AI Should Speed Veterans’ Benefits, Not Decide Them

For a Veteran, waiting for a benefits decision is not simply a frustrating encounter with government bureaucracy. It can mean waiting to know whether they can afford a home, enroll in school, support their family, or begin the next chapter of their life.

I left the Marine Corps in 2013, and, like others leaving uniform, sought the benefits I had earned. Thirteen years later, I see that the systems Veterans depend on still create unnecessary distance between earning benefits and receiving them.

President Trump’s new executive order accelerating Veterans’ benefits puts that challenge squarely on the national agenda. It directs the Department of War and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to modernize record sharing, develop and use new digital tools, and improve transition assistance.

During VA Secretary Doug Collins’ confirmation hearing, a senator put the concern plainly: “I don't want AI to decide if one of my Veterans is entitled to the benefits they have earned, period.”

I wholeheartedly agree.

The same principle applies to government modernization more broadly. Adopting technology is not the same as improving how government works. 

The VA’s Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) program illustrates why that distinction matters. At a September House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing, lawmakers raised questions about its past cost, performance, and accountability, but they missed the current performance and positive outcomes for patients as the rollout of this project ramps up.

Those questions point to a broader lesson – not about the EHRM project specifically, or whether large technology programs are worthwhile, but about how government should judge modernization. Programs and projects should be judged by measurable outcomes. Spending money on technology does not, by itself, make a system modern. Just like throwing more people at a problem does not necessarily fix a problem. Whether the technology is an electronic health record or an AI tool for benefits processing, the test should be whether it works for the people who rely on it.

Does it allow employees to spend more time exercising judgment and less time on administrative tasks? Does it reduce delays? Does it work when volumes spike and cases become complicated? And, ultimately, does it improve the Veteran’s experience?

Cost, execution, accountability, and outcomes all matter.

Anyone who has operated in the military understands the difference between a capability that looks impressive in a briefing and one that works when the pressure is on. Government technology deserves the same standard. That means starting with the Veteran’s actual needs, not with the technology itself.

The goal is not to put Veterans in front of another chatbot or replace a claims processor with an algorithm. It is to give the people responsible for serving Veterans better information and better tools, so they can spend more time doing the work that requires human judgment.

At SteerBridge, we know what that can look like in practice. We helped the VA and other government agencies and private-sector partners reduce benefits-processing times dramatically – including processing education benefits in seconds instead of weeks and screening disability evidence in hours instead of months.

We helped remove administrative friction so qualified people could focus on the work that requires human judgment.

That is the opportunity in front of the government now. The President’s executive order provides a framework for Secretary Collins and VA to build on the progress already made. Members of Congress and others involved in VA technology oversight – also have an important role in ensuring modernization across all services delivers measurable results for Veterans.

Modernize the records. Use AI to remove friction. Keep humans accountable for decisions. And measure success by the Veteran’s experience.

Rob Schroder is a Marine Corps Veteran and founder and CEO of SteerBridge.