AI Can’t Write Your Story—But It Can Give You Time to Tell It
Article written by Janelle Poisel, director of content at OpenAsset.
Proposal writing has always been the heartbeat of AEC marketing. But for many, it’s also the source of some of the biggest headaches. Between tight deadlines, internal reviews, and endless data hunts, marketers and business developers often find themselves buried under repetitive tasks that leave little room for creativity and strategic work.
In our latest report, The Future of AI & Innovation in AEC, we found that 49% of AEC marketers struggle to access accurate project data quickly, and another 37% lose the most time searching for boilerplate content or past project data. It’s no wonder so many professionals feel trapped in a cycle of rework instead of storytelling.
“You know you’ve written something before, but finding it again could take forever. It’s maddening when you realize you’ve rewritten content that already existed.” — Will Jovel, Head of Marketing and Business Development, Design Collective
The true cost of lost time
Proposal inefficiency doesn’t just waste hours — it steals focus. When 28% of proposal time is lost to internal reviews and edits, teams have less capacity for the high-impact work that wins projects: strategy, design, and storytelling.
At Design Collective, a nationally recognized architecture and design firm, the core proposal team — Will Jovel and Vanessa Zawodny — experienced this firsthand.
“We’d spend hours pulling together outlines, digging for resumes, or trying to remember which project narrative we used last time,” said Vanessa Zawodny, Marketing Manager at Design Collective. “By the time we were ready to compile everything, the deadline was already looming.”
Despite having a wealth of data across their CRM, shared drives, and a digital asset management tool, the team experienced duplicated efforts and missed opportunities to reuse existing content on new pursuits. The challenge wasn’t a lack of information; it was a lack of connection. And that’s a problem many AEC marketers and business developers recognize. But across the industry, a shift is already underway.
From manual madness to momentum machine
AEC marketers and business developers aren’t standing still. An exciting 57% of firms are already using AI for proposal writing, and 44% see the greatest opportunity for future AI implementation in proposal writing and content creation.
That’s where AI-powered proposal writing platforms can help. AEC teams should seek to connect data across systems to eliminate tedious manual work and expedite their proposal workflows whenever possible.
“Our interest was piqued when we heard about a solution that could automatically read, organize, and summarize RFPs—work smarter, not harder.”— Vanessa Zawodny, Marketing Manager, Design Collective
When to let AI handle the heavy lifting
In proposal workflows, the biggest time stems from repetitive administrative work: gathering boilerplate text, searching for past projects, and formatting content. AI is starting to take on these low-value tasks so you can focus on what actually shapes winning outcomes: crafting strategy, developing win themes, and refining narratives.
Across the firms surveyed in the Future of AI & Innovation in AEC report, the most successful teams mentioned weaving AI capabilities into their daily workflows, using tools that automate outline creation, surface past proposal data, and centralize information across systems.
At Design Collective, those changes are already taking shape. By connecting existing systems — including their DAM and CRM — and introducing automation into the proposal process, the team was able to reduce time spent on data gathering and zone in on narrative development.
“AI handles the heavy lifting so we can focus on strategy and storytelling.” — Vanessa Zawodny, Marketing Manager, Design Collective
AI is phenomenal for helping busy teams alleviate mundane tasks and boost automation, but it’s important to remember that artistry and nuance are where the AEC marketer and business developer remain irreplaceable.
The ripple effect of smarter AEC workflows
Applying AI and connected data systems goes beyond speed; it’s about clarity and collaboration. When routine proposal steps are streamlined, teams get the well-deserved space to think critically about messaging, client alignment, and pursuit strategy.
For example, Design Collective was able to reduce its time creating outlines from hours to minutes, making proposal data easier to locate while also improving collaboration between marketing and business development dramatically.
“[AI] bridges the knowledge gap so we’re not duplicating effort.” — Vanessa Zawodny, Marketing Manager, Design Collective
Their experience echoes a broader industry shift. Many marketers in the Future of AI & Innovation in AEC shared similar feedback, noting that AI features have saved them hours each week and helped them find “the exact imagery or content needed in minutes.”
As AEC firms continue to experiment with AI, one important theme is emerging: the most innovative teams thoughtfully pair technology with human insight. AI thrives on patterns and data; marketers and business developers thrive on creativity and judgment. Together, they can create an environment where efficiency fuels imagination.
Learn how to improve your own AEC proposal workflows at openasset.com/shred
With over ten years of content management experience, Janelle Poisel has a proven track record of crafting compelling narratives that resonates with B2B audiences. As director of content, Janelle oversees a talented team of content creators, working collaboratively to ensure that OpenAsset’s content remains relevant and impactful for the AEC audience.
