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Ganesh Shankar, CEO & Co-Founder of Responsive – Interview Series

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Ganesh Shankar, CEO & Co-Founder of Responsive – Interview Series

Ganesh Shankar, CEO and Co-Founder of Responsive, is an experienced product manager with a background in leading product development and software implementations for Fortune 500 enterprises. During his time in product management, he observed inefficiencies in the Request for Proposal (RFP) process—formal documents organizations use to solicit bids from vendors, often requiring extensive, detailed responses. Managing RFPs traditionally involves multiple stakeholders and repetitive tasks, making the process time-consuming and complex.

Founded in 2015 as RFPIO, Responsive was created to streamline RFP management through more efficient software solutions. The company introduced an automated approach to enhance collaboration, reduce manual effort, and improve efficiency. Over time, its technology expanded to support other complex information requests, including Requests for Information (RFIs), Due Diligence Questionnaires (DDQs), and security questionnaires.

Today, as Responsive, the company provides solutions for strategic response management, helping organizations accelerate growth, mitigate risk, and optimize their proposal and information request processes.

What inspired you to start Responsive, and how did you identify the gap in the market for response management software?

My co-founders and I founded Responsive in 2015 after facing our own struggles with the RFP response process at the software company we were working for at the time. Although not central to our job functions, we dedicated considerable time assisting the sales team with requests for proposals (RFPs), often feeling underappreciated despite our vital role in securing deals. Frustrated with the lack of technology to make the RFP process more efficient, we decided to build a better solution. Fast forward nine years, and we’ve grown to nearly 500 employees, serve over 2,000 customers—including 25 Fortune 100 companies—and support nearly 400,000 users worldwide.

How did your background in product management and your previous roles influence the creation of Responsive?

As a product manager, I was constantly pulled by the Sales team into the RFP response process, spending almost a third of my time supporting sales instead of focusing on my core product management responsibilities. My two co-founders experienced a similar issue in their technology and implementation roles. We recognized this was a widespread problem with no existing technology solution, so we leveraged our almost 50 years of combined experience to create Responsive. We saw an opportunity to fundamentally transform how organizations share information, starting with managing and responding to complex proposal requests.

Responsive has evolved significantly since its founding in 2015. How do you maintain the balance between staying true to your original vision and adapting to market changes?

First, we’re meticulous about finding and nurturing talent that embodies our passion – essentially cloning our founding spirit across the organization. As we’ve scaled, it’s become critical to hire managers and team members who can authentically represent our core cultural values and commitment.

At the same time, we remain laser-focused on customer feedback. We document every piece of input, regardless of its size, recognizing that these insights create patterns that help us navigate product development, market positioning, and any uncertainty in the industry. Our approach isn’t about acting on every suggestion, but creating a comprehensive understanding of emerging trends across a variety of sources.

We also push ourselves to think beyond our immediate industry and to stay curious about adjacent spaces. Whether in healthcare, technology, or other sectors, we continually find inspiration for innovation. This outside-in perspective allows us to continually raise the bar, inspiring ideas from unexpected places and keeping our product dynamic and forward-thinking.

What metrics or success indicators are most important to you when evaluating the platform’s impact on customers?

When evaluating Responsive’s impact, our primary metric is how we drive customer revenue. We focus on two key success indicators: top-line revenue generation and operational efficiency. On the efficiency front, we aim to significantly reduce RFP response time – for many, we reduce it by 40%. This efficiency enables our customers to pursue more opportunities, ultimately accelerating their revenue generation potential.

How does Responsive leverage AI and machine learning to provide a competitive edge in the response management software market?

We leverage AI and machine learning to streamline response management in three key ways. First, our generative AI creates comprehensive proposal drafts in minutes, saving time and effort. Second, our Ask solution provides instant access to vetted organizational knowledge, enabling faster, more accurate responses. Third, our Profile Center helps InfoSec teams quickly find and manage security content.

With over $600 billion in proposals managed through the Responsive platform and four million Q&A pairs processed, our AI delivers intelligent recommendations and deep insights into response patterns. By automating complex tasks while keeping humans in control, we help organizations grow revenue, reduce risk, and respond more efficiently.

What differentiates Responsive’s platform from other solutions in the industry, particularly in terms of AI capabilities and integrations?

