Dispatches
Library10 startersStarters
08

Athena starters for procurement

Contract tracking, cost and vendor watch, and sourcing documents. 10 starters, 5 of which run on a schedule. Each shows what it needs, what it delivers, and the full prompt to copy.

Athena Library

Athena starters for procurement are 10 ready-made prompts grouped into Tracking, Sourcing and Documents and spend. 5 run on a schedule: Athena runs them once, delivers a spreadsheet, PowerPoint deck and Word document, emails them to you, and repeats on the cadence you pick. None need a connected app.

FIG. 01 / PROCUREMENTTRACKINGContract tracker updateSCHEDCommodity cost watchSCHEDVendor news watchSCHEDSupplier scorecardSCHEDSOURCINGRFP for suppliersVendor comparisonNegotiation prepDOCUMENTS AND SPENDExtract contract termsSpec and price extractionSpend reportSCHEDFIG. 01 / PROCUREMENTTRACKINGContract tracker updateSCHEDCommodity cost watchSCHEDVendor news watchSCHEDSupplier scorecardSCHEDSOURCINGRFP for suppliersVendor comparisonNegotiation prepDOCUMENTS AND SPENDExtract contract termsSpec and price extractionSpend reportSCHED
FIG. 01The procurement starters by group. SCHED marks a starter that runs on a schedule; each has its own page.
Contents
  1. 01Tracking
  2. 02Sourcing
  3. 03Documents and spend
  4. 04Why run it in Athena
  5. 05For your team
  6. 06Related dispatches
  7. 07Questions teams ask

01Tracking

Contract tracker update

All, completed, and over-$1M contracts in one update. See how it runs →

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
Every Monday at 7am, or every weekday or monthly instead
Outputs
spreadsheet, PowerPoint deck, Word document; emailed to you after every run
Runs on a scheduleSheetDeckDocNo setup needed
Show the prompt
Build the weekly procurement contract update. Ask me for the contract tracker spreadsheet in Athena (or an upload). Show three views: all active contracts, contracts completed this week, and contracts over $1M, with savings against baseline and anything stuck. Deliver three files in my company's brand. If I have Word, PowerPoint, or Excel templates in Athena, ask once which to use and build every file from them, keeping their layouts, styles, and formulas. For the brand, use my company's design system if one exists. Otherwise find my company's website (search the web if you are not sure of the domain), run design_system_retriever on it to get the real logo, colors, and fonts, and save the result with create_design_system so every run matches. Use the real logo image; never redraw it or type the company name in its place. The files: (1) a spreadsheet with one row per contract (supplier, category, value, stage, owner, savings, next step); (2) a PowerPoint deck with the logo on the title slide, a one-slide summary, a slide per section with a chart wherever there are numbers, and a so-what slide; (3) a Word document with the logo in the header, the full brief, and every source cited. Brand colors and fonts throughout, one idea per slide, no walls of text. Finish with a short summary in chat that links all three. When each run finishes, this one included, email me the three files from Athena: send them to my own email address with the chat summary in the body. If Athena cannot send email in this workspace, say so instead. When you are done, ask me if I want this every Monday at 7am (or every weekday, or monthly instead). Also ask which sections to keep and confirm my IANA time zone (for example America/New_York), and pass it explicitly when creating the schedule. If I choose a schedule, set up a scheduled agent that runs this same brief on it, keeps the spreadsheet asset ID and any template IDs in its instructions, reads the latest dated tab before each run, and reports only what changed since the last run. It says plainly when nothing material changed, and says comparison is unavailable if the prior tab cannot be read. Each run adds a dated tab to the same spreadsheet and makes a new dated deck and document. Whenever I give feedback on a run, in this chat or a later one, update the scheduled agent's instructions (and the template or design system when the feedback is about how the files look) so every later run follows it, then tell me exactly what you changed.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

