Winning AI: Essentials Agenda

All session times are listed in ET US.

Session Time (ET US) Session Title Speaker Name Session Description
7:45 AM - 7:55 AM Opening
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM Leave with an AI Starter Kit You Can Implement Today Brenda Crist, CPP APMP Fellow, Vice President, Lohfeld Consulting Group Inc & Beth Wingate, CPP APMP Fellow, CEO, Lohfeld Consulting Skip the inspiration and leave with practical resources you can use right away. Through live demonstrations and hands-on exercises, you'll build an AI starter kit complete with prompt templates, quality checklists, security guardrails, tool recommendations, and practical guidance for applying AI to your next proposal.
8:45 AM - 9:00 AM Break
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM Learn from a Librarian: Tips for Creating Your AI Content Library Jean Watterson, CF APMP, Customer Success Lead, GovEagle, and Evelyn Barker, Proposal Technical Writer at FlightSafety International AI is only as good as the content behind it. Learn how to organize, govern, and maintain a content library that helps AI produce more accurate, trustworthy proposal content, and leave with a practical 30-day plan to get started.
9:45 AM - 10:00 AM Break
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM Before You Paste: Critical Review Skills for AI-Generated Proposal Content Marieke Bland, CP AI-M BW-M APMP, Director of Proposals, KMS Solutions, LLC AI-generated content isn't always proposal-ready. Through practical examples and the VERIFY Method, you'll learn how to spot common AI mistakes, strengthen weak outputs with better prompts, and confidently decide what to use, revise, or discard before it reaches a reviewer.
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM Break
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Garbage In, Garbage Out: Why AI-Powered Proposals Depend on a Strong Discovery Call Scott Baxter, Director of Business Development, Peko Precision Strong AI outputs start with strong discovery. Learn how to gather better customer insights, reduce assumptions, and create the high-quality inputs that lead to more accurate, strategic AI-assisted proposal content.
11:45 AM - 12:00 PM Break
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM Beyond the Spreadsheet: Build an AI-Powered Market Intelligence Hub (Yes, Really) Andrea Wise, CF APMP, Senior Proposal Strategist, Burns & McDonnell Discover how one organization transformed scattered business development knowledge into an AI-powered market intelligence hub. Through a real-world case study, you'll learn practical ideas for capturing insights, strengthening collaboration, and turning intelligence into action.
12:45 PM - 1:00 PM Break
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM Using Copilot to Make Your Writing More Consistent Lia Lewine, CF APMP, Technical Writer, GHD Proposal consistency starts with a strong stylesheet. Learn how Microsoft Copilot can help identify abbreviations, capture style preferences from an RFP, and create more consistent, customer-focused proposal content with less manual effort.
1:45 PM - 2:00 PM Break
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM Start Small, Win Smarter: Five AI Workflows Proposal Teams Can Actually Use Olivia Hardy, CF APMP, Director of Product Marketing, QorusDocs, and Ray Miering, CEO & Co-Founder, QorusDocs Not every AI success requires a major transformation. Explore five practical AI workflows that reduce repetitive work, improve proposal quality, and help your team build confidence without overhauling your entire process.
2:45 PM - 3:00 PM Break
3:00 PM - 3:45 PM AI Gap Analysis in Practice: Catch What Your Review Process Misses Sophia Martinez, Co-Founder of Riftur and Executive Director of Customer Development at Five Insights, and Jude Canady, Co-Founder of Riftur See how AI-assisted gap analysis can uncover missing requirements, incomplete responses, and hidden compliance issues that often survive manual reviews. You'll leave with a practical framework for using AI to strengthen your proposal review process.
Session Time (ET US) Session Title Speaker Name Session Description
8:00 AM - 8:45 AM From AI Skeptic to AI Confident: Understanding Your Place on the AI Adoption Continuum Ross Anderson, CP ES-M APMP, Global Bid Manager, Global Strategic Accounts, Sodexo AI adoption isn't one-size-fits-all. Discover where you are on the AI Adoption Continuum, understand the challenges and opportunities at each stage, and learn practical ways to build confidence at your own pace.
8:45 AM - 9:00 AM Break
9:00 AM - 9:45 AM Designing for Attention: An Underrated Skill in the Age of AI Ariel Saltz, Bid Director, Hays As AI makes content easier to create, capturing attention becomes even more valuable. Learn how thoughtful proposal design, storytelling, and strategic response techniques help your content stand out while AI handles repetitive tasks.
9:45 AM - 10:00 AM Break
10:00 AM - 10:45 AM Beyond the Prompt: Embedding AI Across the Proposal Lifecycle Ben Hills, CEO, Iris, and Nikki Singh, CF APMP AI's biggest impact goes far beyond drafting. Explore practical ways to apply AI across qualification, capture, compliance, drafting, and review, and leave with a roadmap for moving from experimentation to a more strategic AI-enabled proposal process.
10:45 AM - 11:00 AM Break
11:00 AM - 11:45 AM Pushing Past the Overwhelm: Starting Small with AI Adriane Hunter, Operations Lead, Long View Systems Corporation AI doesn't have to be intimidating. This session explores simple, practical ways to start using AI in your proposal work, overcome common misconceptions, and build confidence through small, meaningful wins.
11:45 AM - 12:00 PM Break
12:00 PM - 12:45 PM The Proposal AI Playbook: What Top Teams Are Doing Differently Tara Kolinsky, CF APMP, Lead of the Strategic Response Management Team, Responsive, and Juanita Olguin, Director of Product Marketing, Responsive See how high-performing proposal teams are using AI across the proposal lifecycle, not just for writing, but for qualification, pursuit intelligence, governance, and trusted content management. You'll leave with practical ideas you can apply no matter where your AI journey begins.
12:45 PM - 1:00 PM Break
1:00 PM - 1:45 PM Whose AI Is It Anyway? The Essentials of Proposal AI Your Firm Actually Owns Jennifer McPherson, President, RFP PursuitAI Hub, and Megan Franklin, PE, Principal/Lead Civil Engineer of SCE Engineering Move beyond generic AI tools and learn how to build AI capabilities grounded in your organization's own proposal knowledge. Through practical examples and guided exercises, you'll explore prompts, governance, and best practices for creating AI that supports your team's voice, expertise, and security.
1:45 PM - 2:00 PM Break
2:00 PM - 2:45 PM Stop AI Work Slop Now: How to Herd AI-Enabled Cats and Rescue Your Proposals Sara Hekmaty, CF APMP, Director, Federal Proposal Operations, Cayuse Government Operations AI can improve proposal development, but only when it's used intentionally. Learn how to recognize "AI work slop," implement effective human-in-the-loop review practices, and keep AI-generated content accurate, compliant, and proposal-ready.