Enterprise Artificial Intelligence: Platforms, Services, and Integrated Delivery

Sourcewell and Canoe are seeking proposals for Enterprise Artificial Intelligence: Platforms, Services, and Integrated Delivery as further described below.
Sourcewell recognizes that enterprise artificial intelligence solutions often rely on related capabilities such as data infrastructure, cybersecurity, and compliance. Proposers may include complementary products and services that support the deployment, operation, or scaling of AI solutions, even where those offerings are not exclusively AI-specific, provided they align with the scope of this Solicitation.This RFP is organized into three (3) response Lots. Proposers must select ONE (1) primary Lot under which to submit a response.  Lot 1: AI Products and Platforms
Included Solutions may consist of, but are not limited to:

AI Platforms and Infrastructure

Enterprise AI platforms with built-in automation, orchestration, and governance capabilities;

Platforms supporting AI model development, deployment, and lifecycle management for enterprise and public sector use cases;

On-premise, hybrid, and cloud AI infrastructure design, deployment, and management;

AI-optimized compute infrastructure

Enterprise knowledge management systems and data infrastructure that enable AI capabilities; and

AI solutions designed for sensitive or restricted government environments, including air-gapped and privacy-preserving deployments.

Intelligent Automation Platforms and Agentic AI

Platforms for building, deploying, and managing AI-driven automation that operate across enterprise systems independent of any single software application — including agent development frameworks, orchestration infrastructure, and lifecycle management tools;

Workflow automation platforms that connect AI capabilities to systems, data sources, and processes across organizational boundaries;

Enterprise automation platforms enhanced with AI reasoning and natural language capabilities that operate across multiple systems; and

Platforms for document intelligence, multimodal processing, and unstructured data extraction at enterprise scale.For purposes of this solicitation, an AI platform is a technology system that provides foundational infrastructure, tooling, or services enabling the development, deployment, operation, or management of artificial intelligence capabilities at enterprise scale. An AI platform is defined by the functions it performs, not by specific technologies or terminology, and is characterized by one or more of the following:Model Infrastructure
The platform hosts, serves, or provides access to artificial intelligence models and provides mechanisms for model versioning, performance management, and lifecycle management. Development and Deployment Tooling
The platform provides tools for building, configuring, evaluating, deploying, and maintaining AI-enabled systems or applications, including data pipeline management and integration capabilities. Orchestration and Automation
The platform coordinates AI capabilities, intelligent automation, or automated workflows across enterprise systems, data sources, and operational processes. Purpose-Built AI Platforms
The platform delivers AI-enabled functionality designed for a specific industry, government function, or operational domain, operating as a distinct, separately-procured technology independent of any single enterprise software application.Lot 1 includes both horizontal AI platforms applicable across multiple industries and purpose-built AI platforms designed for specific government functions, industries, or operational domains, provided the platform is enterprise scale.
Artificial intelligence should constitute a primary, standalone component of the proposer’s offering. A standalone AI platform is an independent, purpose-built system that delivers artificial intelligence capabilities as a primary function, rather than as a feature embedded within existing software applications. It operates as a modular solution that can integrate with multiple systems and data sources across an organization.
Additionally, for the purposes of this solicitation, Agentic AI platforms are those that build, deploy, and manage AI agents across enterprise systems. It does not include AI agent capabilities embedded within or operable only within a specific enterprise software application or ecosystem. The test is whether the platform operates independently across systems — not whether it contains agent features.
Lot 2: AI Professional Services
Included Solutions may consist of, but are not limited to:AI Strategy, Governance, and Enterprise Transformation

Enterprise AI maturity assessment — structured evaluation of an organization’s AI readiness across technology, data, talent, governance, and culture dimensions;

Responsible AI policy development — documented frameworks, policies, and standards governing AI use, accountability, and risk management;

AI governance architecture — design and implementation of oversight structures, audit mechanisms, bias controls, and human-in-the-loop requirements;

Operating model redesign — restructuring of organizational workflows, roles, and accountabilities around AI-enabled capabilities;

AI investment prioritization and business case development — structured approaches to identifying, evaluating, and sequencing AI opportunities;

Workforce transformation strategy — design of AI literacy programs, role transition planning, and organizational change management at scale; and

Cross-sector AI policy advisory — guidance on compliance with applicable federal, state, and local AI governance requirements and emerging regulatory frameworks.AI-Enabled Managed Services

AI operations management, including deployment oversight, incident response, and service level management;

Model monitoring — ongoing tracking of AI system performance, accuracy, and output quality in production environments;

Model drift management — detection and remediation of accuracy degradation as real-world data diverges from training data over time;

Continuous improvement programs — structured processes for model retraining, capability expansion, and performance optimization;

Managed AI services for specific government functions, including citizen services automation, benefits processing, case management, and permitting; and

