Pentagon targets 30-day hiring with generative AI

The Defense Department is setting an aggressive target to compress its civilian hiring process to just 30 days by deploying generative AI tools across its recruitment pipeline, according to details first reported by Federal News Network.

The goal represents a dramatic acceleration from the 92-day average hiring timeline DoD recorded in 2024 and would bring the Pentagon closer to private-sector speed as it competes for talent in critical technical fields. Michael Cogar, who leads civilian personnel policy at the Defense Department, outlined the initiative in a recent presentation to the Army's Civilian Human Resources Agency.

Why it matters

The Pentagon is rebuilding after losing more than 78,000 civilian employees — roughly 10% of its workforce — during federal job cuts in 2025. Faster hiring could help DoD fill vacancies in cybersecurity, engineering, and intelligence analysis before competitors do. But the plan also raises questions about data readiness, algorithmic bias, and whether AI can reliably assess candidates for sensitive national security roles.

From Contact-to-Contract to AI automation

The 30-day target builds on DoD's Contact-to-Contract initiative, a pilot program launched in 2023 to streamline the period between candidate referral and formal job offer. The program became official departmental guidance in 2024 and focuses on compressing steps like background checks, drug testing, and onboarding paperwork.

Cogar's office previously set an 80-day goal for 2025 and 2026. The new 30-day benchmark would cut that timeline by more than half.

The Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs said in a LinkedIn post that generative AI will "smash traditional bottlenecks" in vetting and described slow hiring as a national security risk. The office did not specify which AI products DoD plans to use or how the technology would be integrated into existing HR systems.

Three-part strategy

The Defense Department's approach combines policy reform, legal compliance, and automation. Cogar's team plans to eliminate "self-imposed, risk-averse" policies that extend timelines while maintaining baseline requirements set by Congress and the Office of Personnel Management.

The strategy also calls for offloading routine administrative tasks to AI so human resources specialists can focus on strategic advising rather than paperwork processing.

Data and compliance hurdles

A June 2025 report from the Rand Corporation identified AI's potential to screen resumes, match candidates to roles, and forecast workforce needs. But Rand researchers warned that DoD lacks a coherent strategy for integrating AI into civilian workforce management.

The department's personnel data would require "significant effort" to clean and standardize before AI tools could operate reliably at scale, according to Rand. The researchers also flagged data privacy concerns, particularly around personally identifiable information, and noted that AI hiring systems must comply with federal equal employment opportunity laws.

Private-sector experience with AI recruiting has shown mixed results. While the technology can process applications faster than human reviewers, studies have documented cases where algorithms screened out qualified candidates or replicated existing biases in hiring data.

Federal News Network first reported the details of DoD's 30-day hiring initiative and Cogar's presentation to Army HR officials.