The verdict in three sentences
A consulting firm with 80 consultants writing 300 proposals a year, each taking 1 to 3 days, ties up the equivalent of two to three full-time consultants in pre-sales. An AI assistant connected to your credentials, CVs and past proposals produces a structured first draft in about an hour, which the partner reviews and adjusts, for a set-up cost of 15,000 to 40,000 EUR (roughly 16,000 to 43,000 USD) and 150 to 600 EUR a month in API usage as a 2026 ballpark. The realistic gain is drafting time cut in half, provided human review stays in place and data is hosted in a compliant region.
Where the time goes in a proposal
In strategy, operations or transformation consulting, the proposal remains the most expensive pre-sales exercise. Time does not go into writing the methodology, which everyone knows by heart, but into searching: finding the right client credential in a shared drive, the latest version of a manager's CV, the timeline of a comparable engagement, last year's day-rate grid.
| Proposal step | Current time | With AI assistant | Who stays in charge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reading the RFP and summarising the issues | 2 to 3 h | 20 min | Manager |
| Finding comparable credentials | 3 to 5 h | 10 min | Assistant, validated by the manager |
| Selecting and tailoring CVs | 2 to 4 h | 30 min | Manager |
| Writing methodology and timeline | 4 to 8 h | 2 to 3 h | Manager and senior consultant |
| Effort estimate in person-days | 1 to 2 h | 1 h | Partner, never the AI alone |
| Review, formatting and consistency | 2 to 3 h | 1 h | Partner |
| Total per proposal | 14 to 25 h | 5 to 8 h |
Pricing remains a human decision. The AI can suggest a person-day breakdown based on past engagements, but the final price commits the firm and depends on the client relationship, which no model knows.
Architecture of a proposal assistant
A useful assistant rests on four building blocks:
- An indexed document base: 3 to 5 years of won and lost proposals, credential sheets, current CVs, in-house methodologies. These documents are chunked and indexed for semantic search.
- A language model accessed by API, ideally with a contractual commitment not to train on your data and hosting in your region (EU, UK or US depending on clients).
- Proposal templates by engagement type, with the expected sections and the firm's tone.
- A working interface: the manager uploads the RFP, the assistant suggests a summary, relevant credentials, tailored CVs and a first draft. Every claim links back to its source document.
Source traceability is decisive. A proposal that cites an invented client reference or a wrong figure loses the bid and the client's trust. The system must cite its sources and refuse to invent when it finds nothing.
Costs and options in 2026
| Option | Set-up | Recurring cost | Limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Consumer AI assistant subscription | 0 | 20 to 30 USD per user per month | No link to your credentials, leakage risk if misconfigured |
| Office-suite enterprise AI add-on | 0 to 5,000 EUR configuration | 25 to 35 USD per user per month | Generic search, weak on proposal format |
| Specialised RFP-response platform | 5,000 to 15,000 EUR | 500 to 2,000 EUR per month | Built for US-style tenders, per-seat pricing |
| Custom assistant | 15,000 to 40,000 EUR | 150 to 600 EUR API per month + maintenance | Needs proper scoping of the document base |
| Regional hosting and security | Included in project | 100 to 400 EUR per month | Required by most enterprise clients |
For 80 consultants, generic subscriptions already cost about 2,000 to 2,800 USD a month without knowing your credentials. A custom assistant is cheaper to run and produces proposals that sound like your firm. On compliance, check that client confidentiality clauses allow their documents to be used in an internal tool, and anonymise sensitive credentials.
Mini case study
Claire, partner at an operations consulting firm in Paris, oversees 300 proposals a year averaging 18 hours each, so 5,400 hours of pre-sales. At an internal cost of 90 EUR an hour, pre-sales represents 486,000 EUR a year.
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With the assistant, the average drops to 9 hours: 2,700 hours saved, worth 243,000 EUR of time redirected to billable work or extra bids.
First-year cost: 30,000 EUR set-up, plus 400 EUR API and 300 EUR hosting a month, or 8,400 EUR. Total: 38,400 EUR. Even if the real gain is only half the estimate, payback comes in under four months. And if the firm answers 20 more tenders a year with the same headcount at a 30 % win rate, it lands 6 extra engagements.
FAQ
How much does an AI proposal-drafting assistant cost?
As a 2026 ballpark, a custom set-up costs 15,000 to 40,000 EUR. API usage runs 150 to 600 EUR a month for 300 proposals a year.
Can the AI price an engagement?
It can suggest a person-day split based on comparable work. The final price remains the partner's decision, factoring in the relationship and the competition.
Is our client data safe?
With an API contract that excludes training on your data and hosting in your region, yes. Budget 100 to 400 EUR a month for secure, logged hosting.
How many past proposals do we need to start?
A base of 150 to 300 past proposals is enough for useful results. CVs and credentials must be current, otherwise the assistant will repeat outdated information.
How long does deployment take?
Allow 8 to 12 weeks: 3 weeks of document preparation, 4 to 6 weeks of development and a 2-week pilot with 5 to 10 managers.
Let's scope your project. We map your credential base, proposal templates and review rules, then roll out a pilot in 8 to 12 weeks. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
