Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from experimentation to expectation in Federal IT. Federal agencies often face mounting pressure to modernize systems, derive faster insights from data, and deliver mission outcomes at digital speed. But many agencies struggle with the technical, security, and procurement barriers to full-scale AI adoption.
That’s the challenge Deloitte set out to help solve with its Silicon to Service (S2S) solution, which is built on the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA. S2S is a secure, scalable, and fully integrated AI infrastructure that combines NVIDIA accelerated computing, pre-built AI accelerators, and support services in a single package – removing the friction that typically slows innovation in government. It is hosted through Equinix.
Deloitte estimates that S2S can offer up to 35 percent faster data processing and analysis compared to a traditional cloud service provider with an equivalent service.
“AI is critical to helping government solve its toughest challenges,” said Melinda Radlinski, principal of artificial intelligence and engineering in Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Defense, Security & Justice practice. “With S2S, we’re delivering an integrated capability that makes AI accessible across the enterprise. It’s fast, cost-effective, and aligned with agencies’ missions.”
Industry Partners Develop a New Model for Government Innovation
Development of S2S began when Deloitte recognized a gap in the market: Agencies needed the ability to explore and deploy AI with confidence, without navigating costly and time-consuming multi-vendor integration or cloud constraints. The organization invested directly in the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA and offers it to public sector organizations alongside Deloitte’s accelerator models and Federal government mission expertise.
“We believed in the AI Factory so much that we bought one for ourselves,” Radlinski said. “We layered our AI accelerators on top to validate the value – and then made it available to our Federal agency customers.”
The heart of the S2S platform is the collaboration among industry leaders to achieve a shared mission: bring enterprise-grade AI to the most demanding government environments.
“We recognized that by collaborating with some of the leading companies in the marketplace, we could accelerate the time to value for Federal agencies by pre-integrating and preassembling infrastructure, software, and solutions, and providing services to tailor and configure AI applications to specific mission needs – all in one transaction,” said Rob Lantz, managing director and AI analytics leader in Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Defense, Security & Justice practice.
The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA is the enabling foundation for S2S. Dell provides a portfolio of AI infrastructure – including PowerEdge servers, PowerScale storage, and AI-ready networking – integrated with NVIDIA accelerated computing. This full-stack integration can speed and simplify deployment, while providing mission-grade scalability and performance for Federal agencies.
Equinix adds secure, high-performance hosting with power, cooling, and cross-connect capabilities to handle sensitive data.
Deloitte delivers AI accelerators, a cleared workforce, and deep Federal mission experience.
The result is a turnkey environment that agencies can tap into quickly and securely.
S2S Helps Agencies Address Security, Integration Challenges
S2S is designed to address Federal AI challenges, from lengthy procurement cycles to security and integration challenges to AI experience.
“Across government, we’ve seen calls for greater private sector investment in AI, policies directing agencies to use safe and secure AI, and increasing calls for rapid prototyping at ‘Silicon Valley speed’,” said Todd Johnston, managing director and Deloitte Consulting LLP’s Defense, Security & Justice practice AI leader. “This solution aims to be an ‘easy button’ for Federal agencies to explore and address these needs with advanced AI.”
S2S enables:
- End-to-end integration: Compute, software, services, and support are integrated in a single environment, so agencies don’t have to stitch together components from multiple vendors
- Security and sovereignty: S2S keeps data within the physical and policy boundaries required for sensitive workloads. It supports controlled unclassified information today and is roadmap-ready for higher classification levels
- Rapid prototyping and scale: With AI accelerators and pre-integrated infrastructure, agencies can go from use case to pilot in weeks, rather than months. Deloitte helps refine, test, and operationalize solutions within secure parameters
- Operational and financial efficiency: S2S enables agencies to shift from a capital expense model to an operational expense model, lowering the financial barrier to AI deployment
“We’re empowering clients to prototype AI safely in a hybrid model – on-prem when needed, connected to cloud when helpful, and always secure,” said Edward Van Buren, principal and AI strategic growth offering leader at Deloitte Consulting LLP. “That architectural flexibility is critical for real-world adoption.”
Federal Use Cases Bolster Speed, Security, and Situational Awareness
From civilian oversight to national security, S2S supports a range of Federal mission needs. The platform enables agencies to explore AI use cases, including:
- Image and video analysis: Defense and homeland security teams can analyze massive volumes of sensor and surveillance data for real-time threat detection and situational awareness
- Document summarization and generation: With Deloitte’s ReportGen application, agencies can ingest large volumes of source material and produce formatted, accurate reports in hours instead of weeks
- Space and telemetry analytics: S2S supports petabyte-scale processing of satellite and telemetry data to detect anomalies and anticipate threats in complex operational environments
- Agency-wide AI institutes: S2S enables Federal organizations to establish rapid prototyping ecosystems. Rather than standing up shadow IT, agencies can securely test and scale AI using enterprise-grade infrastructure and trusted services
“We’re seeing more agencies that want a ‘secure sandbox’ – a place where they can explore what their data can really do with the right AI applied,” Johnston said. “S2S gives them that option, without forcing infrastructure ownership or compromising data governance.”
Collaboration, Technology, and Mission Expertise Enable AI Success
As Federal agencies work to modernize constituent services, accelerate defense innovation, and drive better decisions with data, deploying enterprise-grade AI is critical. Success with AI depends not only on accurate models and powerful compute, but also robust infrastructure, secure environments, and a deep understanding of agency missions. S2S, built on the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, delivers all three – ready to deploy, scale, and make a measurable impact on agencies’ missions.
“We’re helping solve agencies’ challenges with AI adoption – and doing it in a way that brings the technology directly to the mission,” Radlinski emphasized.