Set the direction before you let the AI in

AI can read a set of tender documents quickly. But if you get ten pages of text back on every tender, you are no closer to a decision. Then you have "just replaced the old assessment, manual read-throughs, with a new AI-generated assessment full of noise," says Audun Wigum Arbo, co-founder and head of AI and development at Cobrief. His advice is to set the direction first, and let the AI in afterwards.

Stop and think

"There's much, much more value in simply stopping now and then to think," says Audun. What do you actually want? Which contracts do you want, and which should you leave alone? "Once you have that in place, you can bring the AI into the process."

Turn the direction into standard questions

Once the direction is set, you know what you need answered before you decide. Write the questions down once, and ask them for every new tender. Some come up almost every time:

• Is negotiation possible?
• Are there requirements for specific expertise?
• Is there financial risk, such as liquidated damages?
• Where will the work be carried out?

Ask for a short answer first, such as yes, no or a number, and then a full answer with a reference to where in the documents the answer can be found. That way you see the answer quickly and can check it against the source. In Cobrief, these are called custom evaluation criteria. "You don't have to spend a week analysing when you actually have to submit in half a week," says Audun.

Seven questions to ask for every tender

Audun asked Cobrief to suggest standard questions based on the advice from Thomas Tinnesand of Inventura on reading the buyer through the requirements and Christian Martinsen of Bonka Commercial Management on asking whether you should win. The result was these seven:

1. Do the needs and the evaluation match up?
2. Are our strengths rewarded?
3. How does the pricing model affect our chances of winning?
4. What contract risk are we taking on?
5. What does it take to get call-offs?
6. Are the needs and the follow-up clearly described?
7. Do we have the capacity to deliver?

One more question that keeps coming up is who you are competing against. Look at who has won contracts in your fields, and you get a picture of who you are likely to face.

The answers are decision support, not an automatic go/no-go. The more text AI can produce, the more important it is that you have set the direction yourself.

Audun Wigum Arbo is co-founder and head of AI and development at Cobrief. The advice comes from his talk and the panel discussion at Cobrief's breakfast seminar "How do you choose the right tenders for you?" on October 29, 2026.