Using AI to win tenders

Custom GPTs Trained on Past Wins

One of the most exciting developments is the rise of custom GPT models for bid writing. Unlike a general AI like ChatGPT (which has broad knowledge but no specific insight into your business), a custom GPT can be trained on your company’s historical bid documents, past proposals, and even client feedback. By doing so, it gains an understanding of what has led to wins before. For instance, if certain phrasing or value propositions resonated in successful bids, the custom AI will learn to incorporate those elements. This tailored approach addresses one of the biggest criticisms of using AI in tenders: that generic AI text can be bland or off-target. In fact, tender professionals warn that using an out-of-the-box AI without customization can backfire. There have been cases where companies tried using ChatGPT alone and ended up with responses so generic that evaluators were unimpressed – one company even faced 100+ follow-up questions from the evaluators because the AI-written tender was unclear and lacked the unique details of their business . Clearly, simply handing over the pen to a generic AI is not a silver bullet for winning tenders.

Custom GPTs solve this by injecting your domain knowledge and past experience into the model. They can analyze new tender documents and instantly cross-reference your internal knowledge base for relevant content. Imagine uploading a new Request For Proposal (RFP) and having the AI immediately highlight sections in your archives where you answered similar requirements before – and pulling in the best of that content into a draft answer. Some AI tender platforms already do this: they scan RFPs and automatically match requirements to your company’s past proposals and strengths . This not only saves you writing time, it also ensures you emphasize the points most likely to score highly. Smart companies are using AI to tailor each bid to the client and the scoring criteria. The AI can even analyze patterns from past wins and competitor bids to suggest what will make your proposal stand out  – essentially acting like a virtual bid consultant who has read everything and remembers what worked.

The efficiency gains are substantial. Early adopters report that AI assistance dramatically speeds up the process. For example, one AI-driven bid platform found that companies could reduce writing time by around 75% and cut costs by 50%, which ultimately translated into 15% higher revenue from more wins . Freed from weeks of drudgery, your team can spend more time on strategy – refining win themes and pricing – while the AI handles repetitive writing tasks. And because a custom model is specialized for tender content, it produces far more relevant, nuanced answers than a general chatbot. As one user noted, using a one-size-fits-all AI for tender writing is “like wanting to write something in French and using a Latin tool to do it” – you need a specialized solution to capture the nuances of each tender . A finely tuned tender AI understands those nuances, from specific industry terminology to the particular pain points of your client, and weaves them into your responses.

Smarter, Faster Proposal Writing and Review

Think about the most tedious parts of preparing a bid. Many of those can be automated or accelerated with AI. For instance, analyzing lengthy tender documents for requirements, compliance criteria, and key terms is a huge time sink for humans. AI tools can parse hundreds of pages in minutes, extracting the crucial points (such as all the mandatory criteria, deadlines, or forms to fill) and presenting them in a checklist. This ensures you don’t miss any requirement – an omission that could disqualify your bid – and lets you focus on crafting strong answers for each one. Some AI solutions even flag potential risks or tricky clauses in the tender docs, so you can address them proactively in your proposal .

Next comes writing those answers. AI writing assistants can generate draft responses for each question or section based on both the tender context and your past content. You’re not starting from scratch – you’re editing and enhancing an AI-provided draft. This can turn days of writing into just a few hours. One UK company reported that their AI-assisted system turned what used to be weeks of work into a process that “halved the effort” and is on track toward a 90% time saving in proposal writing . Even if your results are a bit more modest, the productivity boost is undeniable. By automating the first draft and routine paperwork, AI gives your bid team room to refine messaging, rather than getting bogged down typing boilerplate text.

AI can also help with quality control and compliance checks. As you refine the draft, an AI tool can cross-verify that every question has been answered, every required document is included, and all criteria are met – acting like a second pair of eyes. It might highlight that you haven’t explicitly addressed a certain evaluation criterion, for example, so you can fix that before submission. This reduces the chance of human error. Some advanced platforms use machine learning to predict how the evaluators might score your responses, or to compare your draft against past winning answers, giving you feedback on where to improve. While these features are still emerging, they hint at a future where AI not only helps write the proposal but also optimizes it for maximum impact.

Keeping the Human Touch in the Loop

With all these capabilities, it’s clear AI is a game-changer for efficiency. But what about the human element? Winning tenders isn’t just about ticking boxes – it’s about persuading evaluators that your team is the best partner for the job. That means conveying passion, expertise, and an understanding of the client’s true needs. AI on its own can sometimes produce text that reads a bit generic or overly formal – it lacks the genuine enthusiasm and company personality that a great bid usually showcases. Tender evaluators are people, after all, and they can tell when a response sounds templated. In fact, as AI-generated text becomes more common, evaluators are starting to recognize and discount those one-size-fits-all answers  . This is why AI should augment, not replace, the proposal writer.

The good news: when used thoughtfully, AI actually frees up your human experts to add more value. Rather than spending all their time on drudge work (formatting documents, tracking requirements, etc.), your bid writers and subject matter experts can focus on strategy and storytelling – the parts that truly require human insight. Use the AI to do the heavy lifting on the first draft and data analysis, then have your team refine the narrative, add personalization, and ensure the proposal has heart. As one tender consultant aptly said, “AI isn’t here to replace you; it’s here to amplify your efforts.” It can crank out text at lightning speed, but your human insight and creativity give the proposal its winning edge . For instance, only a human can decide which project anecdote best illustrates your capability, or how to phrase a value proposition in a genuinely resonant way. The AI can suggest and streamline, but you make the final call on tone and emphasis.

In practice, a successful workflow is collaborative: let AI streamline your workflow and generate initial drafts, then bring in your team to polish every paragraph until it sings. This hybrid approach yields proposals that are both highly efficient and highly compelling. Remember, the goal is a proposal that not only checks every requirement box, but also tells a story that connects with the client. AI can help ensure no requirement is missed and that your content is well-structured and data-driven. Meanwhile, you ensure the proposal feels bespoke and authentic to your company’s voice. This synergy between AI and human expertise is the key to modern tender success.

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