diff --git a/packages/amazonq/.changes/next-release/Feature-93485fee-05c0-4dc9-abde-9072590cbd45.json b/packages/amazonq/.changes/next-release/Feature-93485fee-05c0-4dc9-abde-9072590cbd45.json
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..914121a15d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/amazonq/.changes/next-release/Feature-93485fee-05c0-4dc9-abde-9072590cbd45.json
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+{
+	"type": "Feature",
+	"description": "Enable default `@workspace` context of Amazon Q chat for certain users"
+}
diff --git a/packages/core/src/codewhispererChat/controllers/chat/controller.ts b/packages/core/src/codewhispererChat/controllers/chat/controller.ts
index b605ce8698b..cc4a61b680f 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/codewhispererChat/controllers/chat/controller.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/codewhispererChat/controllers/chat/controller.ts
@@ -47,11 +47,11 @@ import { randomUUID } from '../../../shared/crypto'
 import { LspController } from '../../../amazonq/lsp/lspController'
 import { CodeWhispererSettings } from '../../../codewhisperer/util/codewhispererSettings'
 import { getSelectedCustomization } from '../../../codewhisperer/util/customizationUtil'
-import { FeatureConfigProvider } from '../../../shared/featureConfig'
 import { getHttpStatusCode, AwsClientResponseError } from '../../../shared/errors'
 import { uiEventRecorder } from '../../../amazonq/util/eventRecorder'
-import { globals } from '../../../shared'
+import { globals, waitUntil } from '../../../shared'
 import { telemetry } from '../../../shared/telemetry'
+import { Auth } from '../../../auth'
 import { isSsoConnection } from '../../../auth/connection'
 
 export interface ChatControllerMessagePublishers {
@@ -633,17 +633,23 @@ export class ChatController {
                     return
                 }
             }
-            // if user does not have @workspace in the prompt, but user is in the data collection group
-            // If the user is in the data collection group but turned off local index to opt-out, do not collect data.
-            // TODO: Remove this entire block of code in one month as requested
+            // if user does not have @workspace in the prompt, but user is Amazon internal
+            // add project context by default
             else if (
-                FeatureConfigProvider.instance.isAmznDataCollectionGroup() &&
+                Auth.instance.isInternalAmazonUser() &&
                 !LspController.instance.isIndexingInProgress() &&
                 CodeWhispererSettings.instance.isLocalIndexEnabled()
             ) {
-                getLogger().info(`amazonq: User is in data collection group`)
                 const start = performance.now()
-                triggerPayload.relevantTextDocuments = await LspController.instance.query(triggerPayload.message)
+                triggerPayload.relevantTextDocuments = await waitUntil(
+                    async function () {
+                        if (triggerPayload.message) {
+                            return await LspController.instance.query(triggerPayload.message)
+                        }
+                        return []
+                    },
+                    { timeout: 500, interval: 200, truthy: false }
+                )
                 triggerPayload.projectContextQueryLatencyMs = performance.now() - start
             }
         }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/shared/featureConfig.ts b/packages/core/src/shared/featureConfig.ts
index a94fc25a7b8..d6962ada86e 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/shared/featureConfig.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/shared/featureConfig.ts
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import globals from './extensionGlobals'
 import { getClientId, getOperatingSystem } from './telemetry/util'
 import { extensionVersion } from './vscode/env'
 import { telemetry } from './telemetry'
+import { Auth } from '../auth'
 
 export class FeatureContext {
     constructor(
@@ -51,8 +52,6 @@ export class FeatureConfigProvider {
 
     static #instance: FeatureConfigProvider
 
-    private _isDataCollectionGroup = false
-
     constructor() {
         this.fetchFeatureConfigs().catch((e) => {
             getLogger().error('fetchFeatureConfigs failed: %s', (e as Error).message)
@@ -65,10 +64,6 @@ export class FeatureConfigProvider {
         return (this.#instance ??= new this())
     }
 
-    isAmznDataCollectionGroup(): boolean {
-        return this._isDataCollectionGroup
-    }
-
     isNewProjectContextGroup(): boolean {
         return this.featureConfigs.get(Features.projectContextFeature)?.variation === 'TREATMENT'
     }
@@ -145,11 +140,8 @@ export class FeatureConfigProvider {
                     }
                 }
             }
-
-            const dataCollectionValue = this.featureConfigs.get(Features.dataCollectionFeature)?.value.stringValue
-            if (dataCollectionValue === 'data-collection') {
-                this._isDataCollectionGroup = true
-                // Enable local workspace index by default, for Amzn users.
+            if (Auth.instance.isInternalAmazonUser()) {
+                // Enable local workspace index by default only once, for Amzn users.
                 const isSet = globals.globalState.get<boolean>('aws.amazonq.workspaceIndexToggleOn') || false
                 if (!isSet) {
                     await CodeWhispererSettings.instance.enableLocalIndex()