U.S. Tech Force aims to hire 1,000 engineers for AI, tech roles

A new U.S. Tech Force recruitment drive is underway, with federal hiring officials seeking 1,000 engineers, including AI specialists, for two-year government appointments, OPM (U.S. Office of Personnel Management) Director Scott Kupor shared the update on December 15, 2025.The government hopes to hire the first round by March 31, 2026.

The program is being promoted on techforce.gov and directs candidates to the USAJOBS website, focusing on the skills of software engineering, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and data analytics. Reuters has stated that the jobs are mainly based in Washington, D.C. Which could have implications for participation in a tech market that increasingly expects remote work.

What the U.S. Tech Force is

Tech Force has a two-year “delivery team” structure: agencies hire technologists into delivery teams that work directly for and under their leadership, while training and programming occur through partnerships between agencies and private companies.

OPM’s announcement also positions Tech Force as being government-wide and emphasizing surge capacity in terms of engineers, data scientists, and technology leaders to deal with large-scale federal challenges. And According to Verge, it appears to be aimed at pulling talent from top tech companies such as Apple, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, to bring Big Tech experience into government.

 Kupor said that the new employees may help with agency-specific projects such as developing a digital platform related to the administration’s savings accounts for children.

Who is backing the program?

Kupor serves as the public face of the initiative, while the OPM is using Tech Force as a collective effort on all levels of hiring and digital leadership in government.

In the launch:

Josh Gruenbaum, Commissioner for GSA Federal Acquisition Service, added that “GSA is joining forces with OPM to fast-track AI adoption” and that Tech Force is a “force multiplier.”

Gregory Barbaccia, the U.S. Federal Chief Information Officer, called it an “elite corps for government infrastructure modernization.”

As Reuters pointed out, “The effort is part of a broader AI agenda in the administration, led in part by David Sacks, a former PayPal executive.” According to this structure, David Sacks is a strategic AI leadership figure in the administration’s AI agenda, while OPM and agency leaders manage the operational aspects of placing individuals into roles.

This matters for automation and AI in government

Tech Force is an investment in the ability to deliver, not another strategy document. The two-year timeline is designed to attract technologists able to deliver software, implement AI processes, and secure systems—to then depart, with private sector partners encouraged to think of their alums for employment down the road.

This “tour of duty” approach also points out the retention problem. Kupor also said that a hiring program for AI experts in the Biden administration resulted in 200 hires, but only about 75 remained in the public sector, a leading indicator that hiring is only the beginning.

What to Watch Next

The key will be whether agencies can get these new hires placed promptly into mission-critical projects and whether this program can handle conflict-of-interest issues cleanly while collaborating with companies that themselves sell technology to the public sector.

However, if Tech Force is able to begin shipping systems in the spring and summer of 2026, this could set the precedent for how large organizations implement artificial intelligence: building small, accountable teams to control the end-to-end results.