The Bulgarian National Audit Office will use artificial intelligence in audits of public procurement procedures included in the 2027 Annual Audit Programme. The ODIS project was developed jointly with the Institute for Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence and Technology (INSAIT) at Sofia University „St. Kliment Ohridski“.
The first module is ODIS PPA and is intended to verify the legality of procedures. The cooperation agreement was signed by Bulgarian National Audit Office President Dimitar Glavchev and INSAIT Executive Director Borislav Petrov.
According to Glavchev, the system will halve the time needed to check a public procurement procedure. At present, this takes between two days and more than a week, depending on the scope and complexity of the procedure.
Auditors retain control
ODIS was created as a specialised assistant for auditors and uses the Bulgarian BgGPT language model. The system automatically extracts publicly available information from the Centralised Automated Information System for Public Procurement (CAIS EPP), including data on procedures, requirements, contracts and participants.
Artificial intelligence can process large volumes of documents, suggest answers to audit questions, and point to arguments and references to sources. The auditor reviews the information provided and, where necessary, adds additional documents.
The system can flag potential inconsistencies and deviations from the Public Procurement Act and its implementing regulations. However, whether these constitute violations is determined solely by the auditors. The analyses, findings and conclusions remain in their hands.
An isolated environment is also provided for storing audit documents, reports and conclusions, without internet access. ODIS also includes functions for searching for specific information, comparing different versions of documents, and converting scanned documents into processable data.
Training begins next week
The module has already been successfully tested in a real-world environment. Its active use is expected to begin in 2027, while training for all auditors who verify the legality of public procurement procedures begins next week.
The agreement between the Bulgarian National Audit Office and INSAIT provides for the development of new artificial intelligence solutions, consultations, the creation of experimental software, and training in the use of the new systems. Borislav Petrov said the aim was for the technology to be useful to other government institutions as well.
In the next stage, ODIS will be expanded with functions for processing large quantities of data and documents, financial audits, as well as the Bulgarian National Audit Office’s strategic and annual planning.