering lectures, mentorship, and free access to in-house certification programs. Executives such as Palantir's Alex Karp and OpenAI's Sam Altman are expected to lead sessions for the first cohort.
"We'll put together a speaker series," Kupor told the Financial Times. Corporate partners will also provide roughly 100 experienced managers to guide new hires as they integrate advanced tools including generative AI, predictive analytics, and secure cloud systems, into agency workflows.
More than 10,000 applications have already been submitted. Unlike typical federal hiring campaigns, selections will be based primarily on technical skill rather than formal education or prior work experience. Successful applicants will earn between $150,000 and $200,000 annually, well above the average entry-level IT salary in government.
Kupor said ethical guidelines are being finalized to ensure that private-sector experts temporarily seconded to federal agencies won't lose stock options or other financial benefits. "What we really want to lean on the private-sector companies for is [to] augment the individual contributor roles… with managerial roles," he said.
Tech Force is distinct from the Department of Government Efficiency, or Doge, a cost-cutting initiative championed by Elon Musk last year that sought to reduce federal spending by $1 trillion.
Still, the two efforts share personnel and philosophy. Several Doge veterans now hold senior government positions and are helping coordinate Tech Force's rollout, including Sam Corcos, the Treasury's chief information officer, and Emil Michael, who has volunteered to advise on Pentagon integration.
Kupor highlighted projects led by another Doge alumnus, Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, as early proofs of concept. Gebbia's team revamped federal retirement platforms and launched new public websites for Trump-era initiatives – examples Kupor sees as templates for what the next wave of engineers could accomplish.
Many of the companies backing Tech Force have made significant political donations to President Trump in recent years, including contributions connected to his White House ballroom project. While this has raised questions about potential conflicts of interest, Kupor argues that the benefits of leveraging industry expertise outweigh the risks. The ultimate goal, he said, is to rebuild the federal digital backbone with the same rigor and speed found in the tech sector.