In this episode of The Stargazy Brief, Christina speaks with Elliot and Oliver from Tendium to unpack how modern bid teams navigate proposal tech, RFP software, AI in proposals, and today’s rapidly changing world of proposal management. They share how real bid/no-bid decisions are made, why sales and proposal teams often misunderstand buyer expectations, and what a healthy consultant–client partnership should look like in high-volume, high-pressure bid environments.

You’ll hear how EU and global public-sector buyers are beginning to use AI in evaluation, and what proposal teams must do to pass AI-driven shortlisting models. Elliot and Oliver also break down how they balance automation with hands-on strategic work, how to maintain strong client relationships even when delivering tough news, and the compensation models that prevent bid-team burnout while increasing win rates.

This episode is essential listening for proposal managers, bid writers, sales leaders, and anyone who wants to lead a modern, efficient, and insight-driven RFP function.

Highlights:

• How to coach clients through unrealistic RFP expectations

• Why true bid partnerships require shared incentives

• The rising impact of AI in tender evaluation

• Balancing automation with strategic, contextual bid work

• How Tendium’s team avoids burnout while scaling globally

• The RFP habits that should disappear—and what to replace them with
  

Mentioned in this episode:
✸ stargazy Community: https://stargazy.circle.so/join?invit...✸ stargazy Newsletter: https://the-stargazy-brief.beehiiv.co...✸ stargazy Website: https://stargazy.io/✸ stargazy LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/star...✸ Tendium LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/tend...✸ Oliver LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-st...✸ Elliot LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elliot-ea...✸ Tendium Website: https://tendium.ai/uk/✸ TendiumManaged Services: https://tendium.ai/uk/managed-services/✸ Stargazy Page: https://stargazy.io/managed-services/...

🌠 TIMECODES00:00 Introduction to Bid Management and Technology01:32 The Role of Bid Teams in Tendium's Product Development01:32 Understanding Buyer Behavior in RFPs01:48 Navigating Tough Conversations with Clients07:03 Building Healthy Client-Vendor Relationships07:57 The Importance of Communication and Transparency10:57 Leveraging Technology in Bid Management12:54 Balancing Automation and Personal Touch15:56 The Shift in Bid Evaluation Criteria19:46 How to Run a Busy Bid Team without Burning them Out19:58 Managing Bid Teams Effectively22:43 Aligning Bid Team Compensation Plans with Sales24:32 Celebrating Wins and Building Team Morale27:14 Rethinking RFP Habits and Workflows29:55 Leveraging Data Insights in Bidding33:11 Understanding AI's Role in Bids

If you’re a GovCon contractor still waiting for RFPs to hit SAM.gov, you’re already behind. In this episode of The Stargazy Brief, Chris and Derek unpack how modern capture teams use AI-driven intent signals, early partnership strategies, and FedRAMP-secure proposal tech to win before opportunities ever reach SAM.gov.Hoyt shares the insider mechanics of how government deals are shaped months before posting and how small and mid-size contractors can still compete by focusing on meaning over data, qualifying smarter, and adapting to the new intent-driven capture paradigm.🎯 GovSignals helps GovCon professionals modernize proposal management with AI, intent data, and secure tech, so they can win more bids with less waste.

In this episode of The Stargazy Brief, Christina talks with David Bremner, Manager at 3Search, about the state of the proposal, pursuits, and bid hiring market. From AI in proposals to salary trends, career strategy, and the evolving proposal management landscape, David shares insider data from across the UK and beyond. This is a must-watch for anyone navigating proposal tech, RFP software, or AI-driven proposal management, especially if you want to understand where the best opportunities and highest-impact roles are emerging.🌠

What’s real and what’s noise in AI for proposals? In this episode of The Stargazy Brief, Dean Shu, CEO and co-founder of Arphie, breaks down how proposal and RFP teams can use AI agents to actually win—not just look modern.

Learn how to:

• Write for evaluators, not algorithms

• Tell hype from genuine AI breakthroughs in RFP tech

• Decide if your content library should stay static or go live-connected

• Handle sales leaders who think AI is a “magic bullet”

• Track the KPIs that make AI adoption credible

If you manage proposals, RFPs, or presales, and you’re trying to future-proof your process, this conversation is your 2025 playbook.

Henry Brogan, CEO and co-founder of BidScript, joins Christina Carter to reveal how AI, proposal tech, and data-driven bidding are transforming the RFP industry. From his early days observing chaotic tender kickoffs to leading a next-gen proposal platform, Henry breaks down why RFPs remain one of the most undervalued revenue channels in enterprise sales. He shares how AI can supercharge pre-bid research, reshape post-mortem analysis, and empower proposal teams to think—and win—smarter.

