NIH Travel Policy AI Chatbot

Overview

Development stage

PilotSource: b) Pilot – The use case has been deployed in a limited test or pilot capacity.

High-impact designation

Not high-impactSource: c) Not high-impact

Impact justification

Not reported

Start date

2025-08 (month precision)Source: Aug-25

Withheld from public reporting

NoSource: a) No

Mission

Topic area

Administrative Functions

Operational functions

Chatbot or virtual assistant Derived by keyword rules; see methodology

Problem the AI is intended to solve

The AI-powered chatbot is designed to address a key operational challenge: the high volume of routine travel policy inquiries directed toward NIH administrative staff. These questions, often repetitive and time-consuming, divert valuable human resources from more complex and strategic responsibilities.Specifically, the AI chatbot leverages Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) to provide accurate, consistent, and real-time responses to questions related to the Federal Travel Regulation (FTR) and the NIH Travel Policy Handbook. By doing so, it significantly reduces the dependency on staff to manually research and craft responses to standard inquiries. In addition, the chatbot serves as the foundation for a self-service portal for the NIH community. This portal empowers employees and stakeholders to independently access authoritative travel policy guidance 24/7—improving efficiency, enhancing user experience, and ensuring policy compliance across the organization.

Expected benefits

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) envisions this AI-powered chatbot as a critical support tool for NIH staff during the upcoming transition to a self-service travel planning model, aligned with the government-wide shift to GSA’s ETS Next travel system, recently named GO.gov. With this transition slated to begin in 2026, the chatbot will serve as an intelligent, always-available assistant that simplifies the travel planning process for thousands of NIH employees. Enhanced Operational Efficiency.Improved User Experience for NIH Staff.Support for a Modern, Self-Service Government.Increased Compliance and Accuracy.Indirect cost benefit to public. Up to 60–80% reduction in inquiry volume handled by human agents. 160 FTE hours saved per month at the central NIH Travel office. 1000 FTE hours saved per month across the IC Community Travel offices. Drastic reductions in average response times, often from days or hours down to seconds.

System outputs

The chatbot outputs text-based, interactive responses tailored to helping NIH staff plan and manage official travel in compliance with policy. These outputs are designed to be helpful, policy-compliant, user-specific, and non-decisional, serving as a productivity aid rather than an authority for travel approval.

Technology

AI classification

Generative AISource: Generative AI: AI that generates new or synthetic content (e.g., images, videos, audio, text, code).

System name(s)

Not reported

Custom-developed code

Yes

Public source code

Not reported

Sourcing

How it was built

Contract and in-houseSource: c) Developed with both contracting and in-house resources

Vendor (as reported)

Infer Solutions

Vendors (standardized)

None on the standard list

A vendor is the supplier named by the agency. It does not identify the underlying model or AI technology.

Data and privacy

Involves PII

No

Privacy Impact Assessment

Not reported

Authorization to Operate

No

Demographic features

k) None of the above

Training and evaluation data

Federal Travel Regulation and NIH Travel Policy Handbook documents

Federal Data Catalog

Not reported

Governance

0 of 8 minimum-practice questions answered. A blank answer means the agency reported nothing; it does not mean the practice is absent.

Potential impacts and how they were identified

Not reported