Enhancing Government Payment Integrity: Leveraging AI and Other Emerging Technologies

Agencies must address the multifaceted challenges and opportunities associated with advancing payment integrity by adopting innovative solutions, including artificial intelligence (AI), to combat improper payments—which can include fraud, waste, or abuse.

This new report draws on insights from an expert roundtable to provide a comprehensive overview of the current landscape, the hurdles faced by agencies, and the potential pathways to enhance payment integrity. The first part of the report focuses on the overarching challenges facing agencies in their efforts to reduce improper payments, especially through leveraging AI and other emerging technologies. These challenges range from restrictions on data sharing and outdated laws, to the lack of consistent incentives and the rapid evolution of technology used by adversaries. The discussion underscores the complexity of balancing identity protection with customer experience, and the difficulties posed by siloed systems and inconsistent data structures.

Moving from challenges to solutions, the second part of the report identifies key opportunities for improvement. Collaboration across agencies and with industry partners emerges as a crucial strategy for enhancing payment integrity. By sharing technology advances, data, and insights, agencies can develop more robust capabilities to detect and prevent improper payments. The report also highlights the importance of leveraging AI and machine learning to automate processes, improve data consistency, and enhance identity verification and fraud detection mechanisms.

The report further outlines a framework for improvement, detailing specific areas where agencies can focus their efforts. These include securing access through advanced AI-powered identity management, optimizing policies to align with modern technology, and automating processes to reduce human error. The framework also emphasizes the need for pre-payment detection, rapid response to fraud alerts, and the development of a modern data strategy. By adopting these measures, agencies can transition beyond only reactive “pay and chase” models, to proactive approaches that leverage AI to prevent improper payments before they occur.

This report builds on multiple IBM Center reports that have helped government leaders to achieve success in using AI and innovative technologies to improve mission delivery, including Digital Modernization for Government: An Implementation Framework, A Prepared Federal Government: Preventing Fraud and Improper Payments in Emergency Funding, and AI and the Modern Tax Agency.