In August 2024, when AI adoption was nonetheless comparatively new throughout the bid and proposal group, Lohfeld Consulting sponsored a LinkedIn ballot asking:
“Are you maximizing the advantages of your AI/GenAI implementation?”
We repeated the identical ballot in 2025 and once more in 2026 to trace how adoption, maturity, and outcomes have advanced. The outcomes, summarized in Desk 1, reveal each significant progress and protracted challenges.
Desk 1: Are you Maximizing the Advantages of Your AI/GenAI Implementation?
| Survey says…. | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Exceeding expectations | 10% | 21% | 20% |
| Assembly most wants | 10% | 22% | 22% |
| Room for enchancment | 42% | 46% | 40% |
| Not assembly expectations | 38% | 11% | 18% |
Key Findings
The survey findings have clearly shifted over the previous three years.
1. Sharp Decline in AI Failures
In 2024, greater than one-third of respondents (38%) reported that AI was not assembly expectations. By 2026, that quantity dropped to 18%. This important decline signifies that organizations have moved past early experimentation and pilot packages towards extra structured and intentional use of AI. Nevertheless, the slight rebound from 11% in 2025 to 18% in 2026 means that as AI use expands into extra complicated proposal actions, implementation challenges stay.
2. Rising however Plateauing Success Tales
The proportion of respondents reporting that AI exceeded expectations doubled from 10% in 2024 to simply over 20% in each 2025 and 2026. Whereas encouraging, this plateau means that reaching distinctive outcomes with AI includes greater than merely deploying instruments. It requires technique, governance, and coaching. Groups that make investments thoughtfully are seeing sturdy returns, however widespread excellence has not but grow to be the norm.
3. The Persistent Center Floor
The most important group of respondents continues to report room for enchancment, hovering between 40% and 46% throughout all three years. This displays a standard actuality: whereas AI instruments have improved quickly, challenges persist. We’ve got seen challenges in information administration, workflow integration, and person proficiency.
4. Stabilization at “Assembly Most Wants”
The proportion of respondents who stated AI is assembly most wants doubled from 10% in 2024 to 22% in 2025 and remained regular in 2026. This means many groups have reached a stage of stability however not acceleration; AI helps, but it surely has not but delivered the steep positive aspects organizations could have anticipated.
How Can We Enhance the Implementation of AI Use?
With roughly 40% of respondents nonetheless reporting room for enchancment, the next finest practices will help organizations maximize the worth of their AI investments.
1. Establish the Proper Use Instances
AI delivers the best worth when utilized strategically, comparable to draft content material technology, compliance matrices, query improvement, and danger evaluation. Keep away from forcing AI into areas that require deep buyer perception, negotiation, or aggressive positioning.
2. Put money into Crew Coaching
Efficient use of AI requires greater than primary familiarity with instruments—structured coaching in immediate engineering, evaluator expectations, and AI limitations is important. Lohfeld Consulting’s GenAI for Proposal Professionals course goes past working instruments to show seize and proposal execution utilizing GenAI by hands-on workout routines. Properly-trained customers are much more prone to produce evaluator-ready content material.
3. Set up Guardrails for Accuracy and Safety
AI can introduce danger if not correctly managed. Organizations should implement clear insurance policies for fact-checking, defending delicate information, and guaranteeing regulatory compliance. Sturdy governance builds belief in AI-generated outputs and protects vital info.
4. Combine AI into Proposal Workflows
AI delivers essentially the most worth when embedded into confirmed proposal processes. Utilizing AI for RFP evaluation, query technology, danger mitigation, and high quality management enhances consistency and helps evaluator confidence.
5. Foster Human–AI Collaboration
AI ought to increase, not substitute, human experience. Encourage SMEs, writers, and managers to make use of AI to speed up routine duties whereas retaining possession of technique, storytelling, and buyer alignment.
6. Measure and Refine ROI
Observe time financial savings, high quality enhancements, and win-rate impacts tied to AI utilization. Commonly measuring return on funding (ROI) allows management to make knowledgeable selections about scaling, refining, or redirecting AI initiatives.
Conclusion
Three years of polling reveal how far the bid and proposal business has are available in adopting AI and the way a lot alternative stays. Fewer groups are struggling, extra are reaching sturdy outcomes, and the bulk acknowledge clear paths for enchancment. The takeaway is obvious: profitable AI adoption isn’t about instruments alone. It will depend on coaching, structured processes, and disciplined implementation. If you happen to want AI implementation help, coaching, or wish to interact AI-trained proposal consultants, contact us.
By Brenda Crist, Vice President at Lohfeld Consulting Group, MPA, CPP APMP Fellow
Lohfeld Consulting Group has confirmed outcomes specializing in serving to corporations create successful captures and proposals. Because the premier seize and proposal providers consulting agency targeted solely on authorities markets, we offer knowledgeable help to authorities contractors in Seize Planning and Technique, Proposal Administration and Writing, Seize and Proposal Course of and Infrastructure, and Coaching. Within the final 3 years, we’ve supported over 550 proposals successful greater than $170B for our purchasers—together with the High 10 authorities contractors. Lohfeld Consulting Group is your “go-to” seize and proposal supply! Begin successful by contacting us at www.lohfeldconsulting.com and be part of us on LinkedIn, Fb, and YouTube(TM).