🌟 Stargazy Links

• Community: https://bit.ly/4hgoVeX
• Newsletter: https://the-stargazy-brief.beehiiv.com/subscribe
• Website: https://stargazy.io/proposal-tech
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinagcarter/

👤 Guest Links

• Henry on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henry-brogan/
• BidScript: https://www.bidscript.co.uk/
• BidScript on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bidscript/posts/?feedView=all
• BidScript on stargazy: https://stargazy.io/proposal-tech/bidscript

How proposal managers and sales leaders can win more RFPs with AI-powered proposal software, with Ben Hills, CEO at Iris. 🌟 Key Takeaways - 50%+ of private-sector revenue flows through RFPs — buying behavior is shifting fast - “Context engineering” is the new AI personalization superpower for proposals - Cut RFP qualification time from 5 hours to 30 minutes with AI-powered workflows - Knowledge bases fail after 6 months without AI-powered content management - Personalization trumps speed, and AI helps compress timelines without losing quality🐝 Who this is for: Proposal managers, pre-sales professionals, and sales leaders facing increased RFP volumes and rising pressure to respond faster without sacrificing quality.⏰ Timecodes00:00 – Intro and guest background02:21 – Why Ben built Iris after 1,500+ RFPs08:58 – AI tools for proposal teams beyond drafting16:54 – How buying behavior is reshaping RFP strategy25:35 – AI-powered knowledge bases and content library strategy28:45 – Personalization techniques that actually win33:07 – The future role of proposal managers with AI34:44 – Practical next steps to boost win rates36:19 – Where to find Ben and Iris36:44 – Wrap up and next steps🌟 Stargazy Links✹ Community: https://stargazy.circle.so/join?invit...✹ Newsletter: https://the-stargazy-brief.beehiiv.co...✹ Website: http://stargazy.io✹ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/star...👤 Guest Links✹ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benhills✹ See Iris on stargazy: https://stargazy.io/proposal-tech/iris✹ See Iris on stargazy's community: https://stargazy.circle.so/c/iris/✹ Iris website: https://irispro.ai?utm_source=stargaz...🔥 Subscribe to future-proof your proposal team.💬 Your TurnHow is your team balancing speed vs. personalization in proposals?Connect with me:👨‍💻 Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina...🌍 My newsletter: https://the-stargazy-brief.beehiiv.co...FAQ:• What’s the fastest way to qualify an RFP with AI? Use AI to parse requirements and match them against your capabilities, reducing qualification from hours to minutes.• How can proposal teams use AI beyond drafting? By improving go/no-go decisions, client handoffs, knowledge management, and win-rate insights from aggregated RFP data.Credits: Christina Carter, Stargazy founder.Topics covered: RFP automation, proposal software, AI knowledge bases, content library strategy, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), vendor selection, win-rate uplift, build vs buy.ProposalTech #RFP #ProposalManagement #AI #ProposalAutomation #SalesAI #ProposalSoftware

Guest: Thad Eby, CEO at Ombud.

In this episode, we unpack why bolt-on AI isn’t enough, how a Fortune 50 SaaS team cut proposal cycles from 3 weeks to 1, and what it means to move from reactive RFP responses to proactive, consultative proposals.

What you’ll learn today:

• Why 90% content reuse is possible with the right workflows

• The “2-Week RFP Reality Check” to assess your process

• How proactive proposals change the game for proposal managers

This episode is for proposal managers, bid teams, and sales leaders facing growing RFP volume and pressure to win more with fewer resources.

Stop speeding up losing. Learn how proposal AI actually wins.

Sean Williams, CEO of AutogenAI, shares the 10/10 answer formula, how to end hallucinations with RAG and source control, a 6-vendor bake-off for picking tools, and the revenue math CROs care about.

You’ll learn:

- High-density answers that score

- Traceable sources and human review

- Build vs buy lessons from the field

- More submissions x higher win rate

Chapters:

00:00 Cold open

00:49 Sean’s background

04:14 Misconceptions in 2025

07:14 10/10 vs 5/10 answers

10:51 Exec zoom out vs security deep dive

16:27 The 6-vendor bake-off

18:09 Build vs buy

20:15 Accuracy and RAG

28:24 The real business case

Join the Stargazy community: https://stargazy.circle.so/join?invitation_token=0856b517503bca21eecbae1d058313543675481b-28d54c10-c886-4708-8b3b-ffd62cd3c935

AutogenAI: https://autogenai.com

Find your next favorite proposal tech: https://stargazy.io/

Kill RFP library bloat and ship answers that shortlist. AutoRFP.ai’s Jasper Cooper shares how “light libraries,” strong context, and deterministic workflows beat agent hype.

You’ll learn:

• When to keep a library—and when to skip it

• How to cut hallucinations with source priority + folder lineage

• Agents vs workflows: where each actually works in RFPs

Chapters:

00:00 Intro + Jasper’s background

02:02 What broke with legacy tools

03:50 The library myth

06:20 Hallucinations vs missing context

08:30 Buyer checklist for RFP AI tools

12:58 Connect less, win more

17:10 The “single source of truth” myth

21:50 Agents vs deterministic workflows

26:36 Data trends: longer answers, higher shortlist rates

33:00 The Knowledge Team era + skills to build

Links:

• Join the Stargazy community → https://stargazy.circle.so/join?invitation_token=0856b517503bca21eecbae1d058313543675481b-28d54c10-c886-4708-8b3b-ffd62cd3c935

• AutoRFP.ai → https://autorfp.ai

Topics covered: RFP automation, proposal software, AI knowledge base, content library strategy, deterministic workflow, agentic AI, retrieval, compliance