If your RFP still says “AI optional,” just say you want to get ghosted.
Based on the whitepaper “Establishing and Managing GCCs – A Sourcing & Procurement Professional’s Guide, 2025”. Because nothing says “ready for innovation” like a boilerplate template from 2017.
It’s 2025. You’re sourcing an AI-enabled GCC strategy. Your stakeholders are dreaming of predictive claims, hyper-personalized underwriting, and autonomous workflows.
You open up your trusty RFP template.
It still says “cloud optional.”
Congratulations. You’ve just guaranteed 6 weeks of vendor proposals that read like hallucinated science fiction, followed by a post-award regret spiral and some awkward performance reviews.
💡AI-Smart RFPs: Not Just More Buzzwords
Writing an RFP for an AI-capable partner isn’t just about saying “please include AI.” It’s about knowing what questions reveal the difference between real capability and pitch-deck ready.
Let’s walk through what an AI-smart RFP needs—and why your standard “innovation” section won’t cut it.
🔍 5 Things Your AI RFP Better Include (If You Want to Sleep at Night)
1. Clear AI Use Cases
Instead of:
“The vendor should include AI capabilities.”
Try:
“Please describe your approach to automating claims triage using LLMs, and how you handle bias mitigation in the model.”
🧠 Translation: You want vendors solving your problems, not just showing off their GitHub stars.
2. Maturity Assessment Requirements
Ask for documentation across:
- Deployed models in production
- Model governance (including retraining & monitoring)
- Data privacy (e.g., DPDP compliance in India)
⚠️ Bonus: Include a simple scoring grid so you don’t end up comparing a Ferrari to a Fisher-Price chatbot.
3. Explainability & Ethics
It’s not enough to say “we built an AI model.”
You want:
- How they test for bias
- What happens when a model breaks
- Who decides when it’s time to override it
Because “AI made me do it” won’t work when regulators knock.
4. Talent Transparency
Ask for named roles, sample profiles, upskilling frameworks, and accountability structure.
🚨 Red Flag: They say they have “an AI pod.” Cool. What’s their background? Did they build anything… ever?
5. Contractual Safeguards
Make vendors commit to:
- Model refresh SLAs
- Explainability thresholds
- AI impact reporting (yes, on cost and accuracy)
- IP ownership (especially if you’re co-developing)
This isn’t a vibes-based procurement cycle. Put it in writing—or prepare for awkward escalations.
📥 The RFP Glow-Up: What’s in the Whitepaper
If your current RFP template still uses phrases like “future-ready” without defining KPIs, it’s time to upgrade.
The whitepaper includes:
- Sample AI-specific RFP language
- Vendor maturity scoring templates
- AI governance and audit clause starters
- Risk guardrails for COCO, COPO, and BOT models
👉 We’ve got a 30+ page answer for you. Drop us a note and we will send the complete white paper to you, no cost.
👉info@two93.com
🧠 TL;DR for Strategic Sourcing Survivors:
- Vague RFPs = vague vendors = vague results
- Spell out your AI needs, from use cases to ethics
- Score them on how they’ll deliver, not just what
- Contracts need more than NDAs—they need AI guardrails
- A great AI RFP doesn’t just protect your deal—it protects your calendar and your career
Next up in the series:
🛠 “Innovation KPIs or Buzzword Bait? What to Track When Your GCC Goes GenAI”
