Icertis: How AI-Powered Contracts Will Drive Savings

Procurement leaders are beginning to look towards AI Agents for manual tasks like contract negotiations, as they face mounting pressure to deliver cost savings while managing increasingly complex supplier relationships.

AI is therefore increasingly emerging as a game-changing force in contract management, with leaders seeing it as the tool to support transformation.

Icertis, a leader in AI-powered contract intelligence, published a survey of 1,000 C-suite executives.

• 83% said AI agents that manage business relationships with customers, suppliers and partners are a top priority among AI use cases. 
• 53% believe agents will negotiate customer or supplier deals on behalf of their business within the next year, 
• 34% anticipate this shift in the next 1-3 years.

Bernadette Bulacan, Chief Evangelist at Icertis, is at the forefront of this transformation. With enterprises managing thousands of supplier agreements containing untapped commercial intelligence, Icertis is pioneering AI-driven solutions that turn static contracts into strategic assets. 

Speaking to Procurement Magazine, Bernadette reveals how leading organisations are already achieving eight-figure savings through smarter negotiations.

She also discusses the delicate balance between AI automation and human expertise and shares her vision for a future where AI agents autonomously negotiate deals – but with humans in control. 

From uncovering hidden rebate opportunities to predicting supplier risks, contract intelligence is becoming one of AI's most proven enterprise use cases.

How does your platform support smarter, data-driven contract negotiations?

Commercial agreements, and the critical data they contain, are one of the most valuable assets in the enterprise and a prime resource to drive financial outcomes with AI. Icertis surfaces data-driven insights across thousands of agreements so businesses can discover how suppliers diverge on pricing, evaluate performance against obligations, pinpoint hidden risks and benchmark across portfolios.

This includes uncovering opportunities such as volume discounts or rebates, enabling procurement leaders to negotiate more favourable commercial terms backed by reliable intelligence, not guesswork.

How is AI transforming supplier risk assessment and negotiation strategy?

Contracts provide a single source of truth for enterprises to demonstrate compliance while safeguarding their business from liability and risk. AI in contracting gives procurement leaders clear visibility into supplier relationships, enabling them to better anticipate challenges and proactively shape negotiation strategies.

When paired with supplier risk data, AI goes further, helping identify the most reliable partners, assess potential risk exposure and focus negotiations on strengthening those supplier relationships.

Procurement teams can then negotiate smarter, prioritise the terms that protect margins, standardise compliance and build resilient supply chains.

Can you share a case study where your solution improved contract outcomes?

Icertis customers are seeing measurable results, and Icertis Vera, a smarter AI for contracts that understands the nature of business relationships, has helped to deepen the impact for enterprises.

A European telecom leader identified US$35m in savings following a merger, through supplier contract rationalisation efforts, like cancelling redundant agreements and consolidating purchasing power.

Additionally, one global pharmaceutical company – number 42 on the Fortune 500 list – saved US$70m annually by enforcing commercial terms with Icertis for more than 250,000 supplier contracts in 17 languages. Contract intelligence is one of the few AI use cases already delivering ROI at scale.

How do you enable procurement teams to balance efficiency with human judgment?

Dependence on any technology carries risks, but the greater hazard today is ignoring AI-driven efficiencies altogether. AI should augment human decision-making, not replace it entirely.

Icertis complements rather than substitutes human expertise by automating the repetitive, low-risk contracting tasks – such as clause checks, reminders, deadlines and spotting risky language. More importantly, Icertis delivers AI that is grounded in contract and supplier data, reducing bias and guesswork.

This ensures negotiations are data-driven, enabling procurement teams to move faster, secure stronger terms, protect compliance and achieve better outcomes – while keeping human judgement firmly in control.

What innovations do you see shaping the future of digital supplier negotiation?

More than half of C-suite leaders believe AI agents will negotiate supplier deals within the next year. Procurement will be AI-enabled to focus on high-value outcomes while agents enforce rebates, flag inflation triggers and suggest alternative suppliers.

AI agents will not only leverage contract data, but they will also execute guided negotiations with playbook guardrails and propose alternatives when uncertainty arises. Looking ahead, contracting will increasingly happen autonomously – with humans in the loop. Icertis Vera is the first step toward this future.