AI features
AI-powered RFP generation, auto-scoring, vendor recommendations, prompt bar, self-review, organizational memory, and AI credit management.
Strutter uses AI throughout the RFP process to save you time and surface better decisions. This guide covers every AI-powered feature in the platform.
AI RFP generation
Instead of writing an RFP from scratch, describe what you need and let Strutter build it through a conversational flow:
- Type your procurement need in the prompt bar or home page hero input (e.g., "We need a cloud migration partner for 200 servers")
- Strutter asks clarifying questions as chat bubbles. Answer with selection chips or free text.
- Watch live generation progress as Strutter researches your past RFPs, generates sections, and assembles the document
- Review the completed RFP with a summary card showing sections and question counts
- Refine with follow-up prompts or open the editor to make manual changes
You can start RFP generation from any page using the prompt bar. Strutter navigates you into the wizard automatically.
Most generations complete within 30 to 60 seconds. Each AI-generated RFP counts toward your plan's RFP limit, which is separate from AI credits.
For the full walkthrough, see Creating an RFP.
AI auto-scoring
When a vendor submits their response, Strutter automatically scores every answer on a 1 to 5 scale:
| Score | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 5 | Excellent: exceeds requirements |
| 4 | Good: meets all requirements |
| 3 | Adequate: meets minimum requirements |
| 2 | Below average: partially meets requirements |
| 1 | Poor: does not meet requirements |
Scores appear on the review dashboard as soon as a vendor submits, so you can start evaluating immediately.
Score reasoning
Each AI score includes a written explanation of the rating. Click any score badge to see why the AI gave that score, including how the vendor's answer maps to the scoring rubric. This transparency helps you decide whether to accept the AI score or override it with your own assessment.
Weighted scoring
Each question's score is multiplied by its configured weight before calculating section and overall averages. Questions you care about most have the biggest impact on the final ranking.
For example, if "Technical approach" (weight 3) scores a 4 and "Timeline" (weight 1) scores a 5, the weighted calculation is: (4 x 3 + 5 x 1) / (3 + 1) = 4.25.
Manual overrides
AI scoring is a starting point. Click any score badge on the review dashboard to override it with your own rating. Your manual score replaces the AI score in all calculations: section averages, overall rankings, and recommendations.
Manual overrides are available on select plans. See plans and pricing for details.
AI vendor recommendation
Click Get Recommendation on the review dashboard to have AI analyze all submitted responses together. The recommendation includes:
- A recommended vendor with a clear rationale
- Strengths and weaknesses for each vendor
- A confidence assessment based on score distribution
No strong candidates
If no vendor scores above 3.0 overall, Strutter returns a "no strong candidates" advisory instead of forcing a recommendation. This helps you decide whether to re-open the RFP, adjust requirements, or invite additional vendors.
Regenerating recommendations
Available on select plans. See plans and pricing for details. You can regenerate the recommendation after making manual score overrides. This lets the AI re-evaluate based on your updated assessments.
Strutter Assist (vendor side)
Vendors on paid plans can use Strutter Assist when responding to RFPs. The AI suggests draft answers based on:
- The question context and requirements
- The vendor's company profile and saved information
- Past answers from the vendor's Q&A Library
Vendors review and edit AI suggestions before submitting. Strutter Assist uses the vendor's AI credits.
Vendor Response Pre-fill
Vendors who have responded to previous RFPs on Strutter automatically receive pre-fill suggestions when starting a new response. Strutter searches the vendor's past responses for answers to similar questions and offers them as a starting point.
Pre-fill suggestions appear with confidence levels (High, Medium, or Low) so vendors know how closely the past answer matches the current question. Vendors can apply, dismiss, or edit each suggestion individually.
Pre-fill is available on select plans and does not use AI credits. See plans and pricing for eligibility and the vendor portal docs for the full guide.
Prompt Bar
A prompt bar is available at the bottom of your screen when you're signed in. It gives you a single place to ask questions, get help, and work with your data using natural language.
Getting started
Click the prompt bar or press Cmd+K (Mac) / Ctrl+K (Windows) to focus it. Type your question or command and press Enter to send.
Context-aware capabilities
The prompt bar adapts to where you are in the platform:
| Page | What you can ask |
|---|---|
| RFP editor | "Add a section about data security," "add 5 compliance questions," "change all weights to 2.0" |
| Review dashboard | "Compare vendor scores on technical questions," "show me the lowest-scoring vendor" |
| Question Library | "Find all compliance questions," "create a new template for security" |
| Vendors page | "Show me vendors invited to the most RFPs," "look up Acme Corp" |
| Any page | "Navigate to my open RFPs," "how do I close an RFP?", "what plan am I on?" |
Conversation history
Click the expand icon on the prompt bar to open the full conversation panel. Your conversation history is preserved while you navigate between pages, so you can pick up where you left off.
