The memo ordered the termination of 11 more contracts for consulting services supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), climate, COVID-19 response, and other activites Hegseth described as non-essential.

Accenture, Deloitte, and Booz Allen did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

AI: automation, internally?

Pareekh Jain, CEO at EIIRTrend & Pareekh Consulting, said he expects the Defense Department to follow the same playbook as DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, has used elsewhere: “They will cancel many IT services contracts, and many IT software contracts, and also do internal work to optimize spend. They will use AI where possible. Their approach will be to eliminate unnecessary or nice-to-have work, and for what is necessary, do more with less, combining AI and internal resources,” he said.