Commodity cost watch

Input price moves, forecasts, and when to buy. See how it runs →

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
Every weekday at 7am, weekly on Mondays at 7am, or monthly on the 1st
Outputs
spreadsheet, PowerPoint deck, Word document; emailed to you after every run
Runs on a scheduleSheetDeckDocNo setup needed
Show the prompt
Run a commodity cost watch. Ask me which inputs we buy, for example aluminum, resin, grains, freight, or energy. Cover the last 30 days: price moves, forecasts, and supply news for each, with the likely effect on our costs and when to buy. Cite every item. Deliver three files in my company's brand. If I have Word, PowerPoint, or Excel templates in Athena, ask once which to use and build every file from them, keeping their layouts, styles, and formulas. For the brand, use my company's design system if one exists. Otherwise find my company's website (search the web if you are not sure of the domain), run design_system_retriever on it to get the real logo, colors, and fonts, and save the result with create_design_system so every run matches. Use the real logo image; never redraw it or type the company name in its place. The files: (1) a spreadsheet with one row per input (input, price, change vs. last month, forecast, driver, source link); (2) a PowerPoint deck with the logo on the title slide, a one-slide summary, a slide per section with a chart wherever there are numbers, and a so-what slide; (3) a Word document with the logo in the header, the full brief, and every source cited. Brand colors and fonts throughout, one idea per slide, no walls of text. Finish with a short summary in chat that links all three. When each run finishes, this one included, email me the three files from Athena: send them to my own email address with the chat summary in the body. If Athena cannot send email in this workspace, say so instead. When you are done, ask me how often I want this: every weekday at 7am, weekly on Mondays at 7am, monthly on the 1st, or not now. Also ask which sections to keep and confirm my IANA time zone (for example America/New_York), and pass it explicitly when creating the schedule. If I choose a schedule, set up a scheduled agent that runs this same brief on it, keeps the spreadsheet asset ID and any template IDs in its instructions, reads the latest dated tab before each run, and reports only what changed since the last run. It says plainly when nothing material changed, and says comparison is unavailable if the prior tab cannot be read. Each run adds a dated tab to the same spreadsheet and makes a new dated deck and document. Whenever I give feedback on a run, in this chat or a later one, update the scheduled agent's instructions (and the template or design system when the feedback is about how the files look) so every later run follows it, then tell me exactly what you changed.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

Vendor news watch

Price rises, outages, and deals at your vendors. See how it runs →

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
Every Monday at 7am, or every weekday or monthly instead
Outputs
spreadsheet, PowerPoint deck, Word document; emailed to you after every run
Runs on a scheduleSheetDeckDocNo setup needed
Show the prompt
Run a vendor news watch. Ask me which vendors to follow. Cover the last 7 days: price increases, outages, acquisitions, layoffs, lawsuits, and security incidents, with what each means for our contracts. Cite every item. Deliver three files in my company's brand. If I have Word, PowerPoint, or Excel templates in Athena, ask once which to use and build every file from them, keeping their layouts, styles, and formulas. For the brand, use my company's design system if one exists. Otherwise find my company's website (search the web if you are not sure of the domain), run design_system_retriever on it to get the real logo, colors, and fonts, and save the result with create_design_system so every run matches. Use the real logo image; never redraw it or type the company name in its place. The files: (1) a spreadsheet with one row per item (date, vendor, event, contract affected, action, source link); (2) a PowerPoint deck with the logo on the title slide, a one-slide summary, a slide per section with a chart wherever there are numbers, and a so-what slide; (3) a Word document with the logo in the header, the full brief, and every source cited. Brand colors and fonts throughout, one idea per slide, no walls of text. Finish with a short summary in chat that links all three. When each run finishes, this one included, email me the three files from Athena: send them to my own email address with the chat summary in the body. If Athena cannot send email in this workspace, say so instead. When you are done, ask me if I want this every Monday at 7am (or every weekday, or monthly instead). Also ask which sections to keep and confirm my IANA time zone (for example America/New_York), and pass it explicitly when creating the schedule. If I choose a schedule, set up a scheduled agent that runs this same brief on it, keeps the spreadsheet asset ID and any template IDs in its instructions, reads the latest dated tab before each run, and reports only what changed since the last run. It says plainly when nothing material changed, and says comparison is unavailable if the prior tab cannot be read. Each run adds a dated tab to the same spreadsheet and makes a new dated deck and document. Whenever I give feedback on a run, in this chat or a later one, update the scheduled agent's instructions (and the template or design system when the feedback is about how the files look) so every later run follows it, then tell me exactly what you changed.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

