What is RFI?
A request for information (RFI) is a document a buyer sends to potential suppliers early in a purchase to learn what is available and who can supply it, without asking for a binding price.
In more detail
An RFI comes first, while the buyer is still shaping the requirement. It asks about capabilities, approach, company background, references and sometimes rough pricing ranges. Nothing in the response is a binding offer. Buyers use the answers to build a shortlist and to write a better RFP or RFQ. The usual sequence is RFI, then RFP, then contract, or RFI, then RFQ for commodity goods, but plenty of purchases skip steps. Keep an RFI short, because long questionnaires get weak responses. AI helps by summarizing vendor answers against your questions and spotting where two vendors describe the same capability in different words. Don't send one unless you are willing to act on what you learn.
Example
An operations lead exploring invoice automation sends a one-page RFI to six vendors asking about ERP connectors, data hosting and onboarding time, then uses the replies to cut the list to three for an RFP.