Analysing procurement documents with an AI agent
How an AI agent reads procurement documents and prepares a summary, so you can quickly decide whether a tender is worth taking part in.
The morning starts with coffee and a question: has a tender appeared today that is worth our while? My AI agent Jarvis helps me prepare the answer. It does not decide, but it does the first and most tiring part of the work: it reads the documents.
The problem: lots of documents, little time
Procurement documentation is rarely short. Regulations, technical specification, qualification requirements, draft contract, annexes. The most important points are often buried in the middle or in the small print: the deadline, warranty requirements, penalties, required experience.
This creates two typical problems:
- to understand whether a tender is suitable at all, you have to read everything, and much of that time goes on tenders you end up not taking part in;
- when you are in a hurry, it is easy to miss a condition that later turns out to be decisive.
What this looks like in a company
In a company where one or two people follow tenders, the picture is familiar. The tender notice has been found, the documents downloaded, and they wait for the moment when someone can give them attention. Reading happens in the evenings or between other tasks. Notes end up on separate sheets of paper or in emails to oneself.
When there are several sets of documents, a queue forms. Some tenders are only skimmed, because there is no time for more. The decision whether or not to take part then rests on a partial picture.
The solution: a summary that you review
Jarvis receives the procurement documentation and reads it in full. As a result, it prepares a structured summary containing:
- what the contracting authority requires: what is being procured, in what volume, for what purpose;
- key conditions: deadlines, submission procedure, evaluation criteria, contract performance conditions;
- qualification requirements: what experience, documents or confirmations are needed;
- what to pay attention to: unclear points, unusually strict requirements, tight deadlines, items that may create risk later.
The summary is working material, not a final opinion. I review it, and where something seems important or unclear, I open the original document and check it myself. The summary shows where to look, but the original remains the source of truth.
What stays with the human
This part is just as important as the automation itself. Jarvis does not send or submit anything on its own. It does not contact the contracting authority, ask questions or submit anything in the procurement system. It works only with documents and returns the result to me.
I decide whether to take part. Quality control is also mine: if something in the summary does not look right, I check it against the source. AI can make mistakes, misread a wording or miss a nuance, so automatic trust is not acceptable here. If someone says that AI can simply "do the tender", I would be cautious. The practical benefit lies elsewhere: work starts with an organised overview rather than a blank page.
What it gives you
The main benefit is a faster and calmer decision. It shows up in several ways:
- faster initial selection: after the summary it is clearer whether a tender deserves further attention;
- uniform structure: every tender is described in the same way, so they are easier to compare;
- lower risk of missing something: small print and unusual conditions are highlighted right at the start;
- more time for thinking: people's time goes on evaluation and decisions rather than mechanical reading.
Honestly, this is not a miracle and does not replace knowledge of your own industry. A person still knows what the company is able to deliver, what resources it has and where the risk lies. The agent simply prepares the groundwork for that assessment faster.
Where to start
If you want to try a similar approach, do not start with everything at once.
- Choose one type of document. For example, only tender regulations.
- Define what matters to you. Write a list of questions you always look for answers to: deadline, required experience, warranties, payment terms.
- Compare. The first few times, check the summary against the original and see where it is accurate and where it is not.
- Fine-tune the task. Specify the form in which you want to receive the result until it is convenient to use.
- Keep the human decision. State clearly that submission and communication always remain in human hands.
This approach is simple and safe: first make sure the summaries are useful, and only then think about wider use.
How much time does your team spend reading documents?