AI RFQ Drafter
Describe what you need in plain language, or upload an RFP/spec or a BoQ workbook, and the drafter builds a starting request for you. You edit everything it produces.
What you'll learn
- Go from a blank request wizard to a working draft in one step
- Draft from plain language, an uploaded document, or a BoQ workbook
- Know what each draft costs and what happens if your balance is low
The hardest part of a new request is the blank page. You know roughly what you need, a batch of laptops, a cleaning contract, a run of structural steel, but turning that into a properly structured request, with the right type, the right category, and line items with quantities and units suppliers can price, takes time you would rather spend deciding, not typing.
The AI RFQ Drafter removes the blank page, and it takes three different starting points depending on what you already have. Type a plain-language description and it drafts a request from scratch. Upload an existing RFP or spec document and it drafts from that. Upload a BoQ workbook you already built and it reads the workbook's structure and maps it into sections for you to review. Whichever path you use, none of it is final: everything lands in the normal wizard fields, where you read, correct, and refine it exactly as if you had written it yourself. Your edits make it right.
Why this matters
A structured request is what makes bids comparable later. But structure is also what slows people down at the start, which is why so much sourcing still begins as a loose email. The drafter lets you start by simply saying what you need, the way you would to a colleague, and hands back the structure for free. You spend your attention on the parts that need judgement, not on formatting a brief.
When to use it
Reach for the drafter when you are starting a request from scratch and want a head start on the structure. It is most useful when:
- You know what you need in plain terms but have not broken it into line items yet.
- You want the request type and category chosen for you as a sensible starting point you can override.
- You are sourcing something with several distinct items and would rather edit a generated list than build one row by row.
If you already have a clear list of items or you are working from a template, you can skip the drafter and fill the wizard in directly. It is an optional accelerator, not a required step.
What it uses
The drafter uses AI credits. It shows its cost before you confirm, on a preflight screen, so there are no surprises, and a draft that fails for any reason is never charged.
A plain-language draft is 8 credits and available on every plan: Explore, Grow, and Scale. Access to it is by your credit balance, not your plan tier. If your balance is too low to cover a draft, the Generate action is held and you are prompted to top up first.
Two of the input modes are Scale-only, not credit-only: drafting from an Upload existing RFP/spec document, and the BoQ workbook upload. Both buttons are always visible so you know they exist, but selecting either on Explore or Grow opens an upgrade prompt instead of the upload dialog. On Scale, drafting from an uploaded document costs 12 credits (8 base plus a 4-credit document surcharge). Mapping a BoQ workbook is priced separately at 6 credits, and its own confirmation screen shows that cost and your balance before the mapping run starts. The mapping charge applies when the run succeeds; reviewing the mapped result and applying it to your request are free, and a mapping run that fails or that you cancel is never charged.
New to how AI is paid for? AI credits covers your plan grant, top-ups, and where to check your balance. Every AI tool on VEXORS, including this one, draws from that one balance.
Drafting a request, start to finish
The drafter lives at the top of the request wizard, on the first step. Here is the full flow.
Open the wizard and find the drafter
Go to Requests in the sidebar and select New Request. At the top of the wizard you will see the drafter card, marked with its credit cost, with a text box for a plain-language description and two secondary buttons beside it: Upload existing RFP/spec and Upload BoQ spreadsheet. Use whichever starting point matches what you already have, or select Skip to fill the wizard in by hand.
Describe what you need in plain language
Write what you need the way you would describe it to a colleague. Include the things that matter: roughly how much, where it is going, when you need it, and any standards or warranty terms. The more specific you are, the closer the draft lands.
If you are not sure how much detail to give, use one of the example prompts shown below the box. Selecting an example drops a fully worked description into the field that you can edit before generating. There are examples across categories, from IT hardware and office supplies to construction materials, medical supplies, freight, and catering.
A description needs at least a few words before the drafter will run. A single word will not generate a useful request. Aim for one or two full sentences that name the item, the quantity, and the timeline.
Generate and confirm the cost
Select Generate. Before anything runs, a confirmation screen shows the credit cost and your current balance, so you decide with the number in front of you. Confirm to generate, or close it to keep editing your description first.
If your balance is below the cost, the Generate action is disabled and you are pointed to top up. Topping up is an Admin action, so if you are a Member with a low balance, the prompt tells you to ask an Admin on your team rather than charging you.
