Across your bid · Stage 1
Analyse the whole tender pack, then decide whether to bid
James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, reads every file in the tender pack and tells you what is asked, by when, how it is scored and where the risks are. Then he helps you qualify it: is this one worth your team's next three weeks? The output follows your team's own format, so it fits the way you already decide.
The win rate is made by choosing well. James reads every file the same day, so your team qualifies on a brief written to its own workflow.
Before / With SEQUESTO
Before
- Someone reads 180 pages over two evenings. Key dates live in a personal notebook. The risk list depends on who happened to read the contract. The bid/no-bid meeting debates what the tender says instead of whether to bid, and the team ends up chasing tenders it can't win.
With SEQUESTO
- James reads every file the same day. Scope, dates, award criteria and red flags arrive as items in your own templates, each linked to its source. The meeting starts from a brief written to your workflow, with your strengths and gaps already set against the requirements.
TENDER PACK
What does James read in a tender pack?
All of it. A public tender rarely arrives as one document. It is an invitation letter, a programme of requirements, a draft contract, pricing sheets, annexes and a Q&A form, often in Word, PDF and Excel at once. James reads the full pack, across files and formats, and works from what the buyer actually wrote.
01
Whole tender pack
James reads many files in one go, in mixed formats.
02
Row by row
Spreadsheets are read row by row, not sampled.
03
Traceable sources
Sources stay attached, so you can open the line James is quoting.
SUMMARY
Get the tender summary, key dates and award criteria first
The first hour on a new tender decides how the next three weeks go.
01
Scope, dates and criteria
James gives you a summary of the scope, the key dates and deadlines, and the award criteria with their weighting as the buyer states them.
02
Dates you can track
Dates you will plan around, such as the clarification deadline, the submission deadline and any site visit, come out as items you can track.
03
Vague points flagged
If a criterion is vague or two documents disagree, James says so instead of smoothing it over.
RED FLAGS
Red flags and risks, in your team's own format
Every bid team has its own list of things that make them nervous: unlimited liability, penalty clauses, mandatory certifications, unrealistic service levels. In SEQUESTO, your team decides what to flag and how each red flag or risk is laid out, or takes a ready-made version from the library. James lists each one in that format, with the source passage linked.
01
Adapts to your process
This is where SEQUESTO adapts to you. SEQUESTO adapts to each team's own bid process: custom stages, fields, document types and workflows, without code.
02
Different teams, different flags
A staffing company can flag minimum-staffing penalties. A software team can flag data residency terms.
03
Same tender, different lens
The same tender gives each team its own flags.
BID OR NO BID
Qualify: decide whether to bid, your way
The best bid teams win by choosing well. Every tender you chase takes weeks of your team's time, so qualifying early and honestly is where the win rate is made.
01
Checked against what you have
James checks the tender against what your company actually has: the references, certificates and past bids in your Knowledge Hub. He tells you which mandatory requirements you clearly meet, where you are weak, and what you would need to find a partner for.
02
Your way of deciding
SEQUESTO's go/no-go follows your way of deciding, not a scoring grid someone else designed. Your team already has its criteria. Write them down once as an AI workflow, for example "analyse a tender and write our bid/no-bid brief", and James follows the same steps on every new tender. Record the decision in a field on the bid, such as a status or select field you define, so it shows up in your pipeline dashboard.
03
Drop in the tender pack
Drop the tender pack into a new bid. It starts from your set-up, with your folders already in place.
04
Run your analysis workflow
Run your analysis workflow. James summarises, extracts red flags and drafts the brief.
05
Your team records the decision
Your team reads the brief, checks the sources and records the bid/no-bid decision.
FINNISH TENDER
Example: a Finnish municipal tender for home-care staffing
A Finnish municipality publishes a tender (tarjouspyyntö) for temporary nurses and home-care staff across nine care units. The pack holds the call for tenders, a requirements annex in Word, a pricing Excel with five tabs, a draft framework agreement and the rules for the question round.
01
Five files, one summary
James reads all five files. The summary gives you the scope per care unit, the award criteria and their weighting, the deadline for questions and the submission date.
02
Two red flags
James flags a penalty for unfilled shifts in the agreement and a mandatory nursing licence in the requirements, each as a red flag in the team's own format.
03
Two contradictions to clarify
He also lists two contradictions between the requirements annex and the pricing sheet (hours versus shifts) as points to clarify with the buyer, ready for the next stage.
04
The brief your director expects
Your bid/no-bid workflow then writes the brief in the format your director expects.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. James reads the full tender pack, across many files and formats, including Word, PDF and Excel. Spreadsheets are read row by row. The summary covers scope, key dates, award criteria and risks, and every extracted item links back to the passage it came from, so you can check it in the buyer's own wording.
Yes. James reads the whole tender pack, checks it against your references, certificates and past bids, and writes your bid/no-bid brief following your team's own workflow: which requirements you clearly meet, where you are weak, and what the risks are. Your team takes the decision and records it on the bid.
Yes, and it works the way your team decides. It isn't a fixed scoring grid: you describe your own criteria once as an AI workflow, for example "analyse a tender and write our bid/no-bid brief", and James follows it on every tender. You record the decision in a field you define on the bid, so it appears in your pipeline dashboard.
Yes. Your team decides which red flags, risks and clarifications to track and how each one is laid out, or takes them from the library. James extracts them in your format. SEQUESTO adapts to each team's own bid process: custom stages, fields, document types and workflows, without code.
James extracts the award criteria and their weighting as the buyer states them, with a link to the source. If the criteria are vague, or two documents in the pack disagree, James reports that instead of picking one. Those gaps can become clarification items for the buyer's Q&A round.
James works from the files in the bid and shows its sources. When you attach specific files or folders, James uses only those as sources and asks instead of inventing when the answer is not there. You can open any extracted item and see the passage it came from.