Reading a long tender document with AI

Don't ask a tool to "summarise this tender" and stop there. A summary hides what it left out. Ask for lists with page numbers instead, and check the lists against the original.

Know what's in the pack

An invitation to tender is, in Wikipedia's words, "a formal, structured procedure for generating competing offers from different potential suppliers or contractors".¹ The same page says an invitation to tender differs from a request for proposal: it's used when a buyer "does not require the submission of an original business proposal".¹ A request for proposal is the kind that does invite the supplier's own proposal. Check which one your pack is, and answer what it asks.

Names vary by country and by buyer, and tender, bid and quote are often used loosely. The pack itself is usually spread over several files: the main document, a response form, a pricing schedule, draft contract terms and sometimes questions-and-answers added later.

Load all of them. A requirement tucked into the contract terms still counts.

What to pull out

Ask for each item as its own row, with the document name and page or clause number:

• Mandatory requirements, the ones where a "no" could rule you out.
• Closing date and time, with the time zone and how to lodge.
• Every question you must answer, with its word or page limit.
• How answers will be scored, and the weight of each criterion.
• Forms to fill in or sign.
• Insurance, licences, certifications and referee details.
• Contact rules, and the last date for questions to the buyer.
• Contract terms that need a lawyer's eyes.

A table works well. Columns for the item, the exact words from the buyer, where it is, and who on your team owns it.

Why you must check the extract

A reading tool can drop a line, merge two requirements or add one that isn't there. The UK government note warns that "statistical plausibility does not necessarily mean that the statements are factually accurate".²

Australia's privacy regulator describes the same trait: outputs that are inaccurate but appear credible.³

A missed mandatory item is the costly one. So treat the table as a draft. Open the original at each page number and tick the row only when the buyer's words match.

Habits that cut the risk

• Work in sections. Feed one part at a time and ask for everything in it. A long pack in one go invites skipped lines.
• Ask for exact quotes. If the tool paraphrases, you can't tell what the buyer wrote.
• Ask what's missing. After the table, ask the tool to list anything that sounds like a rule but isn't in the table. Then check that list too.
• Read the dates yourself. Closing times, time zones and question deadlines are small, easy to garble, and fatal if wrong.
• Keep the original open. Your tracker is a map, not the territory.

A person who'll write the answers should still read the whole tender once. The tool saves rummaging, not reading.

Before you paste the pack in

Some tender packs may carry buyer information that isn't public, and a buyer may forbid putting it into outside tools. Check the rules first. Keeping tender documents private covers what vendors say about your data and what buyers ask for.

Once the tracker is checked, gather your own material. Next comes your own facts and old answers.