Tools and actions
Behind the scenes, the prompt bar can take actions on your behalf: creating RFPs, inviting vendors, sending messages, changing RFP status, navigating to pages, looking up vendor details, comparing scores, and searching help documentation. You'll see a brief status indicator while it processes your request. Strutter always confirms before making changes.
For the full list of capabilities, see Strutter AI Assistant.
AI Self-Review
Before you publish an RFP, Strutter AI can review it for common issues and suggest improvements. This helps you catch problems before vendors see your RFP.
How it works
- Open your draft RFP in the editor
- Click AI Review in the toolbar, or the review runs automatically when you click Publish
- Strutter AI analyzes your RFP across eight categories and returns a detailed report
Review categories
| Category | What it checks |
|---|---|
| Completeness | Are standard sections present (intro, scope, timeline, evaluation criteria, submission instructions)? Is a deadline set? Is there enough context for vendors? |
| Question quality | Are questions specific, measurable, and answerable? Are question types appropriate for what is being asked? |
| Number of questions | Is coverage depth proportional to RFP complexity? Simple procurements: 25-40. Mid-complexity: 40-80. Complex enterprise: 80-150. |
| Industry relevance | Are domain-appropriate requirements present? Is terminology correct? Are relevant compliance and regulatory references included? |
| Fairness | Is the language vendor-neutral? Are proprietary product names absent from requirements? Are weights fair? Are there unreasonable barriers? |
| Specificity | Are requirements concrete with quantities, SLAs, dates, and measurable criteria rather than vague language? |
| Structure | Are sections in a logical order? Are questions distributed well across sections? Is the flow coherent? |
| Scoring balance | Does any single category exceed 40% of total weight? Is distribution fair across compliance, technical, pricing, and experience? |
Reading the results
The review panel shows:
- An overall score from 1 to 10
- A status badge: "Ready to Publish" (green, 8.0 or above), "Needs Improvement" (amber, 5.0 to 7.9), or "Not Ready" (red, below 5.0)
- Per-category scores with specific findings
- Suggestions grouped by severity: critical, warning, and informational
- Suggested fixes with specific text replacements you can apply
Applying suggestions
Review each suggestion and decide whether to apply it. You can dismiss individual suggestions you don't agree with. If you're satisfied with your RFP as-is, click Publish Anyway to skip the suggestions.
Credits
Each AI review uses 1 AI credit from your plan's allocation.
Strutter AI Suggestions
Strutter AI Suggestions learns from your organization's past RFPs and uses that knowledge to help you build better RFPs faster. When you're creating a new RFP, Strutter searches your history for relevant questions, sections, and vendor performance data.
Available on select plans. See plans and pricing for details.
Getting suggestions
- While creating or editing an RFP, look for the Strutter AI Suggestions panel
- Click Get Suggestions to search your organization's past RFPs
- Strutter finds questions and sections from previous RFPs that are relevant to your current description
Types of suggestions
Question suggestions. Past RFP questions that match your current procurement topic. Each suggestion shows the question text, its section, question type, weight, and a relevance score. Click Add to include it in your RFP.
Section suggestions. Past RFP sections with content relevant to your current description. Each suggestion includes a preview and relevance score. Click Add to add the section to your RFP.
Vendor history
On the review dashboard, Strutter shows vendor performance data from your organization's past RFPs. Look for the history badge on each vendor card, which shows:
- How many past RFPs the vendor has responded to
- Their average score across those RFPs
- Whether they've been awarded a contract before
This context helps you evaluate vendors based on your organization's track record with them, not just the current RFP.
Privacy
Strutter AI Suggestions only uses data from your own organization. Your past RFPs, questions, and vendor responses are never shared with other organizations.
AI credits
AI credits are the currency for AI-powered features. Actions like scoring responses, getting recommendations, using the prompt bar, and Strutter Assist all consume credits from your plan's allocation. RFP generation is tracked separately under your plan's RFP limit and does not use AI credits.
Credit allocations
Credit allocations vary by plan. See plans and pricing for details.
Credits reset on a regular cycle based on your plan. See plans and pricing for reset schedules. Unused credits do not roll over.
Checking your usage
View your current credit balance and usage from the Settings page. The usage counter updates in real time as you use AI features.
Running out of credits
When you've used all your credits for the current period, AI features are temporarily unavailable. You can:
- Wait for the next reset cycle
- Upgrade to a higher plan for more credits
- Contact sales for additional credits
Next steps
- RFP management. Create and manage RFPs, including AI-generated ones.
- Scoring and review. Use the comparison matrix and review dashboard.
- Billing and plans. Manage your subscription and billing.