AI Proposal Tools: Buy or Build Your Own?

We talk often with government contractors about using AI for proposal generation. Typically, one starts with a readily available tool, such as ChatGPT or Copilot, and finds it useful for ideation, drafting specific proposal sections, repurposing old content, and similar functions. 

While there are certainly benefits, such platforms aren’t designed as an end-to-end automated proposal assistant that can shred RFPs with confidence, match government requirements to corporate capabilities, generate compliant content, accomplish reviews, etc. They may be good tools for certain things, but they haven’t been designed and trained for the unique domain of government contracting. 

Recognizing these limitations and the potential, the next step is to pursue a more comprehensive solution, designed specifically for proposal development. That can lead to a make or buy decision.

We’ve built an AI proposal assistant, climbed the steep learning curve, and can offer insights to help you decide.   

Building an AI Proposal Assistant isn’t as Simple as it Seems

How long did it take you to understand the bid and proposal process? To be able to shred an RFP quickly? To transform a complex solicitation into a compliant and compelling proposal? Distilling all that knowledge takes more than a few prompts. 

Not all solicitations are the same. There’s local, state, and federal RFIs, RFPs, RFQs, and so on, each with different formats and attributes. One document might have a SOW while another a PWS and there’s also SOOs and Scopes of Work. Some solicitations can confuse even the most seasoned professionals. An effective tool needs to accommodate myriad structures and variations. It can’t just look for Section L because it isn’t always there. 

Accommodating the range requires a lot of work and time. It takes considerable testing and trial and error refinement. If you choose to grow your own, you need to know what’s ahead of you. 

It Takes a Team

Building an AI proposal tool requires skills and experience encompassing software development, prompt engineering, UI/UX, security (to protect proprietary and controlled data, including CUI), proposal expertise, testing, and management. Teamwork is extremely important to develop a shared understanding and unified workflow. Based on our experience, it would be extremely difficult to pull this off without a dedicated full-time team. 

It's going to require an investment in time and money. If you take this path, there must be a strong business case that justifies the investment versus subscribing to a comparatively inexpensive existing platform. 

It’s Not a One-and-Done Effort.

The project is never complete. The government will institute new reforms and regulations.  Solicitations will emerge offering unique challenges.When a new model comes out it’s not an easy switch. A whole new set of prompts and evaluations are needed.   Learning never stops and all those lessons must be incorporated to remain relevant. Build decisions must include maintenance and upgrade costs not only to continuously improve, but just to survive in a dynamic environment.

Reasons to do it Yourself 

Building your own may make sense if your interests are vastly unique or specialized. It may also be appropriate if you have particular integrations in mind, especially those with proprietary interfaces.

Of course you own what you build. You can design it however you like. That; however, also means owning the work to build and sustain it.   

The Case for Buying

The number one reason to buy, or subscribe, is you leverage the work, economies of scale, and learning invested by the developer. They maintain and refresh it; not you. Sign on with the right company and they’ll try their best to incorporate user feedback and create a solution that gets better with each release. 

Summary

You can choose to stay with the non-AI approach that’s served you for decades. It’s tried and true, but not very fast or efficient. And it puts you at a disadvantage as your competitors transition to AI-powered solutions.

You can dabble with one of the common GPTs. They help with certain areas, but are too broad and an incomplete solution that could result in more work to review and integrate with your workflow and writing. This places a burden on users that may not have AI skills and experience. 

Build your own if you’d like, but weigh the pros and cons carefully. Compare the investment with the relatively low cost of buying or subscribing.  Yes, you may have unique requirements and desires. You’ll have to determine if they justify the additional expense, as well as the time to bring it online. 

Finally, you can buy or subscribe to a readily available solution. Let them bear the burden of development and maintenance. Let them build the infrastructure, prompts, use cases, and “how tos”. Find a vendor that listens and is committed to keeping it fresh and effective. 

The choice is yours. 

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