Government agencies are under increasing pressure to deliver software faster while defending against increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. The trend report, Building Secure Software at Speed: Four Emerging DevSecOps Trends for Government, explores how federal and defense organizations are evolving their DevSecOps strategies to accelerate software delivery, strengthen cybersecurity, and modernize application development through automation, AI, and continuous security validation.
AI Is Transforming DevSecOps
Artificial intelligence is reshaping software development by accelerating coding, testing, and deployment—but it also introduces new risks. AI-generated code, open source dependencies, and rapidly evolving vulnerabilities require agencies to rethink traditional security practices. The report highlights how organizations are embedding security earlier in the software development lifecycle to ensure AI-assisted development aligns with compliance, software quality, and mission requirements.
Strengthening the Software Supply Chain
Software supply chain security has become a cornerstone of modern DevSecOps. Insights from Broadcom emphasize the value of continuously secured software delivery, first-party software support, and trusted software artifacts to reduce vulnerability exposure before applications reach production. By leveraging hardened components, software bills of materials (SBOMs), and automated remediation, agencies can reduce operational risk while accelerating modernization initiatives.
Continuous Authorization and Zero Trust
Traditional Authorization to Operate (ATO) processes struggle to keep pace with today’s cloud-native environments. Experts from Greymatter.io and ProjectHosts highlight how policy-as-code, portable security controls, continuous monitoring, and persistent validation are enabling agencies to move toward continuous Authority to Operate (cATO). These approaches support Zero Trust architectures, reduce audit timelines, improve compliance, and provide authorizing officials with real-time visibility into system security.
Automating Secure Development
The report also examines how organizations are using AI-powered guardrails to improve open source governance. Sonatype demonstrates how intelligent filtering, Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers, and automated policy enforcement help prevent vulnerable or malicious components from entering development pipelines. Rather than relying solely on downstream remediation, agencies can identify and resolve risks before software is deployed.
As AI accelerates software development across government, DevSecOps is evolving from reactive vulnerability management to proactive, automated security built into every stage of the development lifecycle. Access the full Building Secure Software at Speed: Four Emerging DevSecOps Trends for Government report to explore the technologies, best practices, and expert insights helping agencies deliver secure, mission-ready software faster.
