Federal procurement just got a digital makeover. Is your GovCon brand ready?
The General Services Administration (GSA) has introduced CODY—short for Compliance Optimization and Data Integration—an AI-powered tool that plays a significant role in modernizing and accelerating the pre-award phase of federal contracting. Powered by robotic process automation (RPA), CODY aggregates vendor data from multiple authoritative systems, streamlining how contracting officers conduct initial responsibility checks.
But let’s be clear: CODY isn’t changing the rules. It’s just enforcing them faster.
This shift doesn’t introduce new compliance standards. Instead, it emphasizes what has always been necessary, now with increased speed, consistency, and automation. For contractors, the message is simple: your messaging, positioning, and platform visibility must be tight, aligned, and proactive if you want to stay in the game.
“CODY provides a central repository of data from authoritative systems that automatically verifies prerequisites, like responsibility and exclusion checks, before acquisition teams initiate contract awards.”
— GSA, GSA.gov
What Is CODY—and Why It Matters
CODY draws data from platforms including SAM.gov, DSBS.sba.gov, FPDS.gov, USAspending.gov, and others to help procurement teams determine whether a vendor meets all prerequisites before further proposal evaluation.
Its primary purpose? Automating a manual, time-consuming, and sometimes inconsistent vetting process.
With faster data aggregation, less human error, and more robust pre-award reviews, CODY gives agencies a streamlined way to assess vendor eligibility and compliance. That means your company may be evaluated—or excluded—before your proposal and pricing are evaluated.
What Contractors Need to Know
CODY increases efficiency in the early stages of the procurement lifecycle, but the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) still governs the process.
Contracting officers remain responsible for determining vendor responsibility under FAR Subpart 9.1, which includes evaluating:
- Financial stability
- Past performance
- Integrity and ethics
- Technical capability
- Regulatory compliance
While CODY surfaces this information faster, it doesn’t make the final decision. What it does do is flag non-compliance and inconsistencies and streamline pre-award due diligence. If your profiles are incomplete, outdated, or misaligned across platforms, that lack of clarity can cause unnecessary doubt, especially in a compressed timeline.
Bottom line: contractors must be proactively positioned and consistently represented everywhere both AI and humans look.
How to Strengthen Positioning in the CODY Era
1. Consistency Is Critical
Your data should be consistent across all procurement systems and touchpoints: System for Award Management (SAM), Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS), capability statements, and your website.
- Use the same core differentiators, value drivers, and compliance language.
- Ensure your service descriptions are thorough and keyword-optimized.
- Avoid discrepancies that could signal risk.
In the CODY era, your past performance will be evaluated against official government, publicly available systems such as the Federal Procurement Data System (FPDS), and USAspending, as well as the Contractor Performance Assessment Reporting System (CPARS) – which is only available to government officials. Although you do not have the capability to make updates to the information in these systems, checking the accuracy and collaborating with the Government Points of Contract to fix inconsistencies is crucial to ensure you pass automated compliance checks.
2. Build Brand Trust Through Messaging
CODY doesn’t scan your website—but procurement officers do. If your public messaging doesn’t support the credentials they see in government databases, it raises red flags and deteriorates trust.
Ocean 5 helps businesses align public-facing content with agency mission, shifting program priorities, mission outcomes, and federal procurement standards—reinforcing the story your data is telling.
Do you know the six critical aspects of successful messaging?
3. Adapt for Efficiency
As the timeline between market research and solicitation tightens, your messaging must be:
- Concise
- Clear
- Consistant
- Mission-aligned
Agencies don’t just want capabilities—they want results. Speak to impact and outcomes, not just services and technical specs. Your messaging must address:
- Problems your solutions solve
- The real-time value you bring
- Mission outcomes
- Efficiently and effectively supporting agency mission and priorities.
Stop leading with solutions, features, and functions. Instead, focus on the outcomes that drive your government buyers, such as compliance, scalability, ROI, and efficiency.
4. Clarify Your Compliance Credentials
Certifications and registrations (FedRAMP, CMMC, ISO, etc.) should be clearly highlighted across all assets, including capabilities statements and government contractor websites.
Make it easy for procurement officers to confirm your readiness—and help them connect your qualifications to their prerequisites and priorities.
When teaming to win, compliance needs to be evaluated as a collective whole among the prime and sub-contractors who are named in the proposal. You should take a Zero Trust approach to vetting and choosing your business partners to ensure a cohesive and compliant team is being proposed.
5. Support Strategic Positioning
Ultimately, procurement is about ensuring that the government acquires the right goods and services, from responsible and qualified vendors, at the best value to fulfill its mission efficiently, transparently, and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Your messaging should show:
- How you support the agency’s mission, and that you understand it
- Why your solution is scalable and sustainable—and why it matters
- What long-term value you bring to the table
How Ocean 5 Strategies Can Help
We don’t handle your data inputs, but we do ensure that the messages procurement officers see and read articulate and support your capabilities and strengths in a language that they understand.
Ocean 5 Strategies partners with GovCon businesses to:
- Align messaging with procurement platform content
- Refine capability statements, websites, and presentations
- Establish brand trust and recognition to support contracting success
- Strengthen value messaging across all digital and in-person touchpoints
- Clarify how your solutions support agency missions, reduce risk, and deliver impact
We help you clearly communicate to procurement influencers and decision-makers why YOU are the right solution provider.
Final Thoughts
CODY doesn’t change the game—it just speeds it up.
In an environment where brand trust and visibility can begin long before you submit a proposal, your strategic positioning and messaging lay the groundwork for success. Inconsistencies, unclear value, overly technical, or outdated information can put you at a disadvantage before the procurement conversation even begins.
If you want to remain competitive in an increasingly automated federal marketplace, now is the time to invest in strategic, opportunity-aligned messaging.
Ready to Strengthen Your GovCon Messaging?
Contact Ocean 5 Strategies to explore how we can align your brand messaging with your growth goals.
Related Goodies
Download: 6 Messaging Must-Haves to Close More Deals
Read: Government Contractor Messaging: Navigating Constant Change
