Army plans to use AI chatbots to help West Point recruit high school students

The Army issued a solicitation Thursday with the aim of procuring “digital recruiter” services to help the U.S. Military Academy at West Point attract new applicants for admission.

A performance of work statement attached to the solicitation noted that officials are looking for a vendor to provide “autonomous AI Recruiter services combined with an active high school student network to enhance USMA’s national recruitment strategy.”

The request for proposals comes as the Army and the Defense Department are embracing new generative AI capabilities to enhance productivity and efficiency.

“These [recruiter] services shall deliver automated, personalized inbound & outbound student engagement across multiple communication channels using predictive and generative AI, with the goal of improving candidate conversion rates from inquiry to completed application,” officials wrote in the contracting documents.

The chatbots will be expected to engage with applicants and prospective applicants across text, phone, email and chat, and adapt “messaging content and mode of contact dynamically based on student interactions and behavior.”

The generative AI technology will be “trained on USMA’s specific application processes, curriculum, extracurriculars, and value propositions,” officials noted.

The vendor’s platform must be conversant in at least 20 languages and be able to provide one-on-one communications 24/7 with up to 32,500 students and generate up to 7,500 inquiries from students who opt-in via the contractor’s high school student engagement platform, according to the performance of work statement.

West Point is a highly selective institution that for more than 200 years has played a key role in training and educating the Army’s future officer corps. Many of its graduates have risen to the highest levels of leadership.

The class of 2029 includes about 1,230 cadets who were selected from a national pool of over 13,700 applicants, according to a June 2025 press release from the academy. That’s an admission rate of fewer than 10 percent of applicants.

The contractor providing the “AI recruiter” services will also be expected to provide real-time dashboards for tracking student engagement and completion rates; monthly reports detailing performance; technical support; and staff training for the West Point admissions directorate, according to the performance of work statement.

The deal will include a base period of performance of one year from the date of award, with two option years.

Officials noted that the contractor must comply with “all data privacy and protection policies in accordance with U.S. government and Department of Defense regulations.”

“Any personally identifiable information (PII) collected will be securely managed and handled in compliance with [Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act] and other relevant guidelines,” officials wrote.

Vendor responses to the solicitation are due Aug. 21.