How Enabled Intelligence and Melwood Are Redefining Talent Strategy in the AI Economy

From Insight to Advantage

When Peter Kant founded Enabled Intelligence in 2020, he had one main goal: to improve AI data labeling and geospatial intelligence for U.S. national security by developing a domestic workforce specializing in data annotation. Prior to Enabled Intelligence’s inception, many data labeling companies outsourced data annotation work to countries like India and the Philippines. Kant’s lightbulb moment occurred after reading about an Israeli military unit that trains service members on the autism spectrum to excel in data labeling. He saw an opportunity to apply a similar model in the United States by tapping into a highly capable but often overlooked talent pool: neurodivergent talent.

Kant identified Fairfax County, Virginia, as the ideal location to build and scale Enabled Intelligence, not only because of its proximity to federal agencies and growing AI ecosystem, but also because of the active support structure available to high-growth companies.

“We work a lot, of course, in the government sector and Fairfax County’s proximity to most of our customers has been super helpful,” said Enabled Intelligence CEO Peter Kant, “and the availability of a talented workforce and a great quality of life for our employees.”

With support from the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA), Enabled Intelligence was able to quickly integrate into a network of government, academic, and workforce partners critical to its success. The FCEDA helped the company navigate the regional landscape, make key connections, and establish a foundation for long-term growth in one of the nation’s most competitive defense technology ecosystems.

In a region where access to customers, talent, and strategic partnerships can determine speed to scale, Fairfax County provided Enabled Intelligence with a clear operational advantage.

Today, Enabled Intelligence is well-established as a leading defense contractor that is growing in both workforce and office space. They are projected to increase their workforce from 110 employees to over 200 over the next two years. They are also expanding their current office, growing from 10,000 to 30,000 square feet in Fairfax County.

People-Driven Performance

Enabled Intelligence’s competitive advantage is rooted in its people, not just its technology. Their “experts-in-the-loop” model aligns the strengths of a neurodivergent workforce with the demands of data annotation, prioritizing human judgment, precision, and consistency in AI workflows. Skills such as pattern recognition, attention to detail, and sustained focus directly translate into higher performance in this type of work.

As a result, Enabled Intelligence’s annotators are two to three times faster than industry benchmarks and consistently deliver higher accuracy.

“Industry accuracy rate is about 60 to 70 percent,” said Peter Kant. “We don’t let anything leave here unless it’s 95 percent accurate or above.”

This level of accuracy demonstrates that Enabled Intelligence is building a scalable talent model where human skills and processes improve AI outcomes.

“Our goal is only a 5% error rate at a maximum,” said Enabled Intelligence Quality Control Analyst Nathan Gumowski, “Even on some of our customer projects with new annotators, they are already under that, and they’ve only been working here for three months.”

That performance has translated into wins that are fueling Enabled Intelligence’s growth. In November 2025, Enabled Intelligence was awarded the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency $708 million SEQUOIA contract for AI and machine learning data labeling across the Defense and Intelligence Community. This contract is expected to support the hiring of scores of additional employees.

A Culture of Inclusion as a Superpower

Enabled Intelligence’s people-first philosophy has yielded a loyal and high-performing workforce. With programs like the Enabled Intelligence Bootcamp, care for employees begins even before they are hired full-time. Leadership understands that traditional interview processes have historically discounted neurodivergent talent, so they developed their bootcamp program to serve as an “interview-by-doing”. This allows prospective employees to impress by actions as well as discover if data annotation is work that they enjoy. Graduates of the bootcamp are often offered internships, which typically lead to full-time employment. In efforts to uphold accessibility for neurodivergent talent, Enabled Intelligence offers to provide airfare and accommodation for non-local bootcamp participants.

Once a new team member arrives at Enabled Intelligence full-time, they receive onboarding support from an occupational therapist who coaches them on workplace dynamics and soft skills. The care and support that employees receive was overwhelmingly the biggest draw that we heard from talent about why they chose to stay at Enabled Intelligence.

“We’re doing good by doing good, but by bringing in this inclusive environment, that’s been our superpower,” said Kant, “That’s what’s made our technology better and led to our corporate growth.”

Powered by Partnerships

Enabled Intelligence’s growth has been accelerated by a network of strategic partnerships that support both its business objectives and its workforce model.

Building with Melwood

Through its partnership with Melwood, a nonprofit organization that empowers people with disabilities through job training and employment placement, Enabled Intelligence has helped develop a scalable workforce model that connects untapped talent to high-growth industries.

