BrazilPublic sector2023 – ongoingControladoria-Geral da União (CGU)
Alice: AI screening of public tenders
Brazil's federal comptroller used its Alice tool to scan more than 161,000 purchase processes in 2024 and open 212 audits
Problem
Federal procurement produces far more tenders than auditors can read. Bid rigging, overpricing and unnecessary purchases were mostly found after the money had been spent.
Approach
The CGU built Alice, which reads tender notices every day with text mining and AI and flags risks for auditors. It draws on the federal purchasing portal, bank-run tender platforms and emergency purchases published in the official gazette. Auditors review the alerts and can step in before a contract is signed. Since 2024 states and municipalities can sign up to receive alerts as well.
Results
Takeaway
CGU reported 212 audits following Alice screening in 2024 and R$1.25 billion in financial benefits from preventive action.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Public sector
- Business function
- Finance, risk and legal
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Predictive analytics and ML
- Adoption
- Built in-house
- Evidence
- Company's own claim
Sources
Source summaries
The CGU describes Alice as a daily text-mining and AI screen of federal tenders and emergency purchases. It reports analysing more than 190,000 processes in 2023 and more than 161,000 in 2024, with 212 audits and R$ 1.25 billion in financial benefits from preventive action in 2024. It also says 126 public bodies had signed up for alerts.
Full details are in the original sources.