Since 2015, AI has been at the core of Responsive, powering a platform trusted by over 2,000 global customers. Our solution supports a wide range of RFx use cases, enabling seamless collaboration, workflow automation, content management, and project management across teams and stakeholders.

With key AI capabilities—like smart recommendations, an AI assistant, grammar checks, language translation, and built-in prompts—teams can deliver high-quality RFPs quickly and accurately.

Responsive also offers unmatched native integrations with leading apps, including CRM, cloud storage, productivity tools, and sales enablement. Our customer value programs include APMP-certified consultants, Responsive Academy courses, and a vibrant community of 1,500+ customers sharing insights and best practices.

Can you share insights into the development process behind Responsive’s core features, such as the AI recommendation engine and automated RFP responses?

Responsive AI is built on the foundation of accurate, up-to-date content, which is critical to the effectiveness of our AI recommendation engine and automated RFP responses. AI alone cannot resolve conflicting or incomplete data, so we’ve prioritized tools like hierarchical tags and robust content management to help users organize and maintain their information. By combining generative AI with this reliable data, our platform empowers teams to generate fast, high-quality responses while preserving credibility. AI serves as an assistive tool, with human oversight ensuring accuracy and authenticity, while features like the Ask product enable seamless access to trusted knowledge for tackling complex projects.

How have advancements in cloud computing and digitization influenced the way organizations approach RFPs and strategic response management?

Advancements in cloud computing have enabled greater efficiency, collaboration, and scalability. Cloud-based platforms allow teams to centralize content, streamline workflows, and collaborate in real time, regardless of location. This ensures faster turnaround times and more accurate, consistent responses.

Digitization has also enhanced how organizations manage and access their data, making it easier to leverage AI-powered tools like recommendation engines and automated responses. With these advancements, companies can focus more on strategy and personalization, responding to RFPs with greater speed and precision while driving better outcomes.

Responsive has been instrumental in helping companies like Microsoft and GEODIS streamline their RFP processes. Can you share a specific success story that highlights the impact of your platform?

Responsive has played a key role in supporting Microsoft’s sales staff by managing and curating 20,000 pieces of proposal content through its Proposal Resource Library, powered by Responsive AI. This technology enabled Microsoft’s proposal team to contribute $10.4 billion in revenue last fiscal year. Additionally, by implementing Responsive, Microsoft saved its sellers 93,000 hours—equivalent to over $17 million—that could be redirected toward fostering stronger customer relationships.

As another example of Responsive providing measurable impact, our customer Netsmart significantly improved their response time and efficiency by implementing Responsive’s AI capabilities. They achieved a 10X faster response time, increased proposal submissions by 67%, and saw a 540% growth in user adoption. Key features such as AI Assistant, Requirements Analysis, and Auto Respond played crucial roles in these improvements. The integration with Salesforce and the establishment of a centralized Content Library further streamlined their processes, resulting in a 93% go-forward rate for RFPs and a 43% reduction in outdated content. Overall, Netsmart’s use of Responsive’s AI-driven platform led to substantial time savings, enhanced content accuracy, and increased productivity across their proposal management operations.

JAGGAER, another Responsive customer, achieved a double-digit win-rate increase and 15X ROI by using Responsive’s AI for content moderation, response creation, and Requirements Analysis, which improved decision-making and efficiency. User adoption tripled, and the platform streamlined collaboration and content management across multiple teams.

Where do you see the response management industry heading in the next five years, and how is Responsive positioned to lead in this space?

In the next five years, I see the response management industry being transformed by AI agents, with a focus on keeping humans in the loop. While we anticipate around 80 million jobs being replaced, we’ll simultaneously see 180 million new jobs created—a net positive for our industry.

Responsive is uniquely positioned to lead this transformation. We’ve processed over $600 billion in proposals and built a database of almost 4 million Q&A pairs. Our massive dataset allows us to understand complex patterns and develop AI solutions that go beyond simple automation.

Our approach is to embrace AI’s potential, finding opportunities for positive outcomes rather than fearing disruption. Companies with robust market intelligence, comprehensive data, and proven usage will emerge as leaders, and Responsive is at the forefront of that wave. The key is not just implementing AI, but doing so strategically with rich, contextual data that enables meaningful insights and efficiency.

Thank you for the great interview, readers who wish to learn more should visit Responsive,

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