SOF Week 2025 showcased the next wave of artificial intelligence (AI) solutions, tailored to empower Special Operations Forces (SOF) and the broader defense community. Carahsoft partners – Accrete AI, Clarifai, Edgerunner AI, Grammarly, Pryon and UiPath – stood out as companies redefining how the warfighter leverages data, automation and decision support. Below, we spotlight each company and the direct impact of their AI on the modern battlefield, with exclusive insights from their executives and representatives, from this year’s show floor in Tampa.
Accrete AI: Decisional Analytics for the Information Battlefield
Bill Wall, CEO of Accrete AI Government, brings the full weight of his experience as a 22-year Army Special Forces and 17 year industry veteran to bear to help warfighters understand the information and economic battle spaces in which they operate. Specifically, Accrete AI develops artificial intelligence software focused on decisional analytics which enable organizations to make sense of the overwhelming amount and velocity of information. The goal: to empower faster, more accurate decisions.
“We build solutions that allow artificial intelligence agents to make sense of contextual information, to allow humans to make better and faster decisions towards their mission, whatever it might be, on either the commercial or government side.” – Bill Wall
Accrete focuses on helping the government identify threats to the U.S. supply chain and analyze adversarial influences in media. Its AI agents process complex data streams to provide SOF actionable intelligence to counter hostile narratives and understand the information environment, a critical and often overlooked battlefield in modern conflict. This provides the war fighter with a distinct advantage in the operational environment.
To learn more about Accrete AI at their website or connect with Bill Wall on LinkedIn.
Clarifai: Computer Vision and AI for Real-Time Intelligence
Clarifai leverages the power of AI to deploy advanced computer vision and language models in production environments for global organizations, according to Rick Story, the company’s Senior Account Executive.
A military veteran with experience in product and project management, Story now drives Clarifai’s public sector AI solutions. He explained that Clarifai’s computer vision technology acts as a force multiplier for SOF by automating the detection and analysis of objects in both video and imagery to provide real-time, actionable intelligence for ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) missions. This, he said, reduces the burden on human analysts and increases mission speed and accuracy.
“One of the biggest value adds is to help augment what the warfighter is required to do through computer vision…our capability augments their mission in such a way that they can make decisions more quickly, more accurately and with less risk to the human.” – Rick Story
As one example, Story described how Clarifai’s computer vision models are used in real-world ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) missions: when a warfighter collects visual data-such as video from a drone-Clarifai’s AI automatically detects key objects of interest, like people and vehicles, in real time as the asset is operating in theater. This enables analysts and field commanders to make better, faster decisions based on immediate, AI-augmented insights, reducing the workload on human analysts and increasing mission speed and accuracy
Discover more at clarifai.com, where demos and public sector resources are available.
Edgerunner AI: Secure, On-Device AI Agents for the Edge
Former Capitol Hill staffer, Stanford MBA, AWS and Stability AI alumnus Colton Malkerson co-founded Edgerunner AI and now acts as its CEO. Under his leadership, the company builds air-gapped, on-device AI agents specific to military occupational specialties (MOS) that deliver ChatGPT-like capabilities locally, without internet connectivity.
“You can use our platform to immediately become a subject matter expert on any other MOS…All of that basically makes you an expert on any other MOS, just with our AI agent.” – Colton Malkerson
This capability empowers warfighters with expert-level knowledge and decision support at the tactical edge, even in disconnected or denied environments. Its AI agents provide instant expertise. For example, it can provide lifesaving medical guidance on the battlefield, when connectivity and human specialists are unavailable.
Another standout example from EdgeRunner AI’s case studies is the development and deployment of the company’s AI Battle Buddy. This system was recently showcased in collaboration with Space Force SSC at Stanford University, where it ingested 10,000 PDFs (about 300 million tokens) and demonstrated superior performance compared to GPT-4o-mini. The AI Battle Buddy excelled in delivering highly accurate Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for ground station satellite scheduling.
Find out more at edgerunnerai.com or connect via their website’s contact page.
Grammarly: AI-Powered Communication for Mission Clarity
Grammarly provides an AI communication platform that improves clarity, efficiency, and productivity in written communication, from emails to reports and proposals. While many people know about this company, what many may not realize, according to Rob Fitzgerald, a Grammarly Partner Manager with 15 years in sales specializing in government partnerships, is that Grammarly’s AI goes well beyond simple spellchecks.
Grammarly offers features such as tone adjustment, knowledge sharing, acronym management and sensitive language detection. For SOF, this means clearer, faster and more accurate reporting. In short, Grammarly helps to ensure that critical information is communicated effectively both up and down the chain of command.
“We are an AI communication software, helping improve communication wherever anybody writes…The ultimate goal is to speed up efficiency and productivity and make everybody’s job easier.” – Rob Fitzgerald
Learn more at grammarly.com or reach out to Rob Fitzgerald for government solutions.
