STATE OF TENNESSEE

FINANACE & ADMINISTRATION

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

FOR

BUSINESS GATEWAY AI AGENT

RFI # 31701-03814

November 13, 2025

1. STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:

The State of Tennessee, Department of Finance & Administration – Strategic Technology Solutions (STS) issues this Request for Information (“RFI”) for the purpose of seeking information from qualified vendors regarding an AI-powered virtual avatar assistant to enhance user navigation and interaction within the Digital Business Gateway Portal. This initiative aims to create a citizen-centric, multilingual platform that serves as a single-entry point for individuals and entrepreneurs registering a new business in Tennessee.

The platform leverages advanced conversational AI, presented as a multilingual, avatar-based assistant, to guide users through every required step of state and federal registration processes.

It integrates across all relevant Tennessee state agency systems to automate, simplify, and personalize the business registration journey.

This RFI is not a solicitation for bids or proposals but a market research effort to gather information on capabilities, implementation approaches, and estimated costs to inform a potential future procurement. We appreciate your input and participation in this process.

2. BACKGROUND:

The Business Gateway Portal is an initiative under the Governor’s Economic Development and Government Efficiency priorities, designed to:

• Provide a central digital front-door for all new business registrations.

• Simplify the business startup process by providing real-time, personalized guidance through an interactive avatar interface responsive for mobile, desktop, and web.

• Embody a consistent, friendly, and professional digital persona representative of the State of Tennessee.

• Enable a paperless, unified registration process across all agencies via a connected platform.

• Reduce redundant data entry across agencies.

• Improve accessibility through multilingual support (Voice and text).

• Enhance compliance and transparency in registration by tracking registration progress and compliance milestones that are viewable to applicants.

o User Dashboard

Timeline Tracker of completed and pending tasks.

Document vault for downloaded certificates, tax forms, etc.

Reminders and follow-up task alerts.

• Increase interagency efficiency through automation and system integration.

• Reduce errors and redundancy through smart data propagation and form pre-population.

• Integrate seamlessly with state systems to support the integrated registration, across numerous agencies that include Revenue, Labor, Secretary of State, and Commerce.

o Integrated Registration Flow Automatically handles:

Step 1: Name search and reservation (TN Secretary of State).

Step 2: Business structure registration (LLC, corporation, etc.).

Step 3: Federal Employer Identification Number (EIN) redirection or API call.

Step 4: Tax registration with Department of Revenue.

Step 5: Unemployment insurance and workers’ comp (Department of Labor

& Workforce Development).

Step 6: Professional licenses or permits via Department of Commerce &

Insurance.

• Provide newly registered business owners with logins and guidance for future interactions, including frequency, with relevant state agency portals.

3. PROJECT REQUIREMENTS: DEFINING SUCCESS CRITERIA WITH CURRENT

CHALLENGES

Clearly defining success is essential to evaluating the responses associated with this RFI. The State is looking to understand the vendor’s framework and strategic approach to address current challenges, as defined in Table 1 below:

Table 1: Business Gateway Desired Features and Functionality

Current challenge Desired features Success criteria Anticipated Outcome

Multiple agency websites and forms

AI agent registers applicant and auto-creates agency user accounts with guided support

Reduced user confusion and fewer failed registrations

Higher rate of successful business launches

Language barriers Multilingual voice/text assistant

Inclusivity and better reach to diverse communities

Reduce third-party dependency due to language

Repetitive data entry

Smart intake process guided by AI agent via voice or text form with data propagation

One-time data entry across systems

Improved accuracy and reduced registration time

Missed regulatory steps

Integrated registration flow with timeline tracker

Enhanced transparency and compliance

Fewer incomplete submissions and legal oversights

Accessibility and Inclusion

Avatar supports ADA-compliant interaction, including voice commands, captions, and text contrast options

Improved accessibility and equitable participation

Higher satisfaction and adoption rates

4. COMMUNICATIONS:

4.1. Please submit your questions and response to this RFI to:

Shannon Keefe, Contract Specialist Finance and Administration, Strategic Technology Solutions 901 Rep. John Lewis Way North, Nashville, TN 37243

(615) 350-4244 Shannon.Keefe@tn.gov

4.2. Please reference RFI # 31701-03814 with all communications to this RFI.

4.3. Please limit all questions to one submission per vendor.

5. RFI SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:

EVENT

TIME

(Central Time Zone)

DATE

(all dates are State business days)

1. RFI Issued Thursday, November 13, 2025

2. Written Questions & Comments Deadline 2:00 PM Thursday, November 20, 2025

3.

State Response to Written Questions & Comments

Tuesday, December 2, 2025 mailto:Shannon.Keefe@tn.gov

4. RFI Response Deadline 2:00 PM Wednesday, December 10, 2025

6. GENERAL INFORMATION:

6.1. Please note that responding to this RFI is not a prerequisite for responding to any future solicitations related to this project and a response to this RFI will not create any contract rights. Responses to this RFI will become property of the State.

6.2. The information gathered during this RFI is part of an ongoing procurement. In order to prevent an unfair advantage among potential respondents, the RFI responses will not be available until after the completion of evaluation of any responses, proposals, or bids resulting from a Request for Qualifications, Request for Proposals, Invitation to Bid or other procurement method. In the event that the state chooses not to go further in the procurement process and responses are never evaluated, the responses to the procurement including the responses to the RFI, will be considered confidential by the State.

