MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pactum, an AI-based platform that enables global companies to automate personalized commercial negotiations on a massive scale, today announced that Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) has engaged Pactum to automate negotiations with part of its global supplier network. Pactum’s augmented artificial intelligence system enables partners to negotiate more valuable contracts for all parties while reducing costs for customers.
Pactum’s deal with Walmart is set for a pilot project with some of the company’s long tail vendors. Revisiting those partnerships is key for large companies like Walmart, who may have so many contracts with various suppliers that it is hard for individual people to reach out and renegotiate, should circumstances change.
“We’re thrilled to be working with Walmart,” said Martin Rand, Pactum CEO. “It’s encouraging that, as a leader in cutting edge technological innovation for efficiencies across its enterprise workflows, they see the value in what Pactum offers.”
Inefficient contracting has been estimated to cause firms to lose between 17% to 40% of the value on a given deal, depending on circumstances, according to research by KPMG. Increasing the efficiency of millions of longtail supplier contracts represents a $200-500 billion opportunity for Fortune Global 500 companies jointly, according to Pactum’s calculations.
“The underlying principle of efficient negotiations is that it’s not a zero-sum game,” said Rand. “The fact that one party wins with Pactum means the other party will win as well. Pactum removes the inefficiencies from low value, high volume deals.”
In addition to retail, Pactum is also negotiating deals in real estate, online marketplaces, and online advertising. Pactum first showed early success with a daily deals company where it helped to increase vendor commission by 27% and 82% of those vendors said they would prefer to negotiate with that same bot again.
Pactum’s team of analysts begins each project by mapping what they call the “value function” in a given set of negotiations. This is combined by Pactum’s negotiation chatbot which is capable of autonomously conducting best practice negotiations prepared by Pactum’s negotiation scientists. Once a negotiation is complete, all information is updated automatically in relevant systems such as ERP and CRM.
About Pactum:
Pactum is an AI-based system that helps global companies to autonomously offer personalized, commercial negotiations on a massive scale. The system adds value and saves time for both the Pactum client and their negotiation partner by aligning their values to determine win-win agreements via an easy-to-use chat interface that implements best-practice negotiation strategies. The web-based tool’s applications range from supplier negotiations for online marketplaces to enterprise and retail procurement negotiations. The company is based in Mountain View with engineering and operations in Estonia. Pactum is backed by founders of Skype and TransferWise and built by luminaries from Skype, Starship Technologies and the Government of Estonia’s e-Residency program. All are agreed on Pactum’s vision of artificial intelligence improving business relationships while safeguarding humanity with ethical AI. Learn more at www.pactum.com.
