Only in SEQUESTO · James
James. The assistant at your side for the whole bid.
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.
Most of a bid is work that is not answering questions. James takes it on several tasks at once, under your rules, while the decisions stay with your team.
WHOLE BID
More than answering questions
Most AI bid tools do one thing: answer the questions in a questionnaire. That is maybe a third of a bid manager's week. The rest is reading, deciding, organising people, chasing them, checking what they sent, writing everything that isn't a question, and getting the final files right.
James helps with all of it.
01
Inside the bid
He works inside the bid, on the same documents, tables and files as your team, and knows who is working on what.
02
Plain language
Ask in plain language, as you would ask a colleague.
Before / With SEQUESTO
Before
- An AI that answers questions, and a bid manager who does everything else
- Reading 300 pages to brief the team
- Assigning 200 questions by hand, then chasing by e-mail
- Opening every expert's answer to see if it's done
- Contracts, cover letters and summaries written last, at night
With SEQUESTO
- An assistant for the whole bid: reading, writing, organising, chasing, checking
- James's summary of scope, dates, award criteria and risks in minutes
- James assigns them to the right people and follows up in the bid
- James checks what came back and tells you what is still open
- Drafted by James from your own documents, for you to review
SCOPE
What James does across a bid
01
Before you decide to bid
Read the whole tender pack and summarise scope, key dates, award criteria, lots and risks.
Look up the buyer and the context on the web.
Write the bid/no-bid brief, following your team's workflow.
Fill the bid's fields from what the buyer wrote: deadline, contract value, lots, buyer.
02
Organising the bid
Turn the tender into work: every requirement, question and clarification as an item in your team's format.
Assign each question or section to the right person, and let them know.
Draft the clarification questions for the buyer.
03
Writing everything, not only answers
Answers and method statements, from your past bids, policies, CVs and certificates, with sources shown.
The executive summary, the cover letter and the contract: a draft contract, or the list of deviations from the buyer's terms for legal to review.
CVs and references tailored to the buyer's criteria.
The bid presentation, built from your template.
In the tender's language, even from sources in another language.
04
Following up with people
Check what each person has delivered, and what is still empty, partial or waiting.
Leave a comment for the people who still owe an answer, in the bid, so they are notified.
Update statuses as work comes in, so the whole team sees where the bid stands.
05
Getting the files right
Fill the buyer's own files: locked Excel, Word forms, PDF forms, PowerPoint templates.
Check every requirement before anything is called complete, and list the gaps.
Export the final documents to Word or PDF in your company template.
ORCHESTRATION
You direct. James does the work, several tasks at once.
Most AI tools work like a chat: you ask one question, wait, copy the answer somewhere, and ask the next. You are still doing the work, one prompt at a time.
01
Many tasks at once
In SEQUESTO, you direct the bid and James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, does the work: as many tasks at once as the bid needs, in whatever order your process takes.
02
One task per conversation
Give James one task per conversation and start the next while he works: summarise the pack in one, assign the questions in another, draft the cover letter in a third.
03
Workflows your team can run
You check each result as it comes in, and save the sequences that work as workflows your whole team can run.
WORKED EXAMPLE
A bid manager's week with James
01
Monday
A Polish rail operator's tender for ticketing software arrives. James summarises the pack, fills the bid's fields and writes the bid/no-bid brief with the team's workflow. The decision is taken at 11:00.
02
Tuesday
James extracts the 180 requirements, assigns the technical ones to four experts and the HR questions to HR, and drafts the clarification questions.
03
Wednesday
James drafts the method statement and the executive summary from last year's bid, tailors three CVs and lists the deviations from the buyer's contract for legal.
04
Thursday
"What's still open?" James checks the experts' sections: 31 done, 6 partial, 4 empty. He leaves a comment for the two people who haven't started.
05
Friday
James fills the buyer's Excel and Word forms, checks every requirement, and lists two items that need a decision. The bid manager reviews, decides, and exports the final files.
HUMAN CONTROL
You stay in charge
01
Your rules
Company, persona, project and personal rules apply to everything James does. Company rules win, and he asks before going against one. More on this below.