For decades, Melwood has focused on creating employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. More recently, the organization has expanded into high-demand fields like IT and AI, recognizing that many roles in these industries require specific skills and training rather than traditional four-year degrees.

“For 60 years we have been creating opportunities for people with disabilities to be independent, earn a paycheck, and be included in the community. But for a lot of that time, the career opportunities were very limited,” explained President and CEO of Melwood, Larysa Kautz. “We found Enabled Intelligence, a company that was very interested in neurodiverse hiring, knowing that there were skills that were untapped. They heard about our program, which was called abilIT, to train individuals who are neurodivergent and have a variety of disabilities in the IT and tech-related fields.”

Together, Melwood and Enabled Intelligence created a one-week bootcamp program for neurodiverse talent to gain experience in the field of data annotation and identify if it is a career path for them.

“We pair the substantive technology skills with professional development training and learning how to work in a particular environment,” said Kautz. “We also do a lot of training with employers on how to work with a neurodiverse population, and Enabled Intelligence was the perfect partner. They saw the value in having a neurodiverse workforce, and they were willing to learn.”

By removing barriers in the hiring process and focusing on skills rather than traditional credentials, Enabled Intelligence has been able to build a team that performs at a high level and demonstrates strong retention. Melwood supports this process by helping employers design more accessible recruiting, onboarding, and management practices, ensuring employees are set up for long-term success.

“They have proven that a workforce that is over 50% made up of individuals who are neurodivergent, who have disabilities, that otherwise wouldn’t have gotten a chance at these jobs, can do the work that they’re doing faster,” said Kautz, “and they can do it more accurately.”

From a business perspective, the impact is clear. Companies that adopt this model are not only expanding access to opportunity, but they are also advancing their bottom line and generating return on investment. Enabled Intelligence has demonstrated that a workforce inclusive of neurodivergent talent can deliver faster, more accurate results while strengthening company culture and reducing turnover.

Accelerating Growth in Northern Virginia

As demand accelerates in AI and national security, companies like Enabled Intelligence are scaling quickly and the way that growth is supported matters. In Fairfax County, that support operates as a coordinated system across state and local partners, each playing a distinct role aligned to a common objective: helping companies grow with speed, precision, and staying power.

Throughout Enabled Intelligence’s growth, the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) has worked in close collaboration with the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to support the company’s expansion in Virginia. Together, they have aligned incentive strategy and business support, including participation in the Virginia Jobs Investment Program, providing resources to support hiring and workforce training at scale. This ongoing collaboration has helped enable workforce growth that matches both the pace and specialization required in this sector.

The Fairfax County Department of Economic Initiatives has strengthened this effort through targeted workforce support via the TalentUp Fairfax program, where Enabled Intelligence was a recipient. Through this program, the company has accessed structured pathways to recruit, train, and integrate talent, supporting more focused workforce development alongside broader state-supported hiring efforts.

Virginia Works has further supported the talent pipeline through work-based learning and apprenticeship models. Enabled Intelligence was part of launching the first registered AI data annotation apprenticeship program in the United States, expanding access to high-demand careers while building a scalable workforce model in a rapidly evolving field.

Throughout this process, FCEDA has also provided ongoing, hands-on support to help Enabled Intelligence translate these resources into sustained growth. This includes strategic connections across the regional ecosystem, direct engagement with partners in government and industry, and employer-facing initiatives such as regional hiring events and the Work in Northern Virginia talent platform, which connects job seekers directly with opportunities.

Together, this reflects a collaborative approach where incentives, workforce programs, and ecosystem engagement are structured to reinforce one another. Each partner contributes a distinct capability, enabling companies like Enabled Intelligence to grow, adapt, and scale over time in one of the most competitive sectors in the economy.

A Model for Success That Scales

Enabled Intelligence’s success highlights what is possible when high-growth companies are supported by a collaborative and proactive ecosystem. In Fairfax County, the FCEDA plays a central role in helping startups not only launch, but scale with the right partnerships.

The FCEDA actively works with companies to reduce barriers to growth, connect them to critical resources, and position them for long-term success. By connecting companies to talent, strategic partners, and market opportunities, the FCEDA creates the conditions for sustained growth in competitive industries like AI and defense. Enabled Intelligence exemplifies how that support translates into real outcomes like rapid workforce expansion, winning major federal contracts, and building a workforce model that sets a new standard for the industry.

For companies looking to grow in competitive sectors, Fairfax County offers more than proximity; It offers a strategic partner in FCEDA that is invested in helping businesses succeed at scale.

Back