Federal agencies face increasing pressure to modernize services, improve resilience, and make better decisions in complex operating environments. At the same time, the pace of commercial innovation continues to outstrip the speed at which new technologies can be adopted across federal programs.
From startup to public sector: how Maximus brings digital twin technology into federal operations with Skyral
Security, compliance, and procurement requirements are essential safeguards, but they can slow access to capabilities that could significantly improve mission outcomes.
Maximus helps bridge that divide
Through our Emerging Technology initiative, we identify high-potential companies and help bring their capabilities into federal programs in a secure, compliant, and mission-ready way. One of those partners is Skyral, a software company specializing in advanced modeling and simulation.
Digital Twin to Action
Skyral provides an advanced platform purpose-built to create digital twins of complex public sector systems. These digital twins combine real-world data, operational constraints, and geographic context to let federal agencies simulate workforce coverage, resource allocation, infrastructure dependencies, and service delivery scenarios before changes are implemented in live programs.
Maximus and Skyral formed a strategic partnership to bring these capabilities into U.S. federal defense, civilian, and healthcare missions. The partnership focuses on applying advanced modeling, simulation, data analytics, and AI to address large-scale federal challenges, with an initial emphasis on improving healthcare service delivery and operational planning.
In practice, these digital twins are already being used to support operational decision-making in high-stakes environments. For example, Maximus teams have applied Skyral’s platform to model provider coverage for dispersed populations, using interactive maps to visualize service availability by geography and time. By simulating real road networks, provider hours, and alternative staffing scenarios, program leaders can identify underserved areas, test coverage changes, and generate data-driven gap analyses before making changes that impact real people and mission performance. These models can be adjusted in real time, evaluating different provider availability windows, testing alternative deployment strategies, and producing downloadable, zip-code–level insights that support both planning and oversight.
For federal leaders, the value is clear. Instead of relying solely on static plans or historical data, agencies can safely test options, understand trade-offs, and anticipate downstream impacts. This approach reduces operational risk, strengthens mission resiliency, and improves confidence in decisions that affect millions of people.
Turning innovation into federal outcomes
Advanced technology only creates value when it can be deployed responsibly and integrated into real federal programs. Maximus works with partners like Skyral to translate commercial innovation into solutions that meet with federal security, compliance, and acquisition requirements.
By integrating Skyral’s digital twin and simulation capabilities into Maximus-led solutions, we combine advanced foresight with proven large-scale program delivery, ensuring these models are not standalone tools, but embedded into operational workflows, governance structures, and mission execution. This enables federal agencies to optimize services, improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the experience of the people they serve, while maintaining accountability and performance oversight.
This partnership reflects a broader strategy. Maximus helps emerging technologies move from promise to production by aligning innovation with federal mission needs and measurable outcomes.
The path forward
As federal agencies plan for the future, the ability to model uncertainty across workforce availability, geographic coverage, infrastructure constraints, and demand variability will become increasingly important.
Partnerships like Maximus and Skyral demonstrate how emerging technology can be adopted faster and more responsibly across the federal enterprise.
By enabling agencies to test and refine solutions before deployment, Maximus helps federal leaders move from reactive decision-making to proactive planning.
This is the purpose of the Emerging Technology initiative. Faster access to innovation. Better decisions. Stronger federal outcomes.
Up next in the series: additional emerging technology partners and the federal challenges they are helping agencies address.
About the author
Based in Austin, TX, Chris Persaud is the Vice President at Maximus, where he leads Maximus’ enterprise-wide strategy for identifying, evaluating, and integrating cutting-edge technologies that accelerate mission outcomes and competitive differentiation. This role drives partner ecosystems, innovation frameworks, and transformative solutions that modernize public sector programs at scale.