A requirements spec for an AI agent tender
A draft spec you can copy into your tender pack and adapt. It is written to allow real competition, not to tailor a tender to one vendor.
How to use this
The spec separates threshold requirements, where failing disqualifies, from scored quality requirements. That split is the most consequential decision in any technology tender: an unnecessary threshold narrows your market to one vendor and raises your price, and a missing one lets in a vendor who cannot deliver.
Suggested threshold requirements
- The vendor states which sources the system answers from, and lets you define them.
- Every answer is traceable to the source it came from.
- The system recognises when it has no verified information and points to the contact route you set, rather than guessing.
- Full separation of data between the vendor’s customers.
- Your data is not used to train the vendor’s models or a third party’s.
- A complete audit log: who changed what, and when.
- Role-based permissions - not every user sees and edits everything.
- Written policy documents: privacy, security, data processing and retention.
- A statement of where data is stored and where backups are held.
- The ability to export the content you supplied and to terminate.
Suggested scored requirements
- Languages: which ones, and whether content exists per language or the reply is machine-translated in real time.
- Whether exact wording for common questions can be approved in advance.
- Whether a correction can be made once and hold.
- Whether the admin interface is translated, or English only.
- Handling of scanned documents.
- Supported channels: website, WhatsApp, Telegram, other.
- Reporting: what is asked, what went unanswered, what your site is missing.
- Accessibility: require an explicit statement of conformance, not an automated tool score.
- Time to go live, and what it requires from you.
- Whether you can change content, wording and branding yourself.
Criteria for comparing bids
| Criterion | What to actually test |
|---|---|
| Source of the answer | Ask for a live demo against a document you supply on the spot |
| Behaviour with no answer | Ask something unanswerable and watch what happens |
| Languages | Ask the same question in another language and check the source |
| Accessibility | Require a conformance statement, not a tool score |
| Security | Ask for the policy pack and external test results |
| Vendor dependence | Ask who changes wording, and how quickly |
| Exit | Ask what happens to content and data when the contract ends |
Requirements worth reconsidering before you include them
These look reasonable and in practice narrow the field without adding value. If they matter to you, score them rather than making them thresholds.
- A high language count as a threshold - it measures coverage, not answer quality.
- Integration with core systems where no action in them is needed - it turns a short deployment into a project.
- Years in business or customer count as a threshold - it excludes newer vendors without evidencing fit.
- An availability percentage with no cost attached - every level is possible, and each is priced differently.
Last updated August 2026.
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