Automating quotes with AI in 2026: what it can and cannot take over

What AI can take over in the quoting process

Quoting is a series of small steps that are each dull and predictable on their own. That is exactly where AI is good.

• Reading the request: from an email, a contact form or a WhatsApp message the assistant extracts who it is, what is being asked, which sizes or quantities are mentioned and whether photos are attached.
• Looking up data: existing customer or new, which price agreements apply, what you did for this customer last time, what the current price list says.
• Preparing the draft: in your own template, with your terms, as a draft in your quoting package or as a document in your mailbox. Never straight to the customer.
• Asking for missing information: if the request is incomplete, the assistant asks the customer the two or three targeted questions you would ask yourself.
• Tracking follow-ups: which quotes are open, which are older than a week, who has not responded. With a draft reminder that you send.

What you should not leave to AI

A quote is a promise, and a promise is something you make yourself. Four things stay with a person:

• The pricing decision. AI calculates with your price list, but whether you go sharp or generous with this customer is a commercial choice.
• Estimating custom work. For work that does not fit a standard line, the assistant can flag that it deviates, but you estimate the hours yourself.
• The customer conversation. For larger requests the customer wants to talk to someone. The assistant prepares that conversation; it does not replace it.
• The final check. Every quote passes a person before it goes out. That takes five minutes and prevents the one mistake that is expensive.

Businesses that go too far here and send quotes fully automatically notice it mainly in the exceptions. The gain is in the preparation, not in automating away the decision.

What it can look like

Picture an installation company with a request by email: two photos of a meter cupboard, the question whether a charging point can be added and an address. The assistant reads the email, recognises that it is about a charging point, spots a particular type of consumer unit in the photos and pulls the standard lines for that situation from the price list. A draft appears in the quoting package with the right customer details, the lines and a note: the free space in the cupboard is not clearly visible in the photo, please check. The employee reads the draft, calls the customer about that one question, adjusts one line and sends it.

The same pattern works for a wholesaler receiving orders by email, a body shop making a first estimate from photos, or a service provider that keeps offering the same three packages. The form differs, the steps are the same.

What you need to get started

Automating quotes does not start with software but with what you already have. In practice four things are needed:

• A quote template you are happy with. The assistant fills in what is there; it does not invent a new layout.
• A price list or a set of calculation rules, even if they currently live in one colleague's head. Writing those down is often the most useful step of the whole project.
• Twenty to fifty old quotes, as examples of how you phrase things and which exceptions exist.
• Access to the package where your quotes live: your accounting or quoting software, or simply your mailbox and a folder of documents.

If one of these four is missing, that is not a blocker but the first step of the project. A price list that does not exist yet is something we build together in an afternoon.

What it costs and how to start

The price depends on three things: how many kinds of requests there are, whether photos need to be assessed, and which package the assistant has to talk to. After a free introductory call of at most 30 minutes you get a fixed quote for a first, clearly scoped version: one amount, clear boundaries. Maintenance and updates are optional afterwards from €195 per month, cancellable monthly.

If you first want to know whether it pays off for you, the Work Scan (€495 excluding VAT) calculates how many hours you currently spend on quotes and what an assistant takes away. If you then have us build it, that amount is credited in full.