Using AI to Analyze Quotes, Costs, and Project Margins
Use AI to speed up cost-structure organization, formula checks, and sensitivity analysis — with people making the final call.
What you'll learn
- Use AI to check that a cost structure is complete.
- Use sensitivity analysis to identify key variables.
Step-by-step guide
What is AI good at here?
Organizing cost structures, checking for missing line items, speeding up spreadsheet frameworks, and generating sensitivity-analysis scenarios.
What is AI not suited for?
Setting the final price, judging market competitiveness, or bearing compliance responsibility. Those still require input from sales and finance.
Recommended workflow
1. Give AI a list of cost items; 2. Have it check for commonly underestimated items; 3. Generate spreadsheet formula suggestions; 4. Have AI produce sensitivity-analysis scenarios; 5. Finalize with human judgment.
Sensitivity analysis
Pick 3 variables (materials, labor, exchange rate), test each at ±10%, and observe the margin impact to find the most influential factor.
Good example / Bad example
"List the 10 cost items most commonly underestimated in engineering integration quotes" + "Draw a cost-structure tree."
"Tell me the ideal selling price" (with no context provided at all).
Common mistakes
- Quoting a customer the price AI recommended without review.
Cautions
- Financial decision responsibility rests with people, not AI.
Related prompts
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Need help customizing this for your company and industry?
AEGIS provides enterprise AI adoption, process assessment, and systems integration consulting to help you turn prompts and AI tips into reliable internal workflows.