Using AI responsibly in capture and proposals
Where AI helps in federal capture and proposal work, where it creates risk (CUI, export-controlled data, procurement integrity, unsupported claims), what to ask about any tool, and a review routine that keeps proposals accurate.
- Reading time
- 4 min read
- Last reviewed
- Sources
- 5 official sources
On this page
AI tools can take hours out of capture and proposal work: shredding a solicitation, drafting a first version of a section, summarizing award history or comparing partners. They also create new ways to make old mistakes, from leaking controlled information to submitting claims nobody checked. The rules that apply are not new. Information-handling rules (32 CFR Part 2002 for CUI, DFARS 252.204-7012 for covered defense information, the ITAR and the EAR for export-controlled data), procurement integrity (FAR 3.104) and your own responsibility for what you certify and submit all apply to work done with AI, exactly as they do to work done without it.
Where AI helps most
- Shredding and organizing: pulling instructions, evaluation criteria and "shall" statements into a first-pass compliance matrix
- First drafts from your own material: turning your approved boilerplate, past performance write-ups and solution notes into a section draft that a writer then owns
- Research on public data: summarizing award histories, vehicle holders and agency spending from public sources
- Review support: checking a draft against Section M, flagging unsupported claims, tightening text to fit page limits
- Partner analysis: comparing candidate teammates' public credentials against a pursuit's gates
Where AI creates risk
| Risk | Why it matters | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| CUI and covered defense information | Tools that are not authorized for CUI must not receive it; DFARS 252.204-7012 requires cloud services handling covered defense information to meet FedRAMP Moderate-equivalent security | Keep CUI out of AI tools unless the tool and its environment are authorized for it |
| Export-controlled technical data | Sharing ITAR or EAR technical data can be an export, including to foreign persons who can access a service | Keep controlled technical data out unless your export compliance program has approved the tool |
| Procurement integrity | FAR 3.104 prohibits obtaining or disclosing contractor bid or proposal information and source selection information | Never feed a competitor's proposal content or non-public source selection information into any tool |
| Proprietary partner data | Teaming partners share pricing, resumes and methods under NDAs that limit their use | Use partner data only as the NDA allows, and only in tools your agreement covers |
| Unsupported or invented content | Models can produce plausible but wrong facts, citations, metrics or past performance | Verify every fact, number, clause citation and reference against its source |
| Solicitation instructions | Some solicitations now include instructions or limits on AI use | Read Section L for any AI-related instructions and follow them |
Watch out: Your company is responsible for every statement in a proposal and every representation it makes. A fabricated metric or a misdescribed contract is your error, not the tool's, and false statements to the Government can carry civil and criminal liability.
Know where your data goes
Before you adopt a tool for capture work, find out:
- Where prompts, files and outputs are stored, for how long and who can access them
- Whether the provider uses your data to train models, and whether you can opt out
- Whether access is limited to your company, and whether you can delete data
- Whether the service is authorized for the information you plan to use, which for most capture tools means public and proprietary information only
Contractors with a code of business ethics under FAR 52.203-13 should fold AI use into the same internal controls: written guidance, training, and review of how sensitive information is handled.
A review routine for AI-assisted work
Checklist: tick items as you go (saved in this browser only)
Common pitfalls
- Pasting the whole solicitation package. Controlled attachments can be inside it. Check markings before any text goes into a tool.
- Trusting citations. Generated clause numbers and regulatory citations must be checked against the regulation itself.
- Submitting generic prose. Evaluators recognize text that could describe any company; strengths need your specific proof.
- Letting the tool decide. Bid/no-bid, teaming and pricing decisions belong to people who are accountable for them.
How TeamingIndex helps
TeamingIndex's AI analyst is built around these rules:
- Grounded in platform data. Prompts contain public-safe profile data, match results and RFP and award facts, plus what you enter. Recommended partners must come from the candidate list the platform supplies, so the analyst does not invent companies.
- Private scores stay private. A company's private exact SPRS score is never sent to the model; it works from blind brackets like everyone else (see blind SPRS brackets).
- Zero-CUI guard. Every text you enter passes the same guard as the rest of TeamingIndex, which rejects CUI, classification and export-control markings (see CUI and Zero-CUI practices).
- Saved for review. Results are saved to your organization's Intelligence Hub, so your team can review, edit and reuse them; usage is metered monthly against your plan's AI credits.
Not legal advice. TeamingIndex guides are general information to help you plan, not legal advice. Regulations, clauses and program rules change and solicitations can tailor them: always work from the current regulation and the clauses in your solicitation, and confirm decisions with your contracting officer or counsel.
Official sources
Primary regulations and program pages this guide was checked against on . Read them for the authoritative text.
- 32 CFR Part 2002: Controlled Unclassified Informationecfr.gov(opens in a new tab)
- DFARS 252.204-7012: Safeguarding Covered Defense Information and Cyber Incident Reportingecfr.gov(opens in a new tab)
- FAR 3.104: Procurement integrityacquisition.gov(opens in a new tab)
- FAR 52.203-13: Contractor Code of Business Ethics and Conductacquisition.gov(opens in a new tab)
- 22 CFR Part 120: ITAR purpose and definitionsecfr.gov(opens in a new tab)