BidReview brings evaluator expertise to AI-written tenders
BidReview won IT project of the year at the 2026 Tech Excellence Awards. We speak with founder Tony Corrigan about the award and what the future holds for the company.
What problem is BidReview solving for Irish businesses?
Public procurement on the island of Ireland is worth €21 billion a year, across 883 contracting authorities in Ireland alone. The problem is participation, not access. Very few SMEs compete, and the reasons are structural: most businesses tender infrequently, have never sat on the panel side, never see what they are competing against, and have had no training in how marks are awarded. They write in good faith with no way of knowing whether it will score. BidReview tells them what their submission will score before they submit, and what to change.
How is BidReview helping companies be more successful with their tenders?
More companies are using AI to write proposals. The problem is that AI produces fluent text without knowing how it will be marked. The most common reason a bid loses marks is that it describes a capability where the evaluator wants a guaranteed outcome. “We have extensive experience in this area” describes. “We will assign a named lead engineer within five working days of award” guarantees. Evaluators mark the second; AI produces the first. BidReview scores against real submissions paired with the marks panels gave them, calibrated on evaluator behaviour, not writing quality.
Clients upload their proposal and the tender documents. BidReview marks it the way a panel will, across a six-lens, 113-category framework, and returns a predicted score with the reasons marks are lost. Our predictions sit within 2.7% of what buyers award. The first review does the structural work, typically moving a response from around 75% into the mid-80s, later reviews refine it past 90%.
The methodology has been applied to roughly 450 projects over 18 months, at an 87% win rate, across more than 350 client organisations. The platform launched in April and ran 96 evaluations in 12 weeks.
Is winning awards like the Tech Excellence award important to you as a company? What does that industry recognition do for you?
It’s a new business and it’s in the AI space, and we know that AI has reduced the barrier to entry for companies competing not just in my space but in every space. The only real way you can differentiate yourself is through brand recognition. That’s why these awards are significant because they give you that credibility. Having these external validations give serious people the belief that you’re a serious player as well.
What does the future hold for BidReview?
The UK is our first export market, more than 3,000 contracting authorities against 883 in Ireland, and a broader willingness to compete. We are treating it as test-and-learn rather than a formal launch. Standards are higher and competition tougher, which strengthens the case: the closer the field, the more the marking detail decides it.
Deirdre McArdle
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