Photo courtesy of Vazghen Nikolian
Opinions expressed by contributors are their own.
The U.S. manufacturing sector is in a constant state of growth, driven by reindustrialization and a push for domestic production. However, procurement — the backbone of manufacturing — remains prone to inefficiency, with pricing misalignment often cited as a primary concern.
Traditional procurement processes rely on manual supplier negotiations, lengthy decisionmaking, and outdated pricing models, resulting in higherthannecessary contract costs and operational bottlenