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Deltek · May 2026

17th Annual Deltek Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study

Deltek's 17th Annual Deltek Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study (May 2026; n=917) found that 5% of government contractors describe their AI maturity as fully developed.

Read the original report ↗Cite2 min read · Summary updated
Few government contractors are fully developed in AI maturityPercent of respondents by AI maturity stage, as reported by IT and security teams, 2026 (other stages not reported in release)
Piloting
37%
Scaling
38%
Fully developed
5%
Source: Deltek, 17th Annual Deltek Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study, 2026.

Key findings

  1. 01
    90% are using or planning to use AI in at least one business function in 2026.
  2. 02
    Only 5% report fully developed AI maturity, and 45% are unclear on AI's return on investment.
  3. 03
    Average revenue grew 15% in 2025, yet nearly 90% saw at least one declining financial metric.

By the numbers

5%of government contractors describe their AI maturity as fully developed
45%are unclear on the return on investment from AI
95%of IT professionals are concerned about using AI in IT and security
Top concerns about AI among government contractorsPercent of respondents, 2026
Data privacy and security
37%
Potential for inaccurate forecasts
29%
Difficulty validating AI-provided insights
26%
Source: Deltek, 17th Annual Deltek Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study, 2026.

What it means for you Draft

For executives at $10–100M companies

Useful mainly for firms that sell to government. Even in a sector with growing revenue, nearly half cannot say whether AI is paying back, which is a reminder to define the payoff before scaling spending.

Limitations

Medium trust.Large sample and long-running; vendor-published (Deltek sells GovCon ERP with AI); detailed methodology gated.

About the publisher: Sells project-based business software.

The headline figure measures the “In core work” stage of adoption (running in key processes).Why adoption numbers disagree

Cite the original

Deltek. "17th Annual Deltek Clarity Government Contracting Industry Study." May 12, 2026. https://www.deltek.com/company/news/latest-deltek-clarity-industry-studies-highlight-ai-challenges/

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