Following the news of several key hires, multiple wins at CMS, and recognition for leadership in GovCon, RELI Group has expanded its efforts in innovation. The company recently appointed Sarah Sanchez as its Chief Innovation Officer, overseeing its Center of Excellence – an incubator for delivery strategy, transforming promising solutions and capabilities into mature, client-ready offerings and comprehensive playbooks. Additionally, the company launched RELI Labs, an environment designed for agile experimentation, allowing RELI to rapidly test and apply technologies from its roadmap to specific, real-world use cases. We caught up with Sarah to understand how the Center of Excellence and RELI Labs will serve as collaborative spaces for government and industry, and about the evolving responsibility of the vendor community in a time of rapid change.
Deliberation in Innovation
Having turned the corner from a small business to an unrestricted midsize company, RELI Group has become more intentional in its focus on innovation.
Through RELI Labs, the company is creating a deliberate structure for evaluating road maps, testing emerging technologies, and developing use cases that can be standardized within the company’s Center of Excellence. This balance – exploring in RELI Labs and formalizing in the Center of Excellence – ensures ideas are not only tested but refined into repeatable, scalable methodologies for federal clients.
“With our CTO, Atul Singh, leading RELI Labs and my leadership in the Center of Excellence, we have established an environment of healthy collaboration – and, at times, productive friction. This allows us to evaluate our road map, test ideas within RELI Labs, and codify them within the Center of Excellence to ensure consistency and repeatability.”
This model exists both virtually, as an environment for exploration and experimentation, and physically, as a space where partners and clients can experience mock scenarios to further develop ideas.
New Responsibility and Opportunity
Federal agencies are increasingly looking to industry not only for technical capabilities, but also for actional prototypes and proofs of concept. This shift creates an opportunity for vendors to show they understand agency missions and can deliver tangible solutions more quickly.
“Previously, the government was more risk averse, with statements of work that were highly detailed and prescriptive. Now there is a greater willingness to set objectives, explore and iterate with industry – collaboratively building on strong ideas to maximize impact. That shift allows us to get closer to the core of an agency’s mission.”
With this shift comes greater responsibility: vendors must immerse themselves in an agency’s mission, conducting the research and engaging in the conversations that reveal why a solution or service delivers impact and has value. “When you can demonstrate a solution’s value, you open the door to having those same conversations with other agencies facing similar challenges. The key is taking the extra step to optimize and adapt, making sure the solution complies with requirements unique to each agency.”
“The best way to achieve that intimacy is to have people who truly understand the agency, do the research, and devote the time for meaningful conversations. We immerse ourselves in the client’s mission, and we also look from a constituent’s perspective to understand citizen impact – because that’s the language that resonates.”
Focus on Frameworks and Smart Action
Beyond a focus on the mission, successful delivery requires frameworks that balance both repeatability and flexibility, maximizing efficiency while also adapting to changing agency priorities.
“Maturity and credibility come from aligning employees, partners and resources around a common delivery model. Agencies need to know they’re working with a vendor that brings strategy, governance and proven approaches, but also offers flexibility to configure their approach for that specific agency. That alignment gets everyone moving in the same direction, ensuring quality and consistency across contracts.”
At RELI Group, that approach is encapsulated in the RELI Nexus Framework, which integrates people, processes, technology and governance into a holistic model. This provides government agencies with both repeatability and adaptability, ensuring innovation is grounded in strategy, not just technology.
“There are new government-wide agreements for best-in-class SaaS products, but if you don’t need a hammer, you shouldn’t pick one up. It’s about not only understanding AI, machine learning, and all the other buzzwords, but asking what is truly needed – is it workflow automation? Process optimization? Something else? – and helping agencies select the right technology for the need, while also maximizing the investments they’ve already made.”
By filtering hype from real solutions, RELI helps agencies cut through the noise that often surrounds emerging technology, directing investments toward approached that truly deliver mission value.
With everyone talking today about AI, RELI chooses to focus on applied AI, through intentional conversations about responsibility, utilization, governance and orchestration that government may not always be considering. “The vendor community has an opportunity to communicate thoughtfully and show impact by demonstrating process flows and outcomes. That opens the door to collaborate with government on the right technology solution.”
Those companies that have the domain insight, that can move forward tools that will accelerate and improve government’s ability to deliver to citizens will be those who stand out, who differentiate themselves over others who simply have new tools to showcase.
What’s Next
As AI continues to evolve in all of its forms – robotic process automation, generative AI, Agentic AI – the role of the human in the loop will change.
“The evolution of agentic AI will require us to deconstruct process flows so we can design agents that can execute them effectively and efficiently. This demands a different way of thinking than simply carrying out tasks; it’s about structuring the work so agents can deliver real benefits.”
Further challenges will involve determining where human decision-making must remain, how to govern and orchestrate AI models, and how to compartmentalize technology for reuse. “We need to break innovation into manageable, traceable components so that as new technologies are released, we can understand the impacts and leverage then effectively elsewhere.”
Implementing and Accelerating Change
A focus on change is woven into everything RELI Group does. “For our government clients, we understand their mission and serve as a trusted partner. We care about their outcomes as much as they do, and as citizens ourselves, we never lose sight of the impact of our work.”
Through deep client engagement and proven delivery, RELI serves as an experienced guide to federal partners. “RELI Labs is just one example of how we create space for a collaborative journey with our partners. This is a tangible resource and driver for change and growth.”
Partner Lens
As RELI continues to grow, it is actively seeking like-minded partners with specialized capabilities and domain experience across government. “The cybersecurity space is one area where understanding vulnerabilities and optimizing defenses is critical. We’re also leaning into Homeland Security, drawing on lessons learned from the healthcare space that apply to shared challenges.”
“The companies making the greatest impact are those that understand how to maximize and operationalize diverse data streams, while also viewing them through a mission lens. For RELI, that thinking is coupled with the maturation of our differentiators and strategic partnerships, which position us to solve challenges that may not even be fully visible today. It’s about looking three to five years ahead to ensure we can continue to meet the evolving needs of government and support agencies in the critical decisions they are making now and in the future.”
About Sarah Sanchez
Sarah Sanchez serves as Chief Innovation Officer at RELI Group, providing enterprise-wide oversight of the Center of Excellence. In this role, Sarah leads the alignment of RELI’s six service areas with its core solutions to deliver measurable outcomes for RELI’s clients.
With extensive experience in digital transformation, cloud solutions, cybersecurity and human-centered design, Sarah brings a dynamic and future-focused approach to solving complex challenges. She has a strong track record of delivering high-impact solutions that accelerate growth, elevate customer experiences and improve operational performance.
Before joining RELI, Sarah was Chief Growth Officer at ATG Innovations and Vice President of Managed Services at SAIC, where she led large-scale IT programs and drove innovation in emerging technologies. A former U.S. Air Force officer, she also served as a healthcare administrator, overseeing operations and health information management across multiple departments. Throughout her career, she has been widely recognized for leading multidisciplinary teams, championing innovation and delivering impactful solutions for clients.
Sarah holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Nazareth College and a Master of Public Administration with a concentration in healthcare from the State University of New York at Brockport.
