Ideation, Inc. · Reston, Virginia · Since 2000
We design, build and sustain data, software and AI systems, including generative and agentic AI, for public-sector programs and for organizations whose decisions must stand up to review.
About Ideation
Ideation, Inc. was founded in 2000 on the concept its name describes: an idea is conceived, developed through innovation, and carried through to a working result. We take on difficult problems, particularly those that call for doing more with less, and we apply design thinking before we choose a technology.
We serve program management offices, CIO and CTO offices, and emergency management offices in federal departments including DHS, DOC, DoD, DOI, DOT and HHS, as well as state and local agencies.
Capabilities
We cover the full path from raw records to decisions: the data, the software that uses it, the analysis behind it and, where it adds value, generative and agentic AI.
Assistants and agentic workflows that plan and carry out multi-step tasks through approved tools, draw on authoritative policy and data, show the sources behind each result, and leave decisions with the responsible staff.
Data pipelines, quality controls, statistical and geospatial analysis, and interactive dashboards that turn agency records into information leaders use.
Full-lifecycle development and sustainment of web, desktop and mobile applications, using Agile processes and open standards.
Automated data extraction, transformation, publishing and quality checks that reduce manual effort and shorten processing time.
Requirements elicitation, business process analysis, cost-effectiveness and regulatory impact analysis, and technology strategy.
Analytical, technical and advisory support for federal, state, tribal, territorial and local agencies implementing hazard mitigation programs.
Approach
Technology is chosen after the problem is understood. The same discipline applies to AI, including agentic systems: a model or agent is useful to a mission only when the data, rules and review around it are sound.
We ask why until we reach the underlying problem, then select the simplest technology that solves it.
Systems work from the data and policy of record, with access controls appropriate to each source.
Automated, AI-assisted and agent-prepared outputs are drafts for review. Approval remains with the client's staff.
Outputs reference the records and rules behind them, so a reviewer can verify them.
We deploy in client-approved cloud and AI environments. Data stays where it is governed.
We maintain what we build through policy changes, data updates and new program years.
Core values
Straight talk and accurate judgments, with ourselves and with others. Truth is the foundation for trust.
We hold co-workers, partners and clients in high esteem and value the viewpoints each person brings.
Fair and just dealings, guided by moral and ethical principles, make us reliable and dependable.
A founding principle: new ideas, methods and products that improve established ways of doing things.
Work with us
We work with federal, state and local program offices from early analysis and prototyping through production and long-term sustainment. Ideation is available through the GSA Multiple Award Schedule.
We team as prime contractor or subcontractor and treat a partnership as shared roles and responsibilities rather than a hierarchy. We work with:
The same practice applies to commercial and non-profit organizations with regulated, data-intensive or high-consequence work.
Leadership
Founder, President and CEO
Gopal Raja (Raj) founded Ideation in 2000 and leads its technical direction. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology and a Master's degree in Civil Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, with an emphasis on computer-aided engineering planning and management.
Raj has applied artificial intelligence to practical problems since 1993, beginning with a peer-reviewed neural network model for predicting groundwater conditions at a federal superfund site.
Ideation's staff combine software and data engineering, applied AI, and program and policy expertise. Leaders and engineers work directly on client programs.
Contact
Whether you run a program, want to team on a pursuit, or have a problem that needs a working solution, we would like to hear from you.
Phone
888.360.IDEA (4332)Office
1818 Library Street, Suite 500