Review and refine what it produced
When the draft is ready, the wizard fills in with a generated Title, Request type, Category, and a starting Bill of Quantities built from your description.
Treat all of it as a first draft. Read the title and tighten it. Check the request type matches what you actually want back from suppliers. Confirm the category is specific enough, since on an open request it decides which suppliers see you. Then work through the Bill of Quantities, correcting quantities, units, and descriptions, and adding or removing lines. From here you continue through the wizard exactly as a normal request: Requirements, Bill of Quantities, Questionnaire, and Review.
If your category is a construction category, or your description reads like a construction scope, the drafter switches into construction mode, and the Bill it hands back is a work checklist, not priced, quantified line items. Real construction quantities come from a quantity surveyor's take-off against drawings, and VEXORS never guesses them. You add real quantities as you build the Bill out, or bring them in with a workbook upload. Construction mode is on by default for a construction category or a construction-shaped description, but you can switch it off, and it is a Scale-plan setting either way.
Drafting from an uploaded document
If you already have an RFP, a spec sheet, or a scope document, you do not have to retype it as a description. Select Upload existing RFP/spec beside the description box (a Scale-plan capability) and attach a PDF or Word file. For a long document, a section picker lets you choose which parts the drafter actually reads, either scope-of-work statements only, which is lighter on the AI budget, or full sections when suppliers need the complete regulatory text, up to a character budget shown as you select. Drafting from an uploaded document costs 12 credits: the same 8-credit base draft plus a 4-credit surcharge for reading the document. The confirmation screen shows this total before anything runs.
Drafting from a BoQ workbook
If your Bill of Quantities already exists as a spreadsheet, select Upload BoQ spreadsheet (also Scale-plan) to bring it in directly. Mapping a workbook costs 6 credits, and a confirmation screen shows that cost and your balance after the file is read, before the AI mapping run starts — the charge lands when the run succeeds, and a run that fails or that you cancel is never charged. VEXORS then reads the workbook's shape, sheet names, header rows, and a sample of the data, and returns a proposed mapping of columns to fields and rules for classifying each row. You review the mapping in a preview before anything is written to your request; reviewing and applying are free, and nothing is applied until you confirm. Any row that is missing a quantity or a unit is flagged for you to complete, never guessed or defaulted. The full mechanics, including line types and the reconciliation check against your workbook's own totals, are covered in Import your BoQ from a spreadsheet.
What good looks like
A strong draft starts with a strong description. A few habits make the difference between a draft you barely touch and one you rebuild:
- Name the item and the quantity. "80 business laptops" gives the drafter a real line to build; "some computers" does not.
- Include the constraints that shape a bid: delivery location, deadline, warranty, and any standards or approvals suppliers must hold.
- State the rough budget if you have one. It helps the draft size the request realistically.
- After generating, always read the category. The drafter proposes one, but you know your market. A precise category reaches the right suppliers; a broad one reaches a loose pool.
From one sentence to a working request
A buyer sourcing laptops for a new office types: "80 business laptops, 15-inch, Core i7, 16GB RAM, delivered to Dubai within 45 days, 3-year on-site warranty." The drafter returns an RFQ titled for IT equipment, sets a hardware category, and lays out a Bill of Quantities with the laptop line, the warranty term, and delivery. The buyer adjusts two quantities, tightens the title, adds a line for setup, and moves to Requirements. What would have been twenty minutes of structuring became two minutes of editing.
Drafting a trade package's description
If you have split a construction master into trade packages, the drafter also works one package at a time: it drafts a description scoped to just that package, using the sibling packages as out-of-scope context so the wording does not bleed into another trade's work. From the packages screen you can also run Draft all package descriptions, a batch action that confirms the exact number of drafts it will run and their total credit cost up front, then generates each one. Every generated description sits in a review queue where you Accept, Regenerate, or Skip it individually; nothing is saved until you accept it, and a batch that runs out of credits partway through stops cleanly and tells you how many packages were completed. See Split into trade packages for the full package workflow.
What suppliers see
Suppliers never see that a request was started with AI, and never see your original description. They see only the finished request you publish: the title, type, category, Bill of Quantities, and terms, exactly as they would for any request built by hand. The drafter is your private starting point. What goes out is always your reviewed, final version.
What comes next
A drafted request is a normal request from the moment it is generated. Continue through the wizard to add your Requirements and refine the Bill of Quantities, then decide whether to add a Questionnaire and run a pre-publish check before you go live.
Next steps
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