AI is here and it’s being by used by bid development teams to support the creation of tenders for Government contracts. That’s a fact. So is that a good thing? And what’s our view on the use of AI in our work?

We believe in the power of human intelligence.
AI complements our service offer, but does not replace it.

AI tools like ChatGPT, for example, are a handy tool and provide a useful alternative to website search engines like Google. It’s often a quicker way to get to relevant information and data.

In a similar manner, AI can provide a range of benefits that we’re more than happy to take advantage of, where client and commissioner confidentiality allows, such as:

• Quickly and accurately reviewing vast swathes of information

• Identifying key requirements within tender documentation and seeking out relevant content from previous bids

• Crunching data to help us understand trends and generate meaningful insight into bidding strategies

In short, AI means we can spend less time on basic research, document sifting and the like, and much more time on innovation, solution design, and creating models that deliver the best possible results for service-users and commissioners alike. That’s undeniably a good thing.

But, and there is a but, AI has its limits.

Any over reliance on AI in the tender writing process results in a sub-par bid response. Any AI tool is only as good as the data it is informed by, which isn’t always up to date and often doesn’t draw on insights from adjacent or international markets.

To an extent, it’s a paint by numbers approach.

AI can’t convene and run a solution design session, responding to the input of Subject Matter Experts and asking the right follow-up questions to capture their expertise and experience. It can’t attend a commissioner dialogue session, hold conversations with them and infer what they really want from a bid… because that’s often quite different to what the bid questions outline. 

And, of course, there are a number of regulatory and legislative considerations, which will hopefully be clarified further in the upcoming Procurement Act (2025). But until then, any over reliance on AI presents a significant risk for this reason.

So what is our view?

It’s a complex issue, and one that can’t be summarised neatly on a web page. We know from speaking with our clients that there are a wide-range of opinions out there on their appetite for using AI as part of their business development strategy.

That’s why we talk with our clients at the start of each project, and provide a flexible approach, agreeing clear parameters for the use (or not) of AI. We’ve invested in ensuring that our team has the skills needed to leverage AI effectively. But we’re not wed to one AI tool and our approach and decision-making process is led by which tool (if any) will deliver the best value and results for our clients.  

If you’d like to speak to us about AI, we’d be more than happy to talk through our approach with you… in-person! Please drop us a line and we’ll get right back to you.