The Center for Data Innovation spoke with Sean Williams, founder and CEO of AutogenAI, a UK-based startup that helps organizations in North America, Europe, and the Middle East use AI to write compelling proposals to bid for public sector and corporate contracts.
This interview has been edited.
Martin Makaryan: What is AutogenAI?
Sean Williams: We are a tech company that has developed a generative AI tool to assist businesses in writing stronger bids and pitches that win them more work and help them grow faster. A team of business development experts, machine learning scientists, and UX experts have designed AutogenAI’s services specifically for government project bids, tenders, and proposals. Many companies and organizations have to invest heavily in writing compelling proposals to receive work or funding for these types of contracts. Often, whether you win a contract or not depends on how well you can draft a high-quality proposal that meets the technical guidelines of a project. Many organizations, such as small or medium businesses, simply may not have the resources or expertise to invest in developing a bid. This is where our technology comes in. By streamlining the process with AI, we cut the process to write a strong pitch significantly—by as much as eight times. AutogenAI supports a wide range of industries, including healthcare, IT, and construction, and it is expanding into areas like grant writing for research universities.
Makaryan: How does your tool work?
Williams: We have a specific mission: we are focused on using AI to enhance productivity of bid writing and reducing the time to draft initial proposals. Our tool uses a number of large language models (LLMs) and a unique interface we have built for our platform to expedite the writing process. The platform integrates an organization’s existing content, such as previous bids and marketing materials, to craft compelling and coherent proposals specific to their activities and field to improve the chance of winning proposals. This tailored approach and broad applicability make AutogenAI a unique and powerful tool in the competitive bidding process, as opposed to regular chatbots that cannot generate the kind of customized pitches clients need.
Makaryan: What was the inspiration behind AutogenAI?
Williams: I was well-aware of the challenges and pressures associated with developing winning tenders and proposals because of my past job experiences. The process was time-consuming, costly, and often fraught with uncertainties. It was this recognition that sparked the idea for AutogenAI. I saw an opportunity to leverage cutting-edge AI technology to streamline the bid development process. I envisioned a system where we could train AI on a vast database of past proposals and projects, allowing it to understand what has been successful in the past and predict what will succeed in the future. We could then use this intelligence to enhance the quality and accuracy of bids, thus increasing their chances of success.
Makaryan: How do you harness AI and data at AutogenAI?
Williams: At AutogenAI, harnessing AI and data is a strategic process that begins with defining specific business goals. We use LLMs to analyze and learn from data on proposals, producing high-quality original content. These models use data-driven approaches to create text that mirrors human creativity. Additionally, in the bid and proposal industry, AI can swiftly scan and search through vast amounts of previously answered tender questions and bid documents. Thanks to this feature, writing bids no longer requires extensive reliance on internal or external subject matter experts, which increases productivity and streamlines the overall process.
Makaryan: What is unique about AutogenAI?
Williams: What makes AutogenAI unique is that it aids in generating innovative ideas, incorporating credible data, and tailoring ideas to project specifics. This individual approach to each organization and project is key. The tool helps explain how solutions clients propose in their written bids will meet the requirements of agencies and organizations that are providing funding and makes it easy to align proposals with identified win themes, issues, and requirements. Another key feature is that it allows the client to analyze how their bids were evaluated and then assess their approach to bidding for the future. Lastly, our embedded semantic research tool facilitates thorough, up-to-date research for informed proposals.