Supplier scorecard

Delivery, quality, and cost scores per supplier. See how it runs →

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
Every weekday at 7am, weekly on Mondays at 7am, or monthly on the 1st
Outputs
spreadsheet, PowerPoint deck, Word document; emailed to you after every run
Runs on a scheduleSheetDeckDocNo setup needed
Show the prompt
Build the monthly supplier scorecard. Ask me for delivery, quality, and invoice data (spreadsheets in Athena or uploads) and the suppliers to cover. Score each on on-time delivery, quality, cost, and responsiveness, show the trend, and name who needs a review meeting. Deliver three files in my company's brand. If I have Word, PowerPoint, or Excel templates in Athena, ask once which to use and build every file from them, keeping their layouts, styles, and formulas. For the brand, use my company's design system if one exists. Otherwise find my company's website (search the web if you are not sure of the domain), run design_system_retriever on it to get the real logo, colors, and fonts, and save the result with create_design_system so every run matches. Use the real logo image; never redraw it or type the company name in its place. The files: (1) a spreadsheet with one row per supplier (supplier, on-time %, defect rate, cost variance, score, trend, action); (2) a PowerPoint deck with the logo on the title slide, a one-slide summary, a slide per section with a chart wherever there are numbers, and a so-what slide; (3) a Word document with the logo in the header, the full brief, and every source cited. Brand colors and fonts throughout, one idea per slide, no walls of text. Finish with a short summary in chat that links all three. When each run finishes, this one included, email me the three files from Athena: send them to my own email address with the chat summary in the body. If Athena cannot send email in this workspace, say so instead. When you are done, ask me how often I want this: every weekday at 7am, weekly on Mondays at 7am, monthly on the 1st, or not now. Also ask which sections to keep and confirm my IANA time zone (for example America/New_York), and pass it explicitly when creating the schedule. If I choose a schedule, set up a scheduled agent that runs this same brief on it, keeps the spreadsheet asset ID and any template IDs in its instructions, reads the latest dated tab before each run, and reports only what changed since the last run. It says plainly when nothing material changed, and says comparison is unavailable if the prior tab cannot be read. Each run adds a dated tab to the same spreadsheet and makes a new dated deck and document. Whenever I give feedback on a run, in this chat or a later one, update the scheduled agent's instructions (and the template or design system when the feedback is about how the files look) so every later run follows it, then tell me exactly what you changed.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

02Sourcing

RFP for suppliers

Requirements, weighted criteria, and a price sheet.

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
When you ask
Outputs
spreadsheet
SheetNo setup needed
Show the prompt
Draft an RFP for [category]: background, requirements, service levels, weighted evaluation criteria, timeline, and a price sheet suppliers fill in. Put the price sheet in a spreadsheet.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

Vendor comparison

Price, features, terms, and a recommendation.

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
When you ask
Outputs
An answer in chat
No setup needed
Show the prompt
Compare these vendors for [need]: [vendors, or attach their proposals]. Cover price, features, terms, references, and risks in a table, then recommend one and say why.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

Negotiation prep

Benchmarks, leverage, and walk-away points.

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
When you ask
Outputs
An answer in chat
No setup needed
Show the prompt
Prepare me to negotiate with [supplier] on [category]: their financial position and recent news, market price benchmarks, our spend and leverage, their likely asks, and my walk-away points. Cite sources.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

03Documents and spend

Extract contract terms

Key terms from a stack of contracts in one sheet.

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
When you ask
Outputs
spreadsheet
SheetNo setup needed
Show the prompt
Pull the key terms from these contracts: [attach PDFs or pick a folder in Athena]. Capture parties, term, renewal and notice, pricing and escalators, payment terms, liability cap, and termination rights, one row per contract in a spreadsheet with the page reference for each term.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

Spec and price extraction

Specs and price tables from vendor PDFs in one sheet.

