Organisations are increasingly using bids and tenders to select suppliers as they provide greater transparency, fairness, and adherence to regulatory standards, ensuring contracts are awarded based on merit and clear criteria.
However, as projects are becoming more complex, so too are the number and complexity of questions within tenders as there is an increasing need to mitigate risk. Consequently, tenders are taking organisations 20% more time to complete (30 hours rather than 25). This, coupled with resource constraints and challenges accessing internal subject matter experts, are driving organisations to turn to AI to help.
AI can certainly help organisations be more efficient in responding to tenders and bids. There are a multitude of AI bid management solutions available that promise to solve the headache of completing bids and proposals.
Most AI bid management solutions take data from multiple sources to answer specific questions in a fraction of the time it would take even the most experienced bid manager to do manually.
However, there are some key considerations to watch out for when choosing a solution, these include:
1. Where is the data hosted?
Most AI bid management solutions are Software as a Service (SaaS) which offer minimal control over where your data is held, presenting a potential security risk by exposing your sensitive and confidential information online. Whereas Platform as a Service (PaaS) provides the ability to retain complete control over your data as it is hosted in your own Microsoft tenant. This ensures you maintain full control and compliance with internal data security policies.
2. Does it feel automated?
Let’s be honest, AI can sound and read computer generated with content written in the same technical, even monotone, style. Ideally the solution should be able to write in different ‘styles’ or personas to more accurately mimic the different voices of the person writing the answer, think technical expert verses sales person.
3. Will it help you win the bid?
Many solutions just do as they are told; fill out the answers based on the questions and information provided. But ultimately they don’t help you win the bid. More sophisticated AI bid management solutions can provide helpful feedback on how the answers score based on the bid scoring criteria, offering helpful tips to improve answers and increasing the likelihood of winning the bid.
So while leveraging AI helps alleviate a lot of the pressures organisations face when completing tenders and bids, it is worth considering the security of the solution, the ability to tailor the tone of voice as well as the value add it can offer you to not just complete bids, but win them!