02
Your instruction
James changes a document only on a person's own instruction, checked before the change. Ask for a review and he reviews.
03
Your access
He only reads what the person asking is allowed to read. See who sees and edits what.
04
Your decision
James prepares; your team decides what is sent.
RULES
Your rules, at four levels. James asks before breaking one.
Most AI tools treat your instructions as suggestions. You say "never name subcontractors" or "always write in formal Dutch", and three answers later the rule is gone. James checks every action against your rules before he writes, and they apply to everything he does, not only to answers.
01
Four levels
Level What it holds Example 1. Company Rules for everyone, the company glossary and company context "Never name subcontractors. Always write 'ISO 27001 certified', never 'compliant'." 2. Persona Voice, audience, style and length for one kind of reader "Public sector, formal Dutch, short and precise." 3. Project The project's details and rules "This buyer limits answers to 300 words." 4. User Each person's own preferences "I prefer bullet points in drafts." 02
The higher level wins
When two rules conflict, the higher level wins on that point only, and James tells you which rule he applied. Company rules always come first.
03
James asks before breaking a rule
When a request would go against one, he doesn't silently obey or silently refuse. He names the rule and gives you options: A) go ahead anyway, B) the alternative that keeps to the rule, C) something else. Your answer, even a plain "B", is the instruction. Text already in a document that breaks a rule is pointed out, not rewritten.
For example, your company rule says "Never name subcontractors in a bid". A bid manager asks James to add the installation partner NordKabel to the delivery section. James quotes the rule and offers: A) name NordKabel anyway, B) write "delivered by a vetted installation partner", C) leave it. The bid manager answers "B", and James writes that, and only that.
Related features
Analyse & qualify
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.
Learn more →Requirements & clarifications
James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, turns the buyer's requirements and questions into structured items built from your own templates. Unclear points become clarification questions you can send before the buyer's Q&A deadline.
Learn more →Draft answers
James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, drafts each answer from your past bids, policies, CVs and certificates. It follows your company's rules, writes in the tender's language and tells you where every answer came from.
Learn more →Collaborate & review
Assign each question to the expert who knows the answer. Write, comment, review and sign off in the same shared documents, with James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, working alongside you.
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 →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 →Frequently asked questions
James is SEQUESTO's AI bid agent: an assistant at the bid manager's side for the whole bid, from the first read of the tender to the final file. He summarises, drafts, fills forms, assigns work, follows up with people and checks that every requirement is covered.
No. Answering questions is one part of his work. James also summarises the tender, writes bid/no-bid briefs, cover letters, executive summaries and contracts, tailors CVs, builds presentations, assigns work to colleagues, follows up on what is missing and fills the buyer's files.
Yes. James assigns questions or sections to named colleagues, who are notified in SEQUESTO. Later, he checks what each person has delivered, tells you what is still open and who has it, and leaves a comment for the people who still owe an answer.
Yes. James drafts contract documents from your own templates and past contracts, and lists the deviations between the buyer's terms and your standard position for your legal team to review.
Yes. SEQUESTO fills the buyer's most complex forms in their own file, not only questionnaires: Word and PDF forms with tables, checkboxes and tick-boxes, flat PDFs with drawn boxes, locked Excel sheets and PowerPoint templates.
Yes. In SEQUESTO, you direct the bid and James, SEQUESTO's AI bid agent, does the work: as many tasks at once as the bid needs, in whatever order your process takes. Start each task in its own conversation; James works on them in parallel and writes each result into the bid.
Yes. James follows rules set at four levels: company, persona, project and user. Company rules win, and James checks every action against the rules in scope before he writes.
The higher level wins: company over persona, persona over project, project over user. James applies the higher rule for that point only, keeps the rest, and tells you which rule he applied.
James names the rule, explains the conflict and offers options: go ahead anyway, the alternative that keeps to the rule, or something else. Then he waits for your answer. A short reply such as "B" is enough.
A persona sets how James writes for one kind of reader, for example "public sector, formal Dutch" or "German Mittelstand, technical". You apply it per project. Its rules on voice, style and length bind the whole reply, and a persona cannot override company rules.