What Skylight does

Skylight is a privately held digital government consultancy founded in 2017 in Washington, D.C., by five former Presidential Innovation Fellows and 18F co-founders (Chris Cairns, Robert Read, Geoff Mulligan, John Teeter, and Kin Lane). The firm provides design, technology, and procurement consulting to federal, state, and local government agencies, with a stated mission of helping agencies become digital-first. Headcount stands at 51-100 employees, and the firm is HUBZone-certified.

The company's core service portfolio spans human-centered design and user research, agile and lean software development, legacy modernization (microservices, APIs, evolutionary architecture), DevOps and cloud platform engineering, data modernization with AI/ML, IoT/smart-cities solutions, and digital procurement innovation. Productized offerings include the Digital Acquisition Accelerator (which produced the first government-wide Digital Acquisition Playbook), DITAP training for federal acquisition officers, agile micro-sprints, protosketching, and microconsulting services. The underlying technology approach combines modern web technologies (PWAs, responsive design, design systems, including work on the U.S. Web Design System) with API-first architecture and platform engineering practices adapted from commercial software to government contexts.

Skylight generates revenue through professional services delivered exclusively via federal contracting vehicles: a GSA Multiple Award Schedule (Contract #47QTCA18D00D0), SBIR/STTR vehicles, and agency-specific BPAs/IDIQs with the CDC (PRIME/DMI and DMAC), U.S. Air Force (BESPIN SBAR Phase III and ABMS), and CMS (MPSM, as subcontractor). Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; engagements are typically multi-year. The go-to-market is enterprise field sales through contracting officers and CIO offices, supplemented by thought-leadership content (blog, conference talks, FCW/FedScoop contributions) and authored books such as "How to be a Programmer." Named customers include CDC, U.S. Air Force, CMS, SSA, DHS, FBI, U.S. Treasury, VA, and U.S. Navy Reserve. The firm is founder-led, with Chris Cairns as Managing Partner, and has no disclosed external venture capital or private equity investment.

Name

Skylight

Website

https://skylight.digital

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Skylight is a U.S. digital government consultancy that helps federal, state, and local agencies modernize public services through human-centered design, agile engineering, legacy modernization, and digital procurement consulting delivered via GSA and SBIR/STTR contract vehicles.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Digital Consulting

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

Survey, Panel & Fieldwork Services (BPAHALAJ)

Keywords

• Government digital consulting
• Human-centered design services
• Legacy system modernization
• Digital procurement consulting
• Agile engineering services

Headquarters

HQ city

Sarasota

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Federal Government Consulting Services: Skylight generates revenue through federal consulting contracts with government agencies. Services are delivered through various contracting vehicles including GSA Multiple Award Schedule (MAS), SBIR/STTR vehicles, and agency-specific BPAs. The company provides digital transformation, design, technology, and procurement consulting services to federal agencies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Skylight is a digital government consultancy that provides human-centered design, software development, legacy modernization, DevOps, cloud engineering, data and analytics, IoT solutions, and digital procurement consulting services to U.S. federal, state, and local government agencies. The firm delivers its work through federal contracting vehicles (GSA MAS, SBIR/STTR, agency-specific BPAs and IDIQs), and also offers training programs such as DITAP and rapid decision-making techniques like Protosketching and Agile Micro-Sprints.

Product overview

Skylight is a digital consultancy that helps government agencies deliver better public services through a comprehensive portfolio of services. The core offering consists of digital consulting services including service design, user research, UX design, software development, legacy modernization, DevOps, cloud engineering, data & analytics with AI/ML capabilities, IoT solutions, and digital procurement services. Key named service programs include the Digital Acquisition Accelerator (a pilot program that produced the government-wide Digital Acquisition Playbook), 18F Consulting (helping agencies adopt modern digital practices), Agile Micro-Sprints (compressed sprint workshops for agile adoption), Protosketching (rapid prototyping for decision-making), Microconsulting Services (short-burst expert consultations), and DITAP Training (for federal acquisition officers). The company also offers coaching, training, and delivery management services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Service Design & User Research Creative, service design, user research, user experience design, content strategy & design, and accessibility services to help government agencies design better public-facing services.
• Software Development & Legacy Modernization
• Data & Analytics Services
• Digital Procurement Services
• Internet of Things (IoT) Solutions
• Microconsulting Services
• DITAP Training
• Agile Micro-Sprints
• Protosketching

Quantifiable outcome

• Influenced over $1 billion in IT acquisition decisions across government
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature9 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Digital Services CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounding member of the Digital Services Coalition, a community of digital government service providers working to advance modern digital practices across government.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Accenture Federal Services: Federal arm of Accenture providing large-scale digital transformation, cloud, and platform engineering to defense and civilian agencies. A frequent prime contractor and re-compete competitor on the same IDIQ vehicles Skylight targets.
• ICF International: Mid-size federal consulting and digital services firm with deep civilian agency footprint in health, energy, and homeland security. Competes for the same modernization and data-services task orders as Skylight, though with a much larger staff and broader program-management portfolio.
• Booz Allen Hamilton: One of the largest federal professional-services primes, offering digital transformation, design, cloud, and data services across virtually every federal agency. Competes with Skylight on larger IDIQs and re-competes, typically as prime where Skylight would be a subcontractor.
• Maximus: Large federal services prime that has acquired multiple digital-services boutiques (e.g., Fearless, Oddball) to compete in the same digital-modernization niche as Skylight. Provides a relevant M&A comparable and a competitive threat on scaled contract re-competes.
• Deloitte Government & Public Services: Big Four federal practice delivering digital strategy, human-centered design, cloud, and analytics to U.S. federal clients. Overlaps with Skylight on civilian-agency digital-modernization work but at materially larger scale and broader service catalog.

Direct peers

• Ad Hoc: Small federal digital services consultancy founded around the same era as Skylight with a similar mission of modernizing government user experience and technology. Both firms target civilian agencies, build on cross-functional design+engineering teams, and compete for the same set of digital-services contracts.
• REI Systems: Mid-size federal IT and digital services firm focused on grants management, data, and citizen-facing applications for civilian agencies. Overlaps with Skylight on legacy modernization and agile delivery to agencies such as HHS, Treasury, and VA.
• Sevatec: Small-to-mid federal IT services and digital transformation firm with prime contracts across DHS, DOJ, and civilian agencies. Directly competes for IDIQ work in agile delivery, data analytics, and application modernization at similar size to Skylight.
• Fearless: Boutique digital government consultancy focused on user-centered design, agile delivery, and DevOps for federal agencies. Directly competes with Skylight on GSA Schedule and SBIR work for civilian and defense clients at similar headcount scale.
• U.Group: Boutique federal digital services consultancy delivering design, engineering, and data science to civilian agencies. Closely comparable in mission, capability mix, and target customer to Skylight, including focus on human-centered design and modern acquisition.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/skylight_hq
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/skylight-hq

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Skylight