Step 1:
Initiate the deal
A potential project shows up, and the team decides whether it's worth pursuing.
Synergy
Brief
How can we help companies make business deals faster?
Deals spoil like milk in the sun. Move fast, turn them into something real, or watch the moment curdle
Context
Business deals are very simple. *Terms and conditions apply
So these are the 3 most basic steps spanning over 3 to 6 months
Step 2:
Take Action Internally
Then they decide if a deal is worth chasing,and build a proposal before getting it approved.
Step 3:
Close up the deal
The client reviews the proposal, both sides agree on terms, and the deal closes with a signed contract
3 - 6 months
Heres what we needed to do...
How might we reduce the 6-12 week proposal-to-contract cycle that proactively support teams through drafting, collaboration, approvals, and contract signing while keeping users in control of critical decisions?
Reasearch
So, let’s meet Sam, our Proposal Manager.
Imagine you’re Sam. Here’s how your day is...
Time being saved
We looked at how much time AI is saving in Sam’s current process
CRM opportunity
Time Saved3 Days
Proposal planning
Time Saved3 Days
Proposal drafting
Time Saved17 Days
Compliance review
Time Saved14 Days
Insight
Based on this we realised even if AI tools existed they made the process fragmented and did not increase efficiency significantly
Interview Insights
Then we spoke to stakeholders who had used these tools to understand their experiences
Insight
Proposal creation is document-centric rather than workflow-centric, making it slow and repetitive.
Proposal managers spend considerable time navigating between disconnected tools instead of focusing on proposal quality.
Knowledge is distributed across people rather than systems, making proposal progress dependent on individual availability.
Proposal creation resembles assembling many business artifacts rather than writing a single document.
Enterprise knowledge is available but disconnected, making reuse inconsistent and highly dependent on individual experience.
Even when the proposal is technically complete, waiting for approvals often becomes the primary source of delay.
Most of the proposal timeline is consumed by preparation, coordination, and revision rather than customer interaction.
Valuable customer insights already exist but require manual interpretation before they can be used in proposal creation.
Pricing is not generated automatically — it is collaboratively customized based on customer context and business goals.
Proposal complexity increases substantially for new customers because less organizational knowledge already exists.
Pain Points
Based on all this reasearch we tried to map out all the pain points collectively
We tried to understand what things we needed to do to to make this an effective solution
Bid / No-Bid
Pain Point 1
Difficult to judge deal potential vs effort required
Pain Point 2
Misaligned sales and finance decisions create wasted effort or missed opportunities
CRM Opportunity
Pain Point 1
Manual updates create inaccurate, incomplete CRM data
Pain Point 2
Poor visibility affects ownership and forecasting
Proposal Planning
Pain Point 1
Finding the right SMEs and assigning ownership is difficult
Pain Point 2
Delayed inputs slow down the entire proposal timeline
Proposal Drafting
Pain Point 1
Teams waste time finding relevant content and versions
Pain Point 2
Multiple contributors reduce consistency and accuracy
Executive Approval
Pain Point 1
Senior stakeholders enter too late in the process
Pain Point 2
Multiple approval cycles delay final submission
Proposal Submission
Pain Point 1
Last-minute checks create deadline pressure
Pain Point 2
Missing files or incorrect formats risk submission failure
Negotiation
Pain Point 1
Changes trigger repeated internal approvals
Pain Point 2
Sales, finance, and legal priorities often conflict
Contract Signing
Pain Point 1
Final terms and responsibilities may not transfer clearly
Pain Point 2
Missed clauses create future delivery and payment risks
Solution statement
“An end-to-end AI co-pilot for bid managers, unifying opportunity intake, drafting, compliance, negotiation and signature into one governed workflow.”
Solution
Introducing Synergy
An adaptive AI workspace built around the way Sam actually works.
Synergy connects the proposal journey from opportunity identification to contract signing, bringing the right information, people and AI agents into the workflow when they're needed.
