Executive summary: AI experiences in the real world
A few years into the era of AI, everyone in the bid and proposal profession’s excited by its potential. But what are people’s lived experiences with the new tech? This report takes an independent look – not through the lens of software vendors, but from a user perspective. Based on 15 structured interviews capturing the real-world
experiences of senior managers across five continents, it explores AI’s impact, the lessons learned, and what comes next.
The consensus is that AI’s biggest strength lies in Proposal GenAI, where teams see significant gains from generating high quality first drafts quickly – and hence improving efficiency. Yet AI’s only as good as the content it’s fed. Organisations that have traditionally had a strong knowledge management approach are seeing the best and quickest results.
The danger is that AI helps generate content that’s “me too”, lacking client empathy. So training AI is critical – it must understand corporate voice, brand tone, and client specific language to produce meaningful responses. Ensuring proposals stand out from competitors using similar technology remains a challenge.
AI shows promise in wider bid processes such as bid planning and competitive intelligence – but its adoption in these areas is still developing. And there are risks that need to be navigated – in areas such as hallucinations, bias and governance.
The biggest challenge, perhaps: that although teams using AI are reporting improvements to proposal quality and efficiency gains, there’s a lack of solid business case data. Teams simply aren’t – yet – reporting a true return on investment. The report contains models to help you think about your business case.
Successful AI implementation requires a careful approach to change management. Businesses must define clear objectives before diving into tool selection. It’s actually not really about the tech: it’s about shaping the future role of your bid and proposal professionals within your organisation.
It should elevate their role, creating new opportunities.
And yes, we did use AI to help draft this executive summary, just for fun. Email us when you’ve read the report to let us know how you think it did!
