aOS · Guardrails
Six guardrails around everything James does.
You direct the bid and James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, does the work: summaries, drafts, contracts, presentations, forms, task assignments and follow-ups. Whatever the task, the same guardrails decide what he may read, what he may change, who he may involve, and when he may say "done".
A bid is a binding offer, so James works inside the same limits on every task: what he may read, change and involve, and when he may call a result complete.
01 · SIX GUARDRAILS
Why does an AI bid agent need guardrails?
A bid is a binding offer to a buyer. So an AI that is fast but careless is a risk. It might fill a missing answer from the wrong document. It might change a price when you only asked it to check it. Or it might say "done" while three requirements are still unanswered. James works within six guardrails that stop exactly these mistakes, on every task:
James works from the files you give him, and asks when the answer isn't there.
James only reads, and only involves, what and who the person asking is allowed to.
James changes nothing unless someone asked him to.
Company, persona, project and personal rules apply to every task. Company rules win.
James checks his work against what it had to cover before he calls it complete.
What James did, for whom and when, with every earlier version kept.
02 · EVERY TASK
The same guardrails, whatever the task
| When James… | The guardrails at work |
|---|---|
| Summarises the tender pack | Reads only what you may read. Says what he couldn't find instead of guessing. |
| Drafts a contract or a cover letter | Uses your templates and sources. Follows company rules on wording, liability and tone. Leaves the final decision to you. |
| Builds the bid presentation | Starts from your template. Changes slides only on your instruction. |
| Assigns questions to colleagues | Only assigns people who can open that file and are on the project. Every assignment is on record. |
| Follows up with people | Mentions only people who already have access. Never shares a document with someone to reach them. |
| Fills the buyer's form | Writes only into the buyer's answer fields. Reports what he couldn't place instead of guessing. |
| Checks a section you wrote | Checks only. Changes nothing unless you ask. |
| Says a document is complete | Only after checking it against what it had to cover. |
03 · SOURCES
Your sources
When you attach files or folders to a request, James uses only those as sources.
If the answer isn't in the files, he asks instead of inventing one.
This holds for an answer, a summary, a contract clause or a slide.
The document you're working in always counts as a source. To let James look further, say so in your own words: name the file, or ask him to search the project. That widens the set for that request only.
04 · ACCESS
Your access
James works with the same access as the person who asked. He can't read a pricing folder that person can't open, and he can't search Knowledge Hub documents outside their access. When he assigns work or involves colleagues, he only involves people who can already open that question or document and are on the project. He never widens access to reach someone. See who sees and edits what.
05 · INSTRUCTION
Your instruction
A bid document is not a scratchpad. Every change James makes, to an answer, a contract, a presentation, a form or a field, must carry a person's own instruction, and it is checked before the change is made.
In practice: you ask "rewrite section 4.2 in formal French", and James edits section 4.2.
You ask "check this price table", and James comments without editing.
If James proposes something and you reply "yes", that reply counts, because it answers his own proposal.
Before / With SEQUESTO
Before
- You give an AI three files. It quietly fills gaps from somewhere else.
- You ask an AI to check a price, and it changes it without telling you.
- An AI shares a confidential file to get someone's input.
- "All done" means the AI stopped writing.
With SEQUESTO
- James reads only the files you attached and asks when the answer is missing.
- When you ask James to check, he only checks. He changes nothing unless you ask him to.
- James only involves people who can already open it.
- "Complete" means James checked what had to be covered.
06 · RULES
Your rules
Rules sit at four levels: company, persona, project and personal. They apply to everything James writes and does, not only to answers. Company rules win when they conflict. When a request would break a rule, James points out the conflict and asks how to proceed. See James, your AI bid agent.
07 · VERIFICATION
Checked before "done"
James doesn't call his work complete because the page is full.
He checks it against what it had to cover: the buyer's requirements for a response, your brief for a summary or a contract, your template for a presentation.
Leftover placeholders such as "[TBD]" are flagged.
For a bid response, the check is strict. James grades every requirement himself: compliant, partially compliant, missing or requiring clarification. A mention is not an answer. James may not call a response complete while anything is partial, missing or waiting on a decision. See never "done" until all is covered.
08 · AUDIT TRAIL
Every action on record
When James changes a document on someone's behalf, the record shows it: the person who asked, and that James carried it out. Every document keeps its version history, so any change, by a colleague or by James, can be undone. See who did what.
Related features
James, your AI bid agent
From the first read of the tender pack to the final file, James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, takes work off the bid manager's plate: summaries, drafts, contracts, forms, task assignments and follow-ups. You direct, he does the work, several tasks at once.
Learn more →You decide who sees what they need
Give each person and each team exactly the access they need: to a project, a folder inside it, a single document or even a single question, a Knowledge Hub document or a dashboard. View or edit, nothing more. James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, follows the same rules.
Learn more →Never "done" until all is covered
Before a bid is marked complete, James checks every requirement against the finished document and grades it as compliant, partial, missing or needing clarification. A mention is not an answer, and James will not call a document complete while a gap is open.
Learn more →See who did what
Every file created, moved, shared or deleted, every comment and every access change is on record, with the person who did it and when. You also see who works on which bid and how much time it takes, so you manage the team on facts.
Learn more →Knowledge Hub
James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, drafts from your past bids, policies, CVs and certificates. No Q&A library to build first, and every answer shows where it came from.
Learn more →Fills any file the buyer sends
Declarations, supplier forms, data sheets: Word and PDF forms full of tables, checkboxes and boxes drawn on the page. James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, fills them in the buyer's own file, from your company's documents. Same file back, ready to send.
Learn more →Frequently asked questions
James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, works within six guardrails on every task: your sources, your access, your instruction, your rules, checked before "done", and every action on record. They apply to answers, summaries, contracts, presentations, forms, assignments and follow-ups alike.
No. They apply to everything James does: summarising a tender, drafting a contract or a cover letter, building a presentation, filling a form, assigning work, following up with colleagues and updating the bid's fields.
Not unless you ask. When you attach files or folders, James uses only those as sources and asks instead of inventing when the answer isn't there. You can widen the set for one request by naming a file or asking him to search the project.
No. James works with the access of the person who asked, and when he assigns or mentions colleagues, he only involves people who can already open that file and are on the project.
No. Every change James makes must carry a person's own instruction, checked before the change. When you ask him to check something, he only checks. A short reply such as "yes" to his own proposal counts as an instruction.
James checks his work against what it had to cover before he calls it complete, and flags leftover placeholders. For a bid response, every requirement is graded, and James may not call it complete while anything is partial, missing or awaiting a decision.