AI technology can see through Pentagon spending

For a variety of reasons, while US defense spending is nominally public, it is not easy to know what they spend money on.

As lawmakers and Pentagon officials push to reform the defense procurement system, a small tech company is expanding a data analytics platform that it says can give Pentagon partners the information they need to more effectively manage the U.S. Defense Department 's nearly trillion-dollar budget.

Using this AI, US lawmakers can monitor whether their military is using the funds approved by both houses of Congress for their intended purposes. On the other hand, military officials can also know what to focus on when to buy. Of course, this also helps military contractors know where to focus their competition.

Possessing the world's largest army, the US always spends a huge amount of money on defense. Illustration photo

Obviant was founded in 2023 and developed the defense procurement platform as a means to help both the Department of Defense and the defense industry better understand how the Pentagon spends money and what stakeholders in Congress and within the department are prioritizing.

To navigate that system, you typically have to wade through the thousands of PDF pages that make up the Defense Department's budget request, track congressional markups through multiple committees, and track the status of a $150 billion budget reconciliation bill.

“There’s no single source of truth. There’s no map to it,” Obviant founder and CEO Brendan Karp told Defense News. “It’s just a bunch of structured and unstructured sources.”

Obviant's AI system will capture all of the Pentagon's budgets and expenditures to support managers and defense contractors.

Their AI system will collect all that complex data, analyze it and compare it like a giant intelligence agency. Through analysis, their AI can know how much money the Pentagon is given and where it is spent.

The AI is even so sharp that it can compare public statements by Pentagon officials with actual information to see if the money is being used as claimed.

Obviant has received $7 million in seed funding, which the company will use to expand the capabilities of its AI-based platform and make it available to more users.

“With this recent funding, Obviant will expand its team, enhance its platform’s AI capabilities, and expand its customer base — transforming how companies, investors, and government leaders make more informed decisions across the defense sector,” Obviant said in a statement.

The system aggregates the total budget (left) and analyzes all expenditure sources (right)

The round was led by Shield Capital, a venture capital firm led by former Department of Defense and defense industry professionals focused on early-stage companies developing AI, automation, cyber, and space capabilities.

Karp and his team launched their platform last year and are targeting a few key customer groups: investors trying to understand where the department is focusing its funding, companies trying to sell to the military, congressional staffers tracking the Defense Department’s funding priorities and program offices, and Pentagon procurement leaders trying to move technology into the field.

For all of these users, Obviant will pull data from open-source budget documents, allocations and contract notices, as well as any separate customer data, and find commonalities in them, Karp said.

Obviant's AI-powered platform changes that, bringing real-time transparency and context to the defense procurement ecosystem.

By collecting and unifying data from thousands of sources—such as program documents, defense budget justification records, and congressional reports—it provides a comprehensive and coherent picture of procurement, contracting, and budgeting information across the Department of Defense.

A chart of Pentagon spending on hypersonic weapons. Photo: Business Insider

Furthermore, this data can be aggregated by mission or program, such as contested logistics or Golden Dome, to highlight opportunities. Obviant combines open source intelligence (OSINT) and customer-owned data with context and AI-driven reasoning to transform defense procurement, giving customers a decisive advantage in understanding and pursuing opportunities.

Obviant's customers include high-growth defense startups, leading companies, global investment firms, defense consulting firms, research groups, and multiple government agencies, all looking for faster and smarter ways to navigate and understand the $1 trillion+ U.S. defense market.

The company provides information on how much the department invests in certain capabilities or uses certain contracting tools. It can also track trends, such as whether the Department of Defense’s public statements match actual spending.

The company has enjoyed success in its first few years of operation, recently landing its first government contract with several Department of Defense innovation organizations.

As lawmakers call for reform of the defense procurement system and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushes for more speed and efficiency in the weapons buying process, Karp said he sees the company having a role in driving progress in those areas.