As the new year started, the Federal government also kickstarted a new era of IT modernization. A series of new policy initiatives, focusing mainly on AI, security, and updated acquisition look to reshape government IT towards the goal of delivering efficiencies and better services for the American people.
Government at the Speed of Business
Removal of roadblocks to AI adoption is central to many of these initiatives. Indeed, if there is a single phrase that captures the momentum of these efforts, it’s to create IT infrastructures that will allow government agencies to move at the “speed of business.” That’s not an abstract concept in the corporate world, but it isn’t always fluently translated inside government halls.
Federal IT modernization is a process. So, it’s more accurate to say that what we’re anticipating in 2026 is more about the progress of these initiatives rather than their beginnings.
Many of these Federal IT modernization initiatives began more than a decade ago, with a focus on cybersecurity, zero trust, and cloud computing. These initiatives also kicked off years of IT modernization activity, but too often the result was slow, costly, and unwieldy solutions that didn’t deliver for agencies.
Unshackling Federal IT Modernization
In the past year, the reverse has happened. New policy directives like the America’s AI Action Plan, the Revolutionary FAR (RFO) and GSA initiatives such as OneGov, and others across the government are designed to remove the roadblocks and disruptive sorts of overly prescriptive policies that were handcuffing Federal agency IT modernization. [1]
As we continue into 2026, let’s highlight some of the government IT modernization and other developments we’ll be following closely.
Private Cloud and the DoW
One of the most interesting developments is the momentum in the Department of War (DoW) for adopting AI in a secure, scalable, and interoperable manner by leveraging DoW’s private cloud capabilities, particularly through the Defense Information Services Agency (DISA), the global infrastructure for information sharing and communication across the DoW.
Stratus
DISA already operates on Stratus, a private cloud platform launched in 2024. The Stratus private cloud delivers the same capabilities — large databases, computational power, customer support, and infrastructure — as its hyperscaler public cloud counterparts, but at lower cost. It has proven to be an ideal cloud solution that simplifies and speeds up access to secure DoW cloud environments worldwide.
JWCC Next
In April, 2025, DoW launched JWCC Next, a new iteration of the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC). JWCC Next aims to provide additional choice and flexibility for the DoW to address the changing landscape of national security cloud demands. Private cloud is ideally positioned to be a major contributor to achieving the goals of the JWCC Next program. It uniquely offers DoW the control, advanced interoperability across hybrid cloud environments, and enhanced security critical to advancing Federal IT modernization and integrating AI into DoW programs, services, and warfighting capabilities — including the next generation of autonomous warfighting drones.
PCTE
Moving into 2026, DoW continues to develop new AI and other capabilities for the astonishingly capable Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE), the U.S. Cyber Command’s global training system for preparing our cyberwarriors for digital warfare. Private cloud provides the backbone to PCTE, America’s premier cyber defense hub. To learn more about PCTE’s use of private cloud, download this infographic.
Mission Network-as-a-Service
Another recent development is the announcement that DOW is launching a new program to streamline and unify its classified data networks. The “Mission Network-as-a-Service” program aims to consolidate approximately 17 networks currently used by combat commands into a single, secure environment. The program is also tasked with integrating AI into the unified network.
The "One Platform" Sprint to FY2027
Along with these trends and developments, the DoW’s FY2027 Zero Trust deadline mandates that agencies must shift from purchasing new tools to consolidating infrastructure. In a tight budget climate, the "One Platform" approach is essential. By adopting a unified foundation like Broadcom’s VCF private cloud platform, agencies can get intrinsic Zero Trust capabilities—such as micro-segmentation—built directly into the stack. This eliminates the complexity of bolted-on security tools and ensures consistent policy enforcement from the data center to the edge, allowing agencies to meet mandates efficiently without accumulating technical debt.
Opportunities for Cybersecurity and Agentic AI
One final trend to highlight is the expectation that Federal agencies will take advantage of the flexibility being offered by the various initiatives to improve their cybersecurity posture at a time when attacks on Federal systems are relentless. Resilience and reliability are hallmarks of private cloud. And with Federal agencies leaning into agentic AI for security and many other related capabilities even more in 2026, it’s safe to say that momentum will continue to grow for adoption of secure private cloud AI within DoW and across many other government agencies.
Overall we can bet on one sure thing for 2026: an unrelenting pace of technological advance, and the desire of government IT leaders to meet the demands of citizens and senior agency leaders alike to match limited resources with unstoppable innovation.