Saad Ullah
Something remarkable is happening: robots are making deals. Not just processing paperwork—actually negotiating contract terms and closing agreements. No human required.
From Prediction to Reality
AI commentator Alex Prompter recently predicted that by 2026, 40% of B2B deals will happen between AI agents, with no humans involved. Sounds like science fiction? Walmart is already doing it—and it's working.
Walmart's procurement system now handles 68% of supplier negotiations through AI chatbots. These agents negotiate terms, adjust offers, and finalize contracts autonomously. The results: deals close faster, costs drop 1.5-3%, and 75% of suppliers prefer dealing with AI over human buyers.
Gartner data shows that by 2026, 40% of enterprise software will include task-specific AI agents. By 2027, half of all procurement contracts could be AI-enabled. We're watching the business world fundamentally rewire itself.
Walmart started smart—targeting smaller "tail-end suppliers" where human negotiation wastes time and resources. Working with AI vendor Pactum, they built a system that handles these negotiations at scale.
The AI successfully negotiated with two-thirds of suppliers, shaving 1.5-3% off contract costs—millions at Walmart's scale. Payment terms got faster, contracts got clearer, and most suppliers preferred it. Why? Speed, consistency, and no games.
Why Everyone's Paying Attention
The appeal is clear:
- Speed: Deals close in days instead of weeks
- Cost savings: 1-3% matters enormously at scale
- Scalability: One system handles thousands of vendors
- Objectivity: No bias, no emotional baggage, no politics
For massive organizations, this solves an impossible problem—cutting costs while keeping suppliers happy.
AI-to-AI dealmaking faces real challenges. Legal frameworks haven't caught up—who's liable when an agent makes a costly mistake? AI can still embed biased data. Complex strategic deals still need human judgment and creativity that algorithms can't replicate yet.
Gartner warns that over 40% of AI-agent projects may fail by 2027 due to unclear ROI, governance issues, and technical complexity.
Procurement and sales professionals aren't becoming obsolete, but their jobs are changing. The future looks like supervising AI agents—setting parameters, reviewing outcomes, and handling exceptions—rather than leading every negotiation.
Smart companies are retraining teams to encode negotiation strategy into AI systems. Tomorrow's advantage goes to those who understand how to design and deploy the algorithms that negotiate for them.
Saad Ullah
