The use of AI in procurement is becoming more visible and accepted. Public sector guidance now recognises that suppliers use AI to support bid submission development, while emphasising the need to understand and manage associated risks through transparency. It has been a hot topic of conversation for the past three years: initially met with scepticism, then a wave of excitement and uncertainty, and now we’re seeing its implementation across the board. While parts of the bidding industry were quick to either reject the use of AI or broadcast acceptance, EiB has intentionally taken the route of “prove first, publish second”. We have taken the time to understand:
- Where it genuinely adds value
- Where it creates risk, and
- How it can be embedded in a governed work winning process without compromising confidentiality, compliance, integrity, or authenticity.
We have tested most of the AI products in the work winning sector to establish which add the greatest value. We used this comprehensive review to select the best approach and created our AI-enabled approach, ‘EiB Edge’.
Taking our time to trial, test and train
Over the last 30 months, we invested in due diligence, considered platform options, and tested what improves bid outcomes and what creates risk. We used this process to build our teams’ AI literacy and capability. The first step was to set up a clear AI policy and appoint an in-house AI Manager to lead the workstream. Our AI Manager led a focused working group, paving the way forward to identify how AI could genuinely enhance the EiB Way and deliver efficiency improvements. This helped us take a steady, considered approach to its usage, rather than getting caught up in unproven AI trends. Our AI Manager facilitates in-house training, making sure our team are aware of evolving technology and how to use AI intelligently and ethically every day.
Trialling, testing and training included:
- Using AI tools across historic bid scenarios to understand their capabilities
- Assessing where AI improves efficiency
- Researching how clients and work winning professionals are applying AI across the industry
- Identifying risks linked to compliance, confidentiality and integrity
- Remaining abreast of the Procurement Act and regulatory changes to understand the future of AI in bidding
- Monitoring team usage to refine training opportunities and strengthen knowledge, including specialist prompt engineering and tailored use cases.
Interrogating AI for the best output
For us, AI can reduce administrative burden and provide time for our teams to focus on activities which improve scores; strategy, evidence and added value. As bid consultants, we interrogate outputs of our chosen AI platform in the same way we interrogate subject matter experts during storyboarding and answer planning. We ask, check and verify whether it is accurate, specific, credible and compliant.
This approach matters. Poor use of AI is risky. It can result in unsupported claims and misinterpretation. Put more simply, outputs that sound credible but do not stand up to scrutiny. The saying is genuinely true: “Rubbish in, Rubbish out!”
How AI strengthens the EiB Way
The EiB Way already gives our clients a structured, end-to-end approach to work winning: from early research and strategy development through to storyboarding, drafting, review, submission and lessons learned. ‘EiB Edge’, our AI-enabled approach, is now embedded in the EiB Way, enhancing our way of working as technology evolves. It doesn’t replace our people-led approach, instead it complements our 30+ years’ bidding experience. We continue to apply experienced judgement to shape bid strategy and bid writing. This way, we keep human intelligence at the core of our approach.
AI-enabled work winning, led by expert Bid Consultants
AI will continue to reshape bidding and procurement. We have seen numerous changes in how commissioning clients are referring to AI in their documents and the disclosures required.
EiB’s position is clear: we will focus on how well AI is governed, challenged and applied in every step of our end-to-end approach to bidding. We will tailor the use of AI to each scenario, whilst keeping our people accountable for writing, strategy, judgement and quality assurance to ensure our clients continue to win over 80% of the bids they submit.