Brainial: AI that wins tenders without removing people from the process
Tendering is intensive: stacks of documents, tight deadlines, and specialists spending hours writing the perfect response. Brainial is developing an AI-native tender management tool that drastically accelerates and streamlines this process. Their promise: up to 60% time savings through the smart use of AI. Together with Brainial, we brought that idea to life.
The challenge: making AI understandable and controllable
Brainial knew what was technically possible, but the key lay with the users: procurement specialists who are used to maintaining full control themselves. For them, AI quickly raises questions.
The question for us was: How can we support this target group with AI, without making them feel like they're losing control?
The approach: UX from day one
We started with a design sprint to sharpen the main challenges, and involved stakeholders and users early in the process through co-creation and user testing. Four pillars emerged from this:
- Clearly communicate what the tool requires and how to work optimally with the AI
- Provide tools to improve output
- Ensure a sense of control and agency
- Manage expectations around what the system can and cannot do
We translated these principles into concrete design and feature choices. The core functionality is the prompt writer. Users manually add tags, adjust relationships between tags, and are supported along the way by Prompt Assists, which helps write a successful prompt.
The result: collaborating with AI
Users upload previous proposals and company information as context in Brainial's tool. The AI then suggests prompts and texts, which the user can adjust or shorten. Instead of a black box that spits something out, it feels like collaborating with a colleague who thinks along with you.
Control over the output
We use smart editing tools to optimize the text. Editing can be done via the toolbar or by using the right-click on your mouse. In addition to smart edit options, users can also enter their own prompts. Frequently used editing tools can be 'pinned' for convenience. Users can also add new pieces of text to existing output without having to return to the prompt editor.
What makes the difference compared to a chatbot
Generic AI tools can generate text, but lack the workflow and domain knowledge that are crucial in tendering. Brainial distinguishes itself by specifically focusing on the tender cycle, smartly using user-provided context and winning strategies, and offering 100% explainable AI that is always traceable to the source.
Impact: winning time and quality
Tender specialists save more than half their time, which they can then invest in strategy and content. Risks and errors become visible earlier, which saves costs. But perhaps the most important result is that users don't feel taken over by AI, instead they feel supported.
An example of how we build AI products
The collaboration with Brainial shows what's possible when technology and UX come together from the start. The result is not just a powerful AI tool, but above all, a solution that works for people.
Want to develop an AI product that truly helps users?
At Humanoids, we help organizations from idea to working product, with AI that is not only smart, but also understandable and human-centered. With our AI Scan, you can see in 5 minutes where the biggest opportunities and risks lie for your organization.