Three Essential Government Contractor Pillars For AI-Powered Procurement Processes

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“WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY” By Akash Mandavilli

“The foundational pillars that government contractors need to reach a breakthrough in using artificial intelligence for procurement processes.”

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“As the public sector continues to double down on efficiency, contractors are under increasing pressure to deliver more with less — less funding, tighter timelines, and heightened expectations.

In tandem, this drive for efficiency is reshaping the RFP environment, particularly within the Defense Department, where companies are seeking more opportunities to maintain a competitive edge. With competition intensifying, there is more pressure than ever on proposal teams to produce winning, high-quality RFPs quickly.

Industry has long sought technology-driven tools to streamline procurement processes, yet most tools only offer incremental efficiency gains. The real breakthrough lies in AI – specifically, AI tailored to the nuances of government procurement – but only when driven by three foundational pillars can it be successful.

Purpose-Built Solutions for GovCon

AI addresses common procurement challenges, from helping small businesses scale efficiently to allowing larger enterprises to leverage their existing knowledge base and previously-successful RFPs. But speed alone isn’t enough. Government contracting demands purpose-built solutions that traditional automation tools can’t deliver.

Tools built for commercial workflows and repurposed for public sector use lack the institutional knowledge required to meet federal evaluators’ expectations. Not only that, utilizing a common prompt-based platform will cause information and company voice to fall to the wayside while producing generic, run-of-the-mill drafts.

This also results in limited sourcing since the tools usually pull from publicly available options like the System for Award Management and the Federal Procurement Data System.

Purpose-built solutions, created with contracting teams in mind, offer deeper coverage of RFPs and seamless integration into existing systems to fill the gaps in drafting and submitting high-quality content. 

From supporting color team reviews to compliance shreds, these solutions ensure that GovCon RFP submissions align with solicitation requirements, emulate industry voice, and capture complexities, ultimately making RFPs stand out from the competition

AI as an Extension of Proposal Teams 

Automation alone isn’t the answer. AI must enhance, not replace, the expertise of proposal teams. One of the major pain points with using AI for proposal drafting is the “black box” phenomenon. This occurs when there is a positive and understandable input-output relationship, but the system’s inner workings remain hard to interpret, and the content is not traceable.

When drafting an RFP, it should be easy to trace exactly where the system is pulling content from, whether it’s a data point from an institution’s knowledge library or a requirement from an RFP. Without this traceability, the human-in-the-loop, whom the AI is supposed to support, may spend more time validating the content than benefiting from the system.

Moreover, keeping humans in the loop helps proposals stay grounded in real-world context, ethics, and organizational nuances that AI alone can’t replicate.

No technology is infallible, making a trained team critical to uncovering mistakes or hallucinations that could lead to disqualification and cause catastrophic damage to a team’s reputation.

AI works as a draft accelerator, while the humans can shape the narrative and focus of the final product. 

GovCon-Grade Security and Compliance

AI is most useful when it can connect as much high-quality internal knowledge as possible, but that knowledge is sensitive. To realize the full value of AI, contractors must be confident that the platforms they adopt are secure and compliant with the strictest government standards. 

So how can organizations ensure that they remain compliant when handling sensitive data like controlled unclassified information (CUI), data for official use only (FOUO), and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) regulated content?

The most effective solutions are built to align with FedRAMP, NIST SP 800-53 and CMMC requirements audited by a third-party organization, ensuring that contractors meet regulatory standards without added burden. Companies that invest in solutions with these safeguards in place will gain not only efficiency but also peace of mind.

Secondly, organizations should prioritize complete data isolation and the ability to silo its content and metadata to maintain the integrity and security of proprietary data. Establishing stringent standards prevents unauthorized model training on your data without explicit permission, ensuring that proprietary data is not used to train public models or enhance the system for competitors.

Additionally, AI platforms and vendors must have zero data retention agreements with third-party providers. Since many vendors rely on external tools that may or may not operate in protected environments, organizations need visibility into these dependencies to verify they meet security standards.

The Future is AI-Driven

Agencies and leadership are increasingly demanding more from their contractors, and continuous innovation is essential to maintain a competitive edge.

Organizations that embrace AI-powered proposal generation will not only streamline their operations and support their employees, but also position themselves for long-term growth and success. With faster response times and higher-quality submissions, AI is the key to a seamless proposal process.

Ultimately, it’s not just about winning more contracts; it’s about driving mission success at scale.”

3 essentials for AI-powered procurement in a new era of efficiency

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Akash Mandavilli is CEO of GovEagle, which offers an AI-based proposal platform to government contractors.