Antix Consulting Strategic Insights
Introduction
AI seems to be everywhere. In fact, Bill Gates recently said that AI was as fundamental a development as the Internet. Maybe you've seen the commercials about AWS using AI for the NFL, or perhaps you're a developer using an AI-powered development tool like CodeGuru. Even more likely, you've used ChatGPT to help write a work report.
We've noticed that several business development and proposal solutions have newly emerging AI-driven capabilities. We selected a few providers to highlight in this article and discuss how their products are evolving and delivering new capabilities.
Leveraging AI for Government Contracting
GovTribe
GovTribe is a popular platform for public sector business development professionals for researching opportunities, governmental agency budgets, and other types of data. GovTribe recently updated its service offering to include new pricing levels. With the ‘Enterprise Standard’ plan, Contractors have access to Intelligent Summaries which provide information about vendors, contract and grant opportunities, and contract vehicles. The vendor summaries provide contractor history, making it easier for BD and capture personnel to gather competitive intelligence.
Under the same ‘Enterprise Standard’ plan, GovTribe provides AI Insights that include features such as Contract Predecessor Identification which allows quick access to prior contracts; potentially streamlining contract history research. They also provide scope-of-work matching so that companies can see the market demand for a specific set of services. This information is relevant for business development and marketing teams and could inform how a company positions itself for the market rather than a single opportunity.
GovTribe also uses AI to send subscribers contract recommendations. According to a GovTribe blog post, the algorithm is based on:
Your company’s attributes
Your company’s prime and subcontract award history
Your browsing behavior on GovTribe
The browsing behavior of other members of your team on GovTribe.
The more you engage with the platform, the more accurate these recommendations become.
Visit GovTribe's website for more information.
Rogue
Rogue’s service may be of interest to proposal professionals. Rogue claims to have the ability to ‘shred’ RFPs, develop compliance matrices, help write proposals using AI, and perform compliance checks. Their product requires some investment – their least expensive solution is $6K per year. If you want to make sure you have access to their compliance matrix generator, that offering jumps to $18K annually.
Visit Rogue's website for more information.
GovWin IQ
As those reading will know, GovWin is a competitor product to GovTribe. GovWin has been widely adopted in the industry as the place to search for and track contract opportunities. Some BD staff refer to the government agency profile data and rely on other information within GovWin to support market strategy decisions. Like GovTribe, GovWin has implemented AI to help analyze data in helpful ways for government contractors, including providing Smart Summaries.
The section below comes from Deltek’s site and explains how they are evolving their services using AI:
“GovWin IQ has taken a significant step forward by implementing generative AI into federal Agency Profiles and SLED Government Profiles with Smart Summaries. This innovation transforms what was once a labor-intensive and time-consuming process into a seamless, real-time experience. Smart Summaries harness generative AI technology to provide clients with clear, concise executive briefings, eliminating the need for hours of manual research and data collection...
Smart Summaries are expanding into other data sets in GovWin, including Contract Awards, Task Orders, Government Contacts, and Opportunities to make understanding the background of key go-to-market elements consumable and shareable. Spend less time bringing your team up to speed and more time chasing revenue.”
Visit Deltek's website for more information.
ProPricer
ProPricer is a solution that helps develop, analyze, submit, and negotiate cost and pricing data for government contracts. ProPricer’s Contractor Edition is their primary offering; however, they also sell their BOE Pro product. BOE Pro is an add-on solution that syncs Basis of Estimate (BOE) narratives to your cost and pricing calculations in ProPricer Contract Edition.
ProPricer mentions that their BOE Pro solution uses machine learning (an AI subcategory) to help craft BOE narratives, saying, “By harnessing the power of ML-based predictive text entry, this tool enables you to streamline and fortify the process of crafting proposal BOE narratives, even in the face of sudden adjustments and evolving requirements.”
We haven’t used this feature, so we're curious about how well this works. We looked up product reviews. We didn’t find any reviews that specifically mentioned the BOE Pro product, but the overall company reviews were 4 and 5 stars. We saw comments like these:
“ProPricer is a decent software especially for defense/aerospace workers.”
“Propricer was easy to implement. Going from Excel-based pricing to ProPricer was the BEST move our company made to streamline our proposal process.”
We plan to more thoroughly review this product and will update this article with more information when it's available.
Visit ProPricer's website for more information.
ChatGPT
You've likely heard about ChatGPT. It's commonly being used for content generation in all types of marketing solutions. We asked ChatGPT how it could be used to support writing government proposals, and this was the answer (in quotes):
"1. Template Generation: ChatGPT can help create templates for different sections of a government proposal, such as the executive summary, technical approach, project management plan, and staffing plan. These templates can serve as a starting point, ensuring that all necessary information is covered.
2. Writing Assistance: It can assist in drafting content for various parts of the proposal, from detailed technical descriptions to project narratives. This includes generating coherent, concise text that aligns with the proposal's requirements and objectives.
3. Idea Generation: ChatGPT can suggest innovative solutions and approaches to address the solicitation's requirements. This can be particularly useful in brainstorming sessions to develop unique selling propositions or technical solutions.
4. Editing and Proofreading: It can help improve the clarity and coherence of the proposal text, offering suggestions for better word choice, grammar, and sentence structure. This can enhance the overall readability and professionalism of the proposal.
5. Compliance Check: While ChatGPT cannot replace a detailed review by a human expert, it can assist in checking the proposal against certain compliance factors, such as adherence to specified formatting guidelines or the inclusion of required sections.
6. Q&A Preparation: ChatGPT can help draft responses to potential questions or concerns that evaluators might have, based on the solicitation documents. This prepares the proposal team to address these points proactively in the proposal or in subsequent discussions.
7. Summary and Abstract Writing: It can generate concise summaries and abstracts of the proposal, highlighting the key points, objectives, and benefits of the proposed solution or approach.
8. Research Support: For background information, statistical analysis, or evidence to support claims made in the proposal, ChatGPT can synthesize information from a provided dataset, although it cannot browse the internet or access real-time data past its last training update.
It's important to note that while ChatGPT can significantly aid the proposal writing process, successful government proposals require a deep understanding of the solicitation requirements, a well-thought-out solution, and thorough reviews by subject matter experts. ChatGPT's output should be carefully reviewed and refined by professionals familiar with the intricacies of government contracting and the specific solicitation to ensure compliance, accuracy, and competitiveness."
Procurement Sciences AI
We have not thoroughly reviewed the Procurement Sciences AI product; however, this is the description of their product from their website:
"The #1 AI-Powered Capture & Proposal Solution
Our Bidding Intelligence System is the first of its kind: an AI-powered, end-to-end automation system for capture, proposal, and business development. Originally designed specifically for government contractors, we have since broadened our expertise to support commercial contractors, academic institutions, non-profits, and a diverse range of other businesses. Our goal is to harness the continuous breakthroughs in AI, enabling teams to work more intelligently. This not only prevents burnout but also reduces unnecessary stress, empowering teams to work smarter, not harder."
Visit Procurement Sciences website for more information.
Conclusion
In the ever-evolving landscape of government contracting, the infusion of Artificial Intelligence is transforming business development and proposal solutions. As Bill Gates aptly noted, AI has become as fundamental a development as the Internet, permeating various sectors and reshaping traditional workflows. At Antix Consulting, we've observed a wave of innovative AI-driven capabilities in the GovCon space not only related to how contractors deliver work to the government but also to how contractors perform business development and proposal preparation functions. We will continue to watch the market and share new insights.
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