That RFP you drafted with AI —
is it really ready to send?

It’s now easy to draft an RFP (request for proposal) with generative AI. But are the requirements complete? Is the scope feasible and the cost realistic? Is it written so vendors can quote it correctly? Moving forward to procurement without anyone who can judge these things often leads to added costs or rework down the line. As a development company, SHANNON reviews and finishes your RFP standing firmly on the buyer’s side.

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Pain points

Do any of these sound familiar?

We solve the situation where “we want to commission a system, but no one in-house can judge whether the RFP is any good.”

You drafted an RFP with AI, but can’t tell whether the content is right.

You’ve been billed for extra work after signing because requirements were missing.

Even after receiving proposals from several firms, you have no consistent basis to compare and choose.

You can’t answer vendors’ technical questions, and the exchange stalls.

You don’t know the going rate for budget or timeline, so you’re unsure whether your requirements are realistic.

Reasons

Our strength is being a development company that can take the buyer’s side

Whether an RFP is good or bad can only be spotted by the side that receives the proposal and actually builds it. We develop and operate our own SaaS, and we bring that exact perspective in as the buyer’s ally.

We read it with the eyes of the side that wins the work

We scrutinize the RFP from the perspective of the side that writes proposals, prepares estimates, and actually builds. We surface the spots only the receiving side notices — “written this way, vendors will pad their estimate heavily to be safe,” or “this is open to interpretation and will cause disputes later.”

We dig into the realities of implementation and operations

Drawing on our experience developing and running our own SaaS, we review not just functional requirements but non-functional requirements and operational realities. We fold in the maintenance, extension, and incident-response angles that bite after you build, right at the pre-procurement RFP stage.

We know where AI drafts fall short

RFPs written by generative AI tend to look polished while still carrying gaps, ambiguous wording, and infeasible demands. Because we use AI in development every day ourselves, we know concretely where AI drafts break down, and we diagnose with that instinct.

Neutral even when you don’t hire us

Since this service takes the buyer’s side, we welcome reviews on the premise that the build goes to another firm. If we join the selection ourselves, we stay out of the evaluation to avoid any conflict of interest, and focus purely on giving you the material to decide.

Scope

What we cover

From reviewing AI drafts, to drafting alongside you from scratch, to support in vendor selection. With a development company’s eye, we shape the document into an RFP that can be quoted.

01 Review

RFP review (diagnosing & editing AI drafts)

We scrutinize your draft with a development company’s eye. RFPs written by generative AI often look polished but still carry “missing requirements,” “ambiguous wording open to interpretation,” “infeasible demands,” and “phrasing that throws off estimates.” We surface them one by one from the receiving side’s perspective and return a diagnostic report covering each location, its severity, and a concrete proposed fix.

Surfacing missing or contradictory requirements
Flagging ambiguous, multi-meaning terms and rewording them
Assessing feasibility and technical risk
A severity-ranked list of findings
One revision round & an online debrief

Good fit: you drafted it with AI or in-house / you want a third-party check before procurement

02 Create

RFP drafting support (from requirements gathering)

If you don’t have a draft yet, we walk alongside you from business interviews and requirements gathering, and build the RFP together. It’s fine to start from a stage where you can’t yet put into words what you want to build. We use generative AI to quickly stand up a first cut, while a professional takes over the parts that need judgment — prioritization, and a sense of the going rate for budget and timeline.

Business interviews & mapping the current state
Articulating functional & non-functional requirements
Aligning on budget & schedule against market rates
Designing evaluation and selection criteria
Writing and polishing the RFP itself

Good fit: you don’t have a draft yet / requirements aren’t settled / you don’t know what to write

03 Selection

Vendor selection support

From handling vendors’ technical questions on your behalf, to designing an evaluation framework for comparing proposals side by side, to checking whether estimates are reasonable and in line with the market. We read the technical substance of the proposals and translate where each is strong and where the risks lie into the buyer’s language. We stay with you until the vendor is chosen.

Answering vendor questions on your behalf
Designing a framework to compare proposals
Checking estimate validity against market rates
Reading the technical substance of proposals
Walking with you until the vendor is chosen

Good fit: you want to compare proposals from several firms / you want to judge whether estimates are reasonable

Process

How we work

A review usually takes 1–2 weeks. Even with drafting support, you’ll have an “RFP ready to send to vendors” in about a month.

01Consultation (free) — we hear an overview of the system you want to commission and the state of your draft.
02Diagnosis — we scrutinize the draft and compile gaps, risks, and ambiguities into a diagnostic report.
03Revision & finishing — we align on the proposed fixes and shape the document into an RFP vendors can quote.
04Selection support — on request, we support you through question handling, proposal comparison, and estimate checks.

Plans

Engagement formats

Spot engagements at a fixed fee. If you commission the build from SHANNON, we credit the review fee toward the development cost.

Review

RFP review

A diagnostic report on AI-drafted or in-house RFPs
Editing with a missing-requirements checklist
One revision round & an online debrief
Typical turnaround: 1–2 weeks

Full support

RFP drafting support

Business interviews & a requirements-gathering workshop
End-to-end writing and finishing of the RFP
Vendor question handling & proposal comparison (30 days)
Typical turnaround: about a month

Comparison

Compared with the alternatives

You can check an RFP by any of these means. The difference is whether you can dig into estimate validity with the eyes of the side that actually builds, and whether you can stand fully on the buyer’s side.

Judge with AI / in-house alone

Finish it with generative AI and your own team

You can produce a draft, but it’s hard to judge right from wrong
Missing requirements tend to surface after procurement
It’s hard to hold a sense of whether estimates are reasonable
Answers to technical questions tend to stall

Hire a consulting firm

Outsource to upstream consultants

Strong at requirements gathering and progress management
May struggle to dig into implementation and operational realities
The technical validity of estimates can be hard to assess
Cost and timeline tend to run high

SHANNON

A development company reviews on the buyer’s side

We surface gaps with the eyes of the side that wins and builds
We dig into implementation and operations with our own SaaS know-how
We assess estimate validity and market rates technically
Neutral selection support even when the build goes elsewhere

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

This service is made for exactly that stage. Even a few bullet-point notes are fine. Regardless of how complete the draft is, we’ll take it on from the diagnosis.

Of course. Since this service takes the buyer’s side, we welcome reviews and selection support on the premise that the build goes to another firm. If we join the selection ourselves, we stay out of the evaluation to avoid any conflict of interest.

Software development in general — business systems, web services, internal tools, AI-enabled systems, and more. Drawing on our experience developing and running our own SaaS, we review right down to the realities of implementation and operations.

Yes. Even when proposals have already been collected, we can help from designing the comparison framework and checking the validity of the estimates.

Related services

Team

Engineering Agency

If you’re looking beyond the RFP to the actual build — we walk alongside you as a team, from requirements through design, implementation, and into operations.

See Engineering Agency PoC

PoC & Prototyping

If you want to gauge the technical direction before procurement, we validate small in a few weeks. An approach that spots the risks before you build in earnest.

See PoC development SaaS

Vertical SaaS Development

To launch an industry-specific SaaS, we handle it end to end from requirements to operations — development built to grow as a product.

See SaaS development

Get in touch

Contact

Let’s talk — the first consultation is free.

Even if your requirements aren’t fixed yet, that’s fine. We reply within 2 business days.

You can also reach us by phone (050-1794-9651, automated voice; we call back on business days). For detailed enquiries with budget and timing, please use the contact form. Note: we do not accept sales solicitations.

That RFP you drafted with AI —is it really ready to send?