AI security operations — monitoring for adversarial inputs, data poisoning, and unauthorized model access.AI Software Development and Engineering Custom development of AI-enabled applications, integrations, and automated workflows designed for specific government functions, operational domains, or agency use cases, including model fine-tuning and adaptation.
Custom development, software engineering, and client-specific solution design are considered professional services for purposes of this Solicitation, even when resulting in a deployed AI-enabled application or system.
Lot 3: Integrated AI Delivery
A proposer would respond in Lot 3 only if they are a single organization capable of: (a) delivering both AI technology products and AI professional services under one contract, (b) serving as the primary accountable party for both, and (c) maintaining primary responsibility for the design, integration, performance, and delivery of the integrated AI solution, and remains fully accountable for outcomes, even when third-party components are used.
The ability to deliver both technology and services does not, by itself, qualify a proposer for Lot 3; the integration of these components must be a standard, unified offering for which the proposer assumes end-to-end accountability.
Unlike Lot 1 proposers who primarily deliver technology, or Lot 2 proposers who primarily deliver services, Lot 3 proposers deliver both as a unified, integrated offering in which the technology and services components are core to the proposer’s business model and are commercially established.
Lot 3 proposers should demonstrate that:

Both the AI technology and professional services components are core offerings of the organization (not incidental or ad hoc);

The proposer can deliver these as integrated components; and

The proposer assumes primary responsibility for the performance, implementation, and outcomes of the combined solution.Offerings that rely primarily on reselling or distributing third-party AI products without providing integrated implementation and accountability for outcomes do not meet the intent of this Lot.
Lot 3 includes, but is not limited to:

Systems integrators delivering end-to-end AI solutions, including platform implementation, integration, and ongoing managed services;

Technology companies with established professional service arms that deploy and support their own AI platforms;

Managed service providers delivering AI platforms and ongoing operations as a unified service offering; and

Providers delivering turnkey AI solutions for specific government functions, including both the underlying technology and ongoing service delivery.Rolling SUPPLIER OnboardingConsistent with Sourcewell’s commitment to providing Participating Entities with access to the best available AI solutions throughout the contract term, Sourcewell may conduct supplemental supplier onboarding evaluations during the ten-year term of the resulting master agreements.Future supplemental supplier onboarding evaluations will be subject to the same evaluation factors and terms as this RFP, including the ten-year maximum Master Agreement term and coterminous termination date applicable to all contracts awarded under this RFP. Future supplemental supplier onboarding evaluations will be evaluated only against other suppliers responding in the same Lot, not against prior submissions or previously awarded suppliers. Existing awardees are not required to re-apply through a supplemental evaluation window and their master agreements remain in effect. Suppliers who previously responded to a Lot but were not awarded, must resubmit during future supplemental onboarding to be considered. Sourcewell will re-open any Lot every six months to consider additional responses. Sourcewell reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend, delay, or discontinue further rolling supplier onboarding for any Lot as Sourcewell deems appropriate, including based on the best interests of Participating Entities, administrative capacity, or other operational considerations. Sourcewell reserves the right to open any, all, or no Lots at the time of any rolling supplier onboarding. Single Primary LotProposers must select ONE primary Lot (1, 2, or 3) in which to submit their proposal. For purposes of this RFP, “Primary means the single Lot that best represents the proposer‘s principal line of business and the primary value the proposer provides to Participating Entities under this solicitation. Lot selection is the proposer’s determination and reflects how they primarily create value for Participating Entities. If a proposer submits a response that does not clearly fit the selected primary Lot, Sourcewell reserves the right to seek clarification from a proposer and reassign the submission to the most appropriate Lot, or deem it non-responsive, based on such clarification. The term of any resulting contract(s) awarded by Sourcewell under this solicitation will be four years. Sourcewell and supplier may agree to up to three additional one-year extensions based on the best interests of Sourcewell and its Participating Entities. Sourcewell retains the right to consider additional extensions beyond seven years as required under exceptional circumstances. A full copy of the Request for Proposals can be found on the Sourcewell Procurement Portal (https://proportal.sourcewell-mn.gov).  Only proposals submitted through the Sourcewell Procurement Portal will be considered. Proposer’s complete proposal must be submitted through the Sourcewell Procurement Portal no later than the date and time specified in the Solicitation Schedule. Any other form of proposal submission, whether electronic, paper, or otherwise, will not be considered by Sourcewell. Only complete proposals that are timely submitted through the Sourcewell Procurement Portal will be considered. Late proposals will not be considered. It is the Proposer’s sole responsibility to ensure that the proposal is received on time. Following submission of proposals, negotiations may be permitted. List of current and Potential Members and represented Associations and their Members which includes all MASH/MUSH sectors, Provincial Governments, Federal Agencies, Crown Corporations, local Governmental and other not-for-profit organizations located in all provinces and territories in Canada including but not limited to British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Yukon Territories and Nunavut located here, https://canoeprocurement.ca/canoe-current-future-members/