
AGATE
Strengthening public sector assurance
AGATE (Accelerated Government Assurance & Transformation Engine) is an AI-augmented review method that builds on the Gateway process by adding strategic depth, behavioural clarity, and cognitive awareness.
Powered by PIM, AGATE is aligned with public sector requirements, strengthening oversight and realigning delivery realities with governance expectations.
It extends standard Gateway probing with:
Maturity-based scoring across delivery, governance, and alignment
Behavioural diagnostic instruments to surface psychological risk, trust gaps, and latent dissonance
AGATE challenges assumptions, exposes latent risks, and unlocks what isn't being said
AGATE adapts the power of PIM to the unique needs of public institutions.
AGATE integrates government assurance models, like Gateway Review and audit controls, into a highly accurate predictive diagnostic and risk management system.
From strategic initiation to delivery governance, AGATE converts inertia into momentum.
What AGATE Delivers:
Policy alignment, public value framing, and delivery integrity
Augments Gateway compliance and reviews without stalling progress
Enhanced transparency and defensibility across the program lifecycle
AGATE
Accelerated Government Assurance & Transformation Engine
Public sector transformation demands a different kind of precision.
AGATE adapts the proven power of PIM to the realities of government delivery, where layered governance, multifaceted stakeholder environments, and statutory compliance create challenges not found in the private sector.
It integrates Gateway processes and public value principles into a science-driven assurance model, offering transparency, defensibility, and delivery integrity at every phase.
AGATE seamlessly layers the structure of Gateway review frameworks onto the analytical depth of PIM.
Each Gateway stage is mapped to PIM’s diagnostic tiers, ensuring strategic alignment, delivery readiness, in-flight resilience, and risk exposure are assessed with scientific precision.
This integration enables agencies to go beyond compliance, transforming Gateway into a high-resolution assurance mechanism that delivers genuine insight, not just review outcomes.
Benefits:
Stronger Gateway Reviews – Turn assurance into insight with diagnostics that go beyond compliance.
Early Risk Visibility – Detect critical issues before they disrupt delivery.
Confident Decision-Making – Equip stakeholders with clear, actionable evidence at every stage.
Built for Government Complexity – Navigate public sector challenges with tools designed for your environment.
Proven, Measurable Results – Leverage AI-powered methods to ensure outcomes that stand up to scrutiny.
Sector Based Solutions
Public Sector
Public-sector clients face unique circumstances, pressures, and systemic issues. Most significantly, the self-correcting mechanisms and course-correction signals of market-based service organisations are absent in the public sector, so it is vital for keen oversight to replace these self-regulation functions.
For Government clients, we offer a specialised service and toolset, AGATE, designed and curated to meet the unique conditions of public sector projects, strategies, and transformations.
Our research has shown that in the public sector:
80% of Government technology & transformation projects run over time.
Cost overruns are 3x the average for public sector IT projects
Defence, Infrastructure, and Health projects have the largest cost & schedule overruns & failure rates.
Only 22% of people trust the government to do what is right “most of the time”.
Test Case
Government Health Department
A recent simulation with a government Health division.
AGATE was used as a recent case study to review a Health Department program in-flight (not typically covered by Gateway, but considered Tier 2, Delivery Strategy).
Findings:
Misalignment between programme objectives and stakeholder interpretations
Risks that were known but unrecorded, because they were reputational or political
Overconfidence in skill availability and plan assumptions
All of these were invisible to a conventional Gateway review, but emerged clearly through behavioural scores, confidence divergences, and PIM reflection prompts.
What AGATE worked:
It pinpoints where perception and reality diverge
It reveals cultural or leadership friction early
It provides strategic prompts to course-correct before momentum stalls
It helps you intervene early, before reputational, financial, or delivery risk escalated
FAQs
How long does an AGATE review take?
Most AGATE reviews are completed quickly, averaging 1— 3.5 weeks. Factors that affect this are the project's size and complexity, the availability of materials, and the stage of the AGATE tier. Clients requiring critical reviews can have their reviews expedited, and these can be completed in days, if needed.
What kind of information does AGATE need?
AGATE typically requires no additional data or information beyond what you already have for your projects. You should not have to “create” data for AGATE, as it uses the standard project materials as part of its review (business case, status reports, project charters, governance reports, change reports, risk register, etc.) We may request specific data from your PM tool for simplifying metrics analysis.
At what stage should I employ AGATE?
AGATE has six tiers: three “set” phases for project initiation, mid-flight, and post-release review. Then there are the tiers that enable detailed project risk analysis once your project is underway and you want to ensure it remains on track—Project Vector Analysis, Vector Threat Analysis, and Risk Telemetry. AGATE has been designed and price-structured not for “one-off” use, but for clients to apply the toolset at various stages over a project lifecycle.
Is my data safe with AGATE?
All PIM data is encrypted both in transit and at rest. No client data is used to train either AGATE or the over-arching LLM toolset powering PIM.
Government clients can request that their data be pseudo-anonymised, but this may cause delays in processing and some additional costs.
Does AGATE replace Gateway?
No. AGATE is designed to complement Gateway, as many Government Treasury Departments require Gateway reviews to be performed as part of the budgeting process. However, AGATE can be used to ensure that your reviews are sound and your projects are iron-clad against hidden risks that could lead to unforeseen delays and cost blow-outs. Additionally, AGATE can be utilised to fill gaps in the Gateway process, including risk telemetry, in-flight risk, and project drift.
Is AGATE used only to pick fault with Projects?
AGATE is a maturity-based tool. Its purpose is to surface latent risks and recommend remediation actions promptly to course-correct a project. However, there are specific “red-flag” triggers (most of which can be customised) which indicate serious concerns; for example, an absent or defunct risk register, or worse, a lacking or defunct project schedule.
How can I use AGATE data more meaningfully?
While the focus of AGATE is on ensuring the effective, efficient, and safe delivery of complex, high-risk projects, there are numerous side benefits from AGATE. Longitudinal use of AGATE will provide clients with a very accurate understanding of how they perform at delivering each type of project. More importantly, they will gain a deeper understanding of their specific managers' skill sets in managing these complex programs, including their strengths and weaknesses, and be able to employ those skills more accurately in future.
How can I engage with TWC to use AGATE?
AGATE is a unique service provided by Third Way Consulting, a specialised service provider. Our services are highly valued and in high demand, and we do not engage in bidding for work. However, due to the specialist nature and low threshold cost of AGATE, we can support a wide range of activities in public-sector agencies without causing procurement risks. You can contact a TWC Strategic Sciences consultant to discuss your requirements to receive a quote for AGATE based upon your needs.