Beyond RFPs: Zetane's Takeaways from ALL IN 2026

Thinking of document AI as just an RFP tool misses the bigger picture. The Zetane team's conversations with business leaders at ALL IN 2026 made that clear: RFPs often get the conversation started, but the real needs lie in contracts, data scattered across multiple systems, and technical documentation that ties up experts every day. One organization even mentioned 15 TB of PDFs to analyze, the equivalent of several dozen laptops filled with nothing but documents. At that scale, manual review simply isn't an option.

How are organizations integrating AI into their operations?
For many organizations, the first wave of AI adoption is behind them. Conversations at ALL IN showed that the next challenge is embedding AI into operational processes where information volumes are high and mistakes are costly.

Why are RFPs just the tip of the iceberg?
RFPs are just one of the many complex document processes organizations deal with.

Leaders talked about hunting for opportunities across platforms, reading documents that run past 100 pages, analyzing requirements, and filling out repetitive questionnaires. The same challenges show up in contracts, procurement, technical documentation, and compliance.

What document bottlenecks are organizations reporting?

Four bottlenecks came up again and again:

• Reviewing complex documents under pressure. According to some participants, rushed reviews miss 30 to 40% of the implicit requirements buried in appendices and referenced standards. Validating a single decision often means manually cross-checking invoices, contracts, and timesheets.
• Finding information spread across multiple sources. Project data lives in supplier datasheets, specifications, email threads, and dashboards. Piecing together a project's history can take days, especially without standardized metadata and templates.
• Freeing experts from repetitive document work. Subject matter experts (SMEs) reportedly spend more than 60% of their time answering the same questions over and over. Executives, meanwhile, don't have time to read hundreds of pages before making a call.
• Turning documents into usable outputs. Converting hundreds of PDF pages into tables, reports, and other deliverables is still painstaking work.

Which industries are most affected?

These challenges are especially pressing in defence, aerospace, public safety, and the federal government, where organizations handle large volumes of documents and must meet strict regulatory requirements.

Why isn't generic AI enough in regulated industries?
Generic AI tools can be useful for some tasks, but they can also invent facts, a serious legal and financial risk when a decision involves a contract, a public bid, or regulatory compliance. Critical document processes demand more control, traceability, and context. For this kind of work, Zetane relies on structured workflows, traceable results, and answers grounded in source documents.

"The challenge is no longer getting access to AI. It's applying it where information is slowing down decisions."

— Guillaume Hervé, CEO and co-founder of Zetane.

How does Zetane approach these needs?
Zetane starts with a specific need and applies a structured workflow to it, whether ready-made or custom-built, with no AI expertise required. The work begins with a real problem, such as requirements analysis or contract review, and can then extend to other document processes.

What's the key takeaway from ALL IN 2026?
The conversations at ALL IN 2026 showed that document needs go far beyond RFPs. Whether it's contracts, compliance, procurement, or technical documentation, the goal is the same: turning complex information into outputs people can act on. That's what Zetane's solutions are built to do.

Are documents slowing down your decisions? Get in touch with the Zetane team.