6.3. The State will not pay for any costs associated with responding to this RFI.

6.4. Any services or products proposed in this RFI, must be in compliance with the following security policy: all State data must remain in the United States, regardless of whether the data is processed, stored, in-transit, or at rest. Access to State data shall be limited to US-based (onshore) resources only. Configuration or development of software and code is permitted outside of the United States, however, software applications designed, developed, manufactured, or supplied by persons owned or controlled by, or subject to the jurisdiction or direction of, a foreign adversary, which the U.S. Secretary of Commerce acting pursuant to 15 C.F.R. 7 has defined to include the People's Republic of China, among others are prohibited. Any testing of code outside of the United States must use fake data. A copy of production data may not be transmitted or used outside the United States.

6.5. The State may request demo presentations from selected RFI respondents.

6.6. Responses should be prepared, with emphasis on completeness and clarity, and should NOT exceed fifteen (15) pages total in length. Responses, as well as any reference material presented, must be written in English, and must be written on standard 8 ½” x 11” pages and all text must be at least a 12-point font. All pages must be numbered.

7. INFORMATIONAL FORMS:

The State is requesting the following information from all interested parties. Please fill out the following forms:

RFI #31701-03814

TECHNICAL INFORMATIONAL FORM

1. RESPONDENT LEGAL ENTITY NAME:

2. RESPONDENT CONTACT PERSON:

Name, Title:

Address:

Phone Number:

Email:

3. Provide a brief company background, including years in business and relevant experience with digital assistants, chatbots, or avatar-based systems.

4. Provide examples of similar deployments, especially in government or regulated sectors.

5. Describe your avatar technology, AI/NLP capabilities, and multilingual support.

6. Outline your recommended deployment strategy, integration process, and timeline, including any phased approach.

7. Explain how your solution can be extended to other use cases.

8. Please provide details on how your solution will address the State’s current challenges and desired outcomes as outlined in Table 1 of this RFI.

9. Describe how your solution utilizes the following:

• Multilingual voice and text-based avatar accessible via desktop and mobile

• Natural Language Processing (NLP) for conversational interactions

• Levels of customization available for the Avatar’s appearance, voice and personality

• Dynamic interface personalization based on user profile (e.g., type of business, location, experience level)

• Accessibility compliance (ADA, WCAG 2.1 AA)

• Dynamically adjust communication tone and style-based on user persona, context, or regional preferences

10. Describe your solution’s security and privacy controls:

• Role-based access control (RBAC)

• Multi-factor authentication (MFA)

• Data encryption in transit and at rest

• Data storage and retention policies

• Compliance with State privacy and cybersecurity frameworks

• Supported industry-standard authentication and authorization protocols (e.g., SAML 2.0, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect)

• Examples of successful integrations with major CIAM platforms (e.g., Okta, Azure AD B2C, Ping Identity, ForgeRock)

• Summarize any other adherence to privacy, security, and data governance standards

11. Describe your solution’s analytics and reporting capabilities:

• Interaction logging and analytics dashboard

• Metrics on user engagement, completion rates, and error reduction

• Compatibility with third-party analytic tools

• Support for AI performance monitoring and bias detection

12. Describe your solution’s scalability, integration and compatibility:

• Modular architecture supporting future expansion to other state services

• System integration layers and services including API gateway integration with secure, real-time data sharing across agency databases and/or integration with existing web portals or platforms

• Cloud or hybrid hosting options and deployment models compliant with state IT standards

• Management of System maintenance, updates and improvement, including SLAs and introduction of emerging technologies

13. Describe your solution’s training and knowledge transfer process to administrators and content managers.

14. Describe your approach to ensuring ethical AI use, including methods for bias detection, explainability, and adherence to emerging AI governance standards.

15. Explain your approach to usability and accessibility testing with diverse user groups, including support for screen readers, cognitive accessibility, and voice accuracy for different dialects.

16. Outline how your avatar solution integrates with existing state knowledge bases or content management systems to ensure real-time, accurate information delivery.

17. Describe the solution approach to continuous learning, administrator-driven model updates, and mechanisms to prevent “model drift” over time. “Model drift” is defined as the degradation of machine learning model performance due to changes in data or in the relationships between input and output variables.

18. Describe your process for seamless escalation from the avatar to a human support representative, including how context and conversation history are preserved.

19. Propose measurable KPIs for evaluating the success of your avatar deployment, including efficiency, accessibility, and satisfaction metrics.

20. Is your solution available for purchase through public sector cooperative agreements (NASPO, GSA, etc.)?

COST INFORMATIONAL FORM

1. Provide a high-level cost summary that aligns with project phases of your solution (e.g., discovery, design, implementation, testing, deployment, support).

2. Please provide a detailed breakdown of the total estimated cost for developing, deploying, and maintaining your solution.

1.a. What are the major cost drivers in your proposed solution (e.g., avatar design, AI model training, integration, licensing, customization, support)?

1.b. How are costs expected to vary with the scale of users of interactions (e.g. per user, per chat, per API call)?

3. Describe the typical price range for hourly/daily services.

2.a. Describe which services are billed hourly/daily (e.g., project change requests, customizations, configuration management).

2.b. Describe the typical range for hourly/daily rates by resource (e.g., database administrator, business analyst, project manager.

4. What licenses and/or subscription fees or hosting fees will be needed to build, operate, and maintain the business gateway?

3.a. Do you offer pricing options such as tiered pricing, usage-based/subscription-based pricing, one-time licensing models?

3.b. What insight can you provide into licensing costs and expected increases year-over-year?

3.c. Provide costs on your solution’s hosting options (on-prem, cloud, hybrid).

3.d. Who will bear ongoing cloud hosting costs and how are these billed (monthly, annually)?

5. Provide a breakdown of costs associated with maintenance and support.

4.a. What is included with the initial implementation?

6. Describe your pricing model for future enhancements, features and integrations.

ADDITIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

1. Please provide input on alternative approaches or additional things to consider that might benefit the State: