Originally published by WashingtonExec | July 20, 2026
By Rachel Kirkland
Read the original article: https://washingtonexec.com/2026/07/how-does-innovation-become-more-than-a-buzzword-at-kgs-its-competitive/
At Koniag Government Services, leaders don’t just talk about innovation. They hold annual competitions where teams vie for bragging rights, resources to make their jobs easier — and cold, hard cash.
As chief growth officer for KGS, Carl Buffington helps lead the Alaskan company’s Innovation Spike competition, an annual event open to all KGS employees who are free to dream up new tools, methods and solutions.
The only caveat is that it has to make a positive difference within KGS or for customers rather than being innovative for the sake of being different. Teams must describe a clearly defined benefit, plus show a prototype or pilot solution.
A panel of KGS judges, composed of organizational leadership and alumni of KGS’s Next Generation Leadership Program, listen to the 30-minute presentations. The judges rank each presentation, and the votes are averaged to determine winners. Results of the Innovation Spike are announced mid-April. The winning teams receive a cash prize as well as a company recognition coin.
“We’ve implemented several Innovation Spike solutions and have many more in the pipeline,” Buffington said.
Some of the Innovation Spike solutions resulted in organizational and process changes rather than technology solutions or automation. For example, one led to establishing a department that develops and delivers training throughout the enterprise.
Some solutions are technical capabilities. Others involve process improvement. Several recent winners have incorporated AI.
“I know we’ll be implementing and reaping the benefits of many of these innovative ideas in the months and years to come,” Buffington said.
Winning ideas
Recent winners of the Innovation Spikes include a team that developed the At-Risk Employee Portal, a collaboration allowing KGS hiring managers to view employees whose contract positions are ending and try to match qualifications to the company’s open and funded positions.
“This portal is a solution that helps our employees and our managers and keeps our talented workforce supporting our customers,” Buffington said.
Another outcome of Innovation Spike is an AI-based tool that helps identify opportunities for business growth based on key elements of KGS’s strategic direction, such as target geographical areas and capabilities.
“This innovative solution was developed before the widespread growth of GenAI and related AI solutions across the industry, and it was one of the first AI tools we leveraged at KGS,” Buffington said.
Still, another innovation originated with a team of automation experts who submitted a proposal related to robotic process automation. As a result, KGS developed bots to perform routine, labor-intensive tasks in finance and accounting.
“The bots have saved countless hours and have allowed our finance and accounting experts to focus on higher-value, business outcome-focused work,” he said.
The strategies behind the successes
A culture of innovation requires deliberate, sustained commitment, Buffington said.
“CEO Kevin Wideman has made our position unambiguous: at KGS, continuous improvement is non-negotiable, and ‘we’ve always done it that way’ is never an acceptable answer,” he said.
Instead, the commitment is embedded in corporate processes, investments and leadership communication.
“Tools change, and the technology landscape is continually evolving at a rapid pace,” he said. “Organizations that don’t cultivate a culture that actively seeks to leverage these new capabilities risk falling behind the competition.”
Employees at KGS log into a corporate Intranet called “the Pod,” where KGS frequently celebrates stories of success, including innovations their teams have introduced on programs and that have been recognized by customers and industry awards received, such as the 2026 ACT-IAC Innovation Impact Award they received jointly with their U.S. Army customer.
There are several options throughout the Pod to submit employee suggestions, process change requests and share lessons learned, enabling team members to contribute ideas for improvement easily as they identify them in their daily work. KGS also has dedicated space on the Pod for their Innovation Spike program, where they feature all their Innovation Spike participants and celebrate the winning submissions annually.
In addition, they have several other internal programs that demonstrate how innovation is at the core of KGS culture. These programs help employees connect and collaborate with others in the organization and pursue professional development opportunities.
KGS has several communities of practice, including COPs for cyber, agile, AI and cloud, where employees expand their knowledge of technical disciplines and collaborate with others to develop products and solutions.
“These COP working groups deliver results like those that would arise from a dedicated internal Innovation Lab team,” Buffington said.
KGS also has a Next Generation Koniag Leadership Program, which consists of year-long leadership activities where participants have opportunities to grow in many aspects of the business, including in opportunities for innovation.
Additionally, employees can engage in pathways to learn emerging technologies.
“We regularly co-host demonstrations and emerging technology webinars with our partners on topics ranging from agentic AI development tools to autonomous systems, welcoming not only our employees but also our Alaska Native shareholders and, when appropriate, the public,” Buffington said.
Sandbox lab environments allow employees to gain hands-on experience with key technologies, along with cutting-edge training, ensuring teams can practically apply the latest innovations to real-world challenges, he said.
A practical approach
Customer needs always come first, Buffington said. But that doesn’t stop KGS from dedicating time and resources to thinking a step ahead.
KGS methodically manages investments in proposed solutions through its Investment Review Board, charged with handling approvals and oversight for proposed improvements, innovations and solutions within the organization.
The company invests in innovations through buying software licenses and offering training, process and organization changes, and implementing solutions that work.
“Every innovation is different, and the IRB process has helped us analyze and improve with innovation while taking a disciplined approach to managing the time and costs associated with each innovation,” Buffington said.
How to get started
Buffington said anyone can strengthen the culture necessary for innovation if they’re willing to make investments.
“Organizations must be willing to allocate resources strategically to implement meaningful improvements,” he said. “Both your employees and your customers can easily distinguish between genuine commitment and empty slogans. The key is being both willing and discerning: invest in innovations that deliver measurable value to your organization and mission.”
Buffington also recommends companies embrace a philosophy of continuous improvement.
“Challenge yourself and your teams to get better every single day,” he said. “When you build an organizational culture around this daily commitment to excellence, improvement becomes habitual rather than sporadic. Innovation naturally follows and becomes the means by which you achieve that ongoing improvement.”
In GovCon, mission success and operational excellence are paramount, he added. By adjusting mindsets, companies can ensure innovation serves a strategic purpose.
“Start with the daily discipline of improvement, back it with meaningful investment, and you’ll build a culture where innovation thrives,” he said.