VA plans further VA.gov updates as it looks to expand AI integration

The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to continue updating VA.gov in the coming months as it looks to make its digital services more accessible to veterans and better equipped to support artificial intelligence.

Zach Schwartz, principal deputy assistant secretary for the agency’s Office of Information and Technology, said Friday that the VA is working closely with the newly launched America.gov to support the use of AI tools on VA.gov. 

The Trump administration refers to AI as SI, or super intelligence. 

“There is so much more SI that is coming forward for us,” Schwartz said during a fireside chat at GovCIO Media & Research’s VA Modernization Forum in Washington, D.C. 

“Some of it is refocusing our solutions so that they can be SI-friendly,” he added. “This is where we need the most help, particularly from industry.”

This week, VA announced a refreshed VA.gov with a series of updates designed to simplify how veterans access health care and benefits information. In a Nov. 11 release, VA OIT outlined the new features, including additional sign-in options and improved search capabilities.

The department said the upgrades were in response to nearly 90,000 veteran survey responses from March through May 2026. Veterans also tested the updates before their release.

Among the additions are CLEAR and Passkey sign-in options, which join existing Login.gov and ID.me credentials. The site also has an improved search function that allows veterans to ask questions in plain language.

Additionally, the department introduced a way for veterans to check their application status through links that Schwartz referred to as “magic links,” which are sent via text message and don’t require users to sign into their accounts.

The VA also streamlined its QuickSubmit document tool, allowing veterans to upload documents in three steps instead of 11.

Schwartz said the website’s refresh is part of an ongoing series of incremental improvements rather than a one-time overhaul.

“Towards the January timeframe, we’ll have more releases,” he said. “But really excited to kind of start getting in this cadence of regular incremental wins.”

“VA.gov is a beast,” Schwartz added. “There is so much more that we're looking to do on that side to make it easier and more ways to make it secure. … We can meet the veteran where they are from the technology standpoint.”

He also added that the VA wants to serve as an example for other federal agencies adopting AI. 

Schwartz said he was meeting Friday with new Federal Chief Information Officer Carter Farmer, who he said wants to understand “how VA is pushing out so much in the SI space” and wants the department to “continue to be a representative example for many other agencies.”