A fascinating shift. As AI becomes the first reviewer, clarity and evidence become more important than storytelling alone. The future belongs to companies that optimize not just for human trust, but for machine interpretability—clear outcomes, measurable value, and structured thinking. Ironically, writing for AI may force us all to communicate better with humans too.
AI is increasingly part of both sides of the sales process, accelerating how proposals are written, reviewed, and filtered before human evaluation even happens.
I think there's still an art form here. Because when you get past the AI there is still a human trying to solve a problem at the second gate. The first gate is all about making the AI happy. But your proposal still have to pull on the "professional heart strings" of the human that engages you presentation at gate 2. They will appreciate the clarity too, but they will react with emotion to the proposal as well.
This is the killer test. If a buyer needs three paragraphs and a private tour to understand what you do, the AI filter probably isn’t the main problem.
It’s the latest set of features. We see steps along the way. Think at one point there were no RFPs just handshakes. Then we got quotes. Then RFQ, then RFPs and not Agents. Not an exact history but the point is there are steps along the way. We just have to learn how to adjust.
Maybe I'm just being my usual overly positive self, but I think this will make us better sellers overall. If you have to be forced to write clearly and specific enough to get passed the AI filter, then that's a good thing.
It’s not all bad news. Honestly a big driver for me in sharing is just so people understand it’s a new step in the process. You have to start preparing your proposals in a different way. I for sure see it making proposals better. I think it could make the entire sales process better.
It’ll be interesting to see how the sellers agents adjust to the buyers agents and vice versa.
I don't think the general public is at the level of gaming the AI filter, to be honest. My recruiter friend was telling me that the #1 piece of advice she still has to give people is to put the % or $ impact they had on their resume instead of just listing their responsibilities. People just aren't there yet.
A fascinating shift. As AI becomes the first reviewer, clarity and evidence become more important than storytelling alone. The future belongs to companies that optimize not just for human trust, but for machine interpretability—clear outcomes, measurable value, and structured thinking. Ironically, writing for AI may force us all to communicate better with humans too.
Exactly. The clarity needed to pass AI is great for communicating with the human too. It just about focusing on outcomes.
AI is increasingly part of both sides of the sales process, accelerating how proposals are written, reviewed, and filtered before human evaluation even happens.
Very True. Those that learn to work with AI will win long term. Thanks for joining the conversation!
Teams that adapt their messaging to this reality will likely have a stronger chance of advancing.
Agreed. I think it’s those that learn to win with AI that will stay ahead of the game. Thanks for joining the conversation.
I’m curious if you have any examples of what you are doing to adapt?
The first reader of your proposal might not be a person anymore, and clarity is now a filter, not just a nice-to-have
Agreed Petar! Thanks for joining the conversation!
That’s a good way to put it.
The brutal bit is that clarity used to help you stand out. Now it might just be the cost of getting through the door.
I think there's still an art form here. Because when you get past the AI there is still a human trying to solve a problem at the second gate. The first gate is all about making the AI happy. But your proposal still have to pull on the "professional heart strings" of the human that engages you presentation at gate 2. They will appreciate the clarity too, but they will react with emotion to the proposal as well.
It's a balancing act for sure.
If AI can't summarize what you do in two sentences, neither can your buyer.
This is the killer test. If a buyer needs three paragraphs and a private tour to understand what you do, the AI filter probably isn’t the main problem.
Great process and tips here 👏 crazy to think we’re entering a world where AI is talking to AI before humans talk to humans
It’s the latest set of features. We see steps along the way. Think at one point there were no RFPs just handshakes. Then we got quotes. Then RFQ, then RFPs and not Agents. Not an exact history but the point is there are steps along the way. We just have to learn how to adjust.
Thanks for joining the conversation.
It’s weird, isn’t it?!
We’ve somehow ended up with machines doing the awkward small talk before the humans even get in the room.
😂😂
The one thing I remember from iRobot was the awkward small talk with the robots.
ai audit ✅
I’m curious did you learn anything from the audit?
Any changes?
Maybe I'm just being my usual overly positive self, but I think this will make us better sellers overall. If you have to be forced to write clearly and specific enough to get passed the AI filter, then that's a good thing.
That’s a great point Hodman.
It’s not all bad news. Honestly a big driver for me in sharing is just so people understand it’s a new step in the process. You have to start preparing your proposals in a different way. I for sure see it making proposals better. I think it could make the entire sales process better.
It’ll be interesting to see how the sellers agents adjust to the buyers agents and vice versa.
Thanks for joining the conversation!
I think this is a great guide!
I think that’s the optimistic version, and I hope you’re right.
If AI filters force people to stop hiding behind vague promises and actually say what they do and why it matters, that’s probably a good thing.
The danger is that people just learn how to game the filter and make the fluff sound more specific.
I don't think the general public is at the level of gaming the AI filter, to be honest. My recruiter friend was telling me that the #1 piece of advice she still has to give people is to put the % or $ impact they had on their resume instead of just listing their responsibilities. People just aren't there yet.
That recruiter example says a lot.
People still struggle to explain what actually changed because of their work. AI might just make that gap harder to hide.
Really practical advice for people
Thanks for the kind words Melanie!
Super helpful and well thought out article. Thanks guys!
David's framework for proposals is definitely worth saving (and feeding into your AI) 💪🏻
Very helpful article! Thank you for sharing.