RFP Intelligence AgentSME Match Agent
Content AgentCompliance Agent
Legal AgentProposal Intelligence Agent
Solution
Lets start with the Dashboard
Sam identifies and qualifies a new opportunity, reviews its potential, requirements and risks, and decides whether to pursue it. The opportunity is then structured in the CRM with key deal information and ownership. Sam builds the proposal team by assigning relevant SMEs, sends them the RFP, and brings their inputs together with relevant existing content to build the proposal.
Action
Pain Points resolved
AI Identifies Opportunity for SamNeed to manually look for opportunities via email
Sam Reviews Opportunity and compatibityNo need to route the RFP though various tools to analyse
AI updates CRM which Sam approvesManual CRM updates + poor visibility
AI Finds SMEs from Past project and sellects teamFinding the right SMEs and assigning ownership
Sam Approves and Sends RFPDelayed inputs slow down the proposal timeline
Solution
RFP Preperation
Teams contribute their inputs while relevant content and previous proposals are brought together to build the response.
Action
Pain Points resolved
AI identifies questions that need input from different teamsManually identifying required teams
Sam reviews and selects the questions to raiseTracking questions and responses
AI sends questions to the relevant teams and collects responsesDelayed SME inputs
Sam reviews and approves SME inputsManually consolidating inputs
AI consolidates inputs for proposal draftingMissing or incomplete responses
Solution
Proposal Planning
Teams contribute their inputs while relevant content and previous proposals are brought together to build the response.
Action
Pain Points resolved
AI recommends relevant past proposals and templatesSearching past proposals for content
Sam generates custom visual for proposalStructuring proposals from scratch
AI generates the proposal draft across key sectionsManual drafting and formatting
AI checks content, brand, and technical alignmentChecking quality and RFP alignment
AI identifies missing requirements and suggests fixesMissing technical requirements
Solution
Executive Approval
Teams contribute their inputs while relevant content and previous proposals are brought together to build the response.
Action
Pain Points resolved
Sam opens the completed proposal
AI sends the proposal for executive reviewSenior stakeholders enter too late in the process
Executive receives a review request with an auto-reminder
Executive reviews and approves the proposalMultiple approval cycles delay submission
Sam shares the approved proposal for submission
Solution
Negotiation
Teams contribute their inputs while relevant content and previous proposals are brought together to build the response.
Action
Pain Points resolved
Sam starts a live negotiation session
AI captures the client’s position and compares it
AI identifies negotiation risks and recommends a counterChanges trigger repeated internal approvals
Sam approves the suggested counterSales, finance, and legal priorities often conflict
AI updates the pricing and commercial termsFinal terms and responsibilities may not transfer clearly
Solution
Contract Generation
Teams contribute their inputs while relevant content and previous proposals are brought together to build the response.
Action
Pain Points resolved
Sam opens the negotiated proposal
AI drafts the contract from agreed termsRepeated contract approvals
Sam requests a commercial change
AI updates and highlights the change
Sam approves and reviews the final versionMissed clauses & risks
Solution
Contract Signing
Teams contribute their inputs while relevant content and previous proposals are brought together to build the response.
Action
Pain Points resolved
Sam reviews the final contract
Sam checks the required signatories
AI tracks signing statusRepeated follow-ups with signatories
AI drafts and sends the signing email
Sam monitors pending signaturesMissed clauses & signing risks
Learnings
AI needs context to be useful.
I learned that good AI experiences depend on giving AI the right information, not just adding AI to an existing workflow.
Research changed the direction of the product.
Talking to stakeholders helped me move beyond assumptions and design around real workflow pain points.
Good IA can make complex systems feel simple.
Mapping the journey first helped me turn a fragmented, multi-tool process into one connected experience.
The goal isn't to automate everything.
The most valuable opportunities were often about reducing coordination, searching and follow-ups while keeping Sam in control.