Ad Hoc and BLEN launch ByDesign Technology to help agencies build trusted AI-enabled services

The software development process is undergoing its most dramatic change since the adoption of cloud technology and DevOps practices. Agencies need new strategies and partners to harness these changes and deliver the services their constituents rely on. ByDesign Technology, a new joint venture between Ad Hoc and BLEN, will help agencies do just that.

ByDesign combines modern engineering, human-centered design, and practical AI practices to develop working solutions in months. Its teams will focus on defined mission challenges, giving agencies an opportunity to evaluate results and make informed decisions about what to build next.

BLEN is an 8(a)-certified, Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned, and HUBZone-certified small business based in Washington, DC. Since 2004, BLEN has built software and mobile applications for federal agencies, nonprofits, and businesses. Its federal work includes projects for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the White House, GSA, and HHS’s Head Start program. BLEN was also awarded a VA contract to develop an AI-enabled clinical summarization capability and an AI Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that are now part of VA’s clinical-AI infrastructure.

For more than a decade, Ad Hoc has helped government agencies improve how they deliver services to the public. Our work includes HealthCare.gov, VA.gov, VA’s flagship mobile app, Medicare Plan Finder, and Search.gov. Our most recent AI-enabled delivery model, Activate, pairs experienced teams with AI-assisted workflows, reusable delivery foundations, and human oversight to help agencies move from an initial idea to a working service more quickly.

ByDesign is developing offerings in AI gateway governance, permitting and adjudication, and mainframe modernization. Each will focus on a specific agency challenge and provide a working demonstration agencies can evaluate and build on.

The name ByDesign reflects the deliberate choices behind trustworthy government technology: understanding people’s needs, building security into the work, and applying disciplined engineering practices. Ad Hoc and BLEN bring complementary experience to that approach, combining focused technical expertise with experience delivering services at national scale.

“We formed ByDesign to take on more of the work that matters to our customers,” said Ben Kutil, Chief Technology Officer at Ad Hoc. “With BLEN, we’re putting more capability behind that commitment.”

“BLEN has spent two decades proving what a small, disciplined engineering team can do inside government’s toughest constraints,” said Ephrem M. Girma, President of BLEN, Inc. “ByDesign allows us to bring that discipline to a broader set of challenges alongside a partner with experience delivering at the scale of VA.gov.”

Through ByDesign, agencies will gain access to an integrated team that can turn a defined need into a working solution, gather feedback early, and use what it learns to develop secure, reliable services for the people who depend on them.