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
When you ask
Outputs
spreadsheet
SheetNo setup needed
Show the prompt
Pull the product specs and price tables from these vendor PDFs: [attach]. Put them in one spreadsheet with consistent units, flag missing values, and note the page each row came from.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

Spend report

Off-contract and tail spend, and where to save. See how it runs →

Setup
No setup needed
Runs
Every weekday at 7am, weekly on Mondays at 7am, or monthly on the 1st
Outputs
spreadsheet, PowerPoint deck, Word document; emailed to you after every run
Runs on a scheduleSheetDeckDocNo setup needed
Show the prompt
Build the monthly spend report. Ask me for the latest spend export (a spreadsheet in Athena or an upload). Group spend by category and supplier, find tail spend, duplicate suppliers, and off-contract spend, and list the five biggest savings opportunities with estimates. Deliver three files in my company's brand. If I have Word, PowerPoint, or Excel templates in Athena, ask once which to use and build every file from them, keeping their layouts, styles, and formulas. For the brand, use my company's design system if one exists. Otherwise find my company's website (search the web if you are not sure of the domain), run design_system_retriever on it to get the real logo, colors, and fonts, and save the result with create_design_system so every run matches. Use the real logo image; never redraw it or type the company name in its place. The files: (1) a spreadsheet with one row per supplier and category (supplier, category, spend, on contract, change vs. last month, opportunity); (2) a PowerPoint deck with the logo on the title slide, a one-slide summary, a slide per section with a chart wherever there are numbers, and a so-what slide; (3) a Word document with the logo in the header, the full brief, and every source cited. Brand colors and fonts throughout, one idea per slide, no walls of text. Finish with a short summary in chat that links all three. When each run finishes, this one included, email me the three files from Athena: send them to my own email address with the chat summary in the body. If Athena cannot send email in this workspace, say so instead. When you are done, ask me how often I want this: every weekday at 7am, weekly on Mondays at 7am, monthly on the 1st, or not now. Also ask which sections to keep and confirm my IANA time zone (for example America/New_York), and pass it explicitly when creating the schedule. If I choose a schedule, set up a scheduled agent that runs this same brief on it, keeps the spreadsheet asset ID and any template IDs in its instructions, reads the latest dated tab before each run, and reports only what changed since the last run. It says plainly when nothing material changed, and says comparison is unavailable if the prior tab cannot be read. Each run adds a dated tab to the same spreadsheet and makes a new dated deck and document. Whenever I give feedback on a run, in this chat or a later one, update the scheduled agent's instructions (and the template or design system when the feedback is about how the files look) so every later run follows it, then tell me exactly what you changed.
Open in Athena

Opens a new Athena chat with this prompt ready to send. If you're not signed in, you'll sign in first and land in the same chat.

04Why run it in Athena

A chat assistantAthena
What you getText in a chatReal Excel, Word, and PowerPoint files in your templates
Working togetherOne person, one chatYour team and the agent in the same file, live
MistakesRegenerate and start overEvery edit attributed; undo or roll back any change
Next runStarts from scratchBuilds on the last run and on your feedback
Your dataCopy and pasteDocuments, email, and warehouse, under each person's access
Where it runsTheir cloudYours, if you need it
TABLE 1Why run it in Athena: the same prompt in a chat assistant and in Athena.

05For your team

06Related dispatches

07Questions teams ask

How do I use a starter?

Open a new chat in Athena, paste the prompt, and replace anything in square brackets with your details before sending. Athena asks for anything else it needs.

Which starters run on a schedule?

These run on a schedule: Contract tracker update, Commodity cost watch, Vendor news watch, Supplier scorecard, Spend report.

Do these starters need connected apps?

None need a connected app.

Can I use my own templates?

Yes. The scheduled starters ask once which of your Word, PowerPoint or Excel templates in Athena to use and build every file from them. With no template, they use your company's logo, colors and fonts.