The verdict in three sentences
An AI tender-drafting assistant trained on your 300 past bids costs EUR 15,000 to 35,000 excluding VAT in 2026, plus EUR 100 to 500 a month in usage. It produces a first draft in 2 hours instead of 2 days, provided you keep mandatory human review by the project manager and the bid writer. For a contractor answering 120 tenders a year, the project usually pays for itself within the first bidding season.
What the tool actually does, and what it does not
The assistant reads the instructions to tenderers, the technical specification and the scoring matrix, then assembles a response from your approved content: construction methodology, people and plant, environmental approach, nuisance management on occupied sites, outline programme. It does not price the job and does not invent references: every paragraph cites the internal source it used (the 2024 school refurbishment bid, a plant sheet, the site manager's CV).
| Response task | Without AI (2026 order of magnitude) | With AI + review | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Analysing instructions and scoring matrix | 2 h | 20 min | 83 % |
| Methodology tailored to the specification | 6 h | 1 h 30 | 75 % |
| People, CVs, organisation chart | 3 h | 30 min | 83 % |
| Environmental and waste management section | 3 h | 45 min | 75 % |
| Annotated programme and phasing | 2 h | 1 h | 50 % |
| Layout and compliance check | 2 h | 30 min | 75 % |
| Total per response | 18 h (≈ 2 days) | 4 h 30, of which 2 h AI drafting | ≈ 75 % |
Review remains essential: the technical response becomes a contractual document, and a public buyer quickly spots generic text that fails the quality criterion, often weighted at 40 to 60 %.
Detailed 2026 budget: three project levels
| Item | Essential | Standard | Advanced |
|---|---|---|---|
| Past bids indexed | 100 | 300 | 300 + content library |
| Automatic reading of tender documents | Yes | Yes | Yes, with scored-criteria extraction |
| Document management or SharePoint link | No | Yes | Yes |
| Compliance check against instructions | Basic | Full | Full + score per criterion |
| Data hosting | EU cloud | EU cloud | Dedicated EU cloud |
| Build price (excl. VAT) | EUR 15,000 | EUR 22,000 to 28,000 | EUR 30,000 to 35,000 |
| Monthly usage cost | EUR 100 to 200 | EUR 200 to 350 | EUR 350 to 500 |
| Time to go live | 6 weeks | 8 weeks | 10 weeks |
Usage cost covers language model calls and hosting. It mainly varies with the volume of pages generated: a 40-page response costs far less than people expect, a few euros per bid.
Success conditions on the contractor's side
The first workstream is not technical: you need to sort the 300 bids, discard the poorly scored ones and flag the best passages. Allow 3 to 5 days of the estimating manager's time across the 6 to 10 week project. You also need a library owner who updates plant sheets, certifications (ISO 14001, accreditation schemes) and references every quarter.
On confidentiality, require EU or UK hosting, no reuse of your data to train the model and access logging. Unit rates and price build-ups must never pass through the tool.
Mini case study
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Nadia, head of estimating at a 140-employee main contractor in London, handles 120 bids a year with two bid writers. Each response takes 18 hours at a loaded cost of EUR 55 an hour, so EUR 990 per bid and EUR 118,800 a year. With the Standard tool at EUR 25,000 and EUR 300 a month, time drops to 4 h 30, so EUR 248 per bid and EUR 29,700 a year. Annual savings reach about EUR 85,500 after usage (EUR 3,600), and the project is repaid in just over three months. Nadia reinvests the freed time in 30 extra tenders she used to decline for lack of capacity.
FAQ
Can the AI submit a response without review?
No. Human review is mandatory because the response becomes a contractual document. Plan 1 to 2 hours of technical review per bid, even with a well-trained tool.
How many past bids do we need to start?
Around a hundred is enough for an Essential version at EUR 15,000. With 300 sorted bids, the tool covers most project types (refurbishment, new build, occupied sites) and first-draft quality improves markedly.
Do public buyers detect AI-written text?
They mostly detect generic text. A response that uses the specification's vocabulary and cites your real projects and organisation is scored like any other; precision is what counts in the 40 to 60 % quality weighting.
What does usage cost for 120 bids a year?
Between EUR 100 and 500 a month depending on volume and hosting, so EUR 1,200 to 6,000 a year. That is under EUR 50 per bid in the highest scenario.
How long until we are operational?
Allow 6 to 10 weeks, including 2 to 3 weeks of content sorting and 2 weeks of testing on live tenders before going into production.
Let's scope your project. We define with you the number of bids to index, the compliance-check level and hosting, for a budget of EUR 15,000 to 35,000 and go-live in 6 to 10 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.