Pryon: Secure Generative AI for Unstructured Data
Pryon leverages large language models and retrieval-augmented generation to make sense of unstructured data securely and at scale. Jeremy Hogg, the company’s Vice President of Federal and former Defense Intelligence Agency and FBI professional with deep experience in analytics and public sector technology, summarized its mission: to bring generative AI capabilities into secure government environments.
“Our mission is to bring that capability that we see in the private sector to bring that into, inside the secure walls, to support the warfighter.” – Jeremy Hogg
A concrete example of Pryon’s impact is its work supporting the SOF community. As Hogg described, SOF organizations face challenges similar to those in the civilian sector: vast amounts of unstructured data-such as mission reports, after-action reviews, and lessons learned-are generated and stored, but extracting actionable insights from this information is labor-intensive and often limited to specialized analysts.
For example, during mission planning, a SOF operator can query Pryon’s system for relevant lessons learned from previous operations in a specific region or context. The AI rapidly retrieves, summarizes, and presents key findings, enabling the team to incorporate historical insights into their planning process without sifting through hundreds of documents manually. This not only accelerates decision-making but also ensures that critical knowledge is accessible to those who need it most, when they need it.
Beyond mission planning, Pryon’s platform is also used for administrative functions such as searching and summarizing human resources policies, further increasing efficiency across defense organizations.
Hogg emphasized that this approach “democratizes access to information,” reducing the burden on analysts and making secure, attributable answers available directly to end users through intuitive interfaces. In today’s environment, where organizations are expected to do more with less, automation and AI-driven workflow orchestration are essential. Pryon’s secure generative AI infrastructure not only addresses immediate operational gaps but also lays the foundation for increasingly sophisticated, mission-critical applications as trust and familiarity with the technology grow.
Visit pryon.com for federal use cases or connect with Jeremy Hogg on LinkedIn.
UiPath: Automation and AI for Mission Efficiency
UiPath is an enterprise automation platform designed to eliminate repetitive, mundane tasks, freeing personnel to focus on higher-value work. As explained by Jordan Gillis, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment and now UiPath’s federal engagement executive, the platform is especially valuable for agencies facing reduced headcounts and budgets. UiPath leverages AI to automate business processes, particularly those tied to large enterprise systems like Oracle, SAP and ServiceNow.
A real-world use case involves automating intelligence gathering for defense analysts. Previously, analysts would spend an hour daily collecting data from various web sources. With UiPath, a bot now gathers, formats, and distributes this information automatically, allowing analysts to focus on mission-critical analysis and decision-making. This same approach extends to other processes, such as automating HR workflows. For example, when a service member gets married, UiPath’s AI can recognize different marriage license formats and update all necessary systems-like pay and dependent records-accurately and efficiently.
“Reduced headcount, reduced budgets – automation is the way to continue to deliver a mission. The other thing is accuracy…We automate that. And because it’s AI and smart.” – Jordan Gillis
Ultimately, UiPath’s automation ensures agencies can maintain mission effectiveness despite resource constraints, delivering greater accuracy and faster response times for service members and warfighters. The platform’s bots act as digital agents, streamlining workflows and enabling personnel to focus on what matters most.
Learn more at uipath.com or connect with their public sector team for tailored solutions.
Carahsoft: Full Spectrum AI Solutions
At SOF Week 2025, Carahsoft’s partner showcase proved that AI is no longer a future promise but a present reality for the warfighter. By harnessing AI for decision support, automation, secure knowledge management, and mission clarity, these companies are ensuring that U.S. SOF remains faster, smarter, and more effective than ever.
These feature companies are just a few of the many that have propelled Carahsoft at the forefront of AI innovation for the public sector. It offers a robust portfolio that empowers government agencies to make data-driven decisions with speed, security and compliance. With over 100 leading and emerging AI, machine learning (ML), and high-performance computing (HPC) vendors, Carahsoft’s ecosystem delivers best-in-class solutions tailored to the complex needs of federal, state and local agencies.
The company’s AI vendor portfolio spans a wide spectrum: from generative AI and large language models that boost productivity, to advanced analytics, cybersecurity, autonomous systems, and AI infrastructure for both cloud and datacenter environments. Carahsoft’s partners help agencies automate analytical processes, provide real-time access to mission-critical information, and extract meaningful insights from vast datasets-enhancing everything from citizen services to national security operations.
Supported by dedicated AI specialists and an extensive network of resellers and integrators, Carahsoft ensures seamless procurement and deployment through 38 contract vehicles. Their commitment to education and adoption is evident in high-profile events and ongoing investment, positioning Carahsoft as the trusted aggregator connecting governments with transformative AI technologies for today’s most pressing challenges.To learn more about each solution, visit the companies’ websites or connect with their representatives through the Carahsoft AI team. The future of defense AI is here-and it’s built for the warfighter.