Work / RIAC
Airport authority · Procurement modernization
Rhode Island Airport Corporation
RIAC moved from transactional, email-based procurement to a documented, end-to-end workflow. That operating layer is what makes a later AI intake agent safe to deploy.
The problem
Procurement at the Rhode Island Airport Corporation ran as a transactional, email-based function. The written five-phase procedures ended when the executed contract went back to the vendor. Intake, department approval, notice to proceed and closeout were undocumented. To know where a contract action stood, you asked the person who had it.
What was delivered
- Led the OpenGov procurement platform buildout, moving RIAC to a centralized 15-step end-to-end workflow with exception paths for sole-source and emergency actions.
- Designed and implemented a Procurement Instrument Identifier (PIID) numbering system, assigned at initiation and converted at award, so every action has a traceable record from request through closeout.
- Wrote an 87-page comprehensive guide with procedure playbooks for all nine procurement paths (its own write-up).
- Produced a legacy-to-OpenGov process comparison, threshold and board-approval rules, and a crosswalk of every legacy procedure for Legal review.
- Built bonding and liquidated-damages frameworks, vendor open-house materials, Power BI reporting and automation workflows.
- Integrated DocuSign routing through OpenGov for reviewer signatures while keeping the CEO's wet-signature requirement.
Reviewers sign electronically. The CEO still signs on paper. The workflow bends to the agency's authority, not the other way around.
The operating layer
Status now lives in the system instead of in inboxes. Every action carries an identifier from the day it is requested. Every path, including sole source and emergency, has a written procedure that Legal has reviewed.
Why it matters
Most agencies run procurement the way RIAC did: partly written, partly remembered, tracked in inboxes. A documented workflow, a numbering system and written thresholds are what let a new buyer run a path alone, let leadership see status without asking, and let an auditor follow the file. They're also the groundwork any later automation needs.
Measured before-and-after figures, such as intake cycle time, closeout completeness and staff hours, are published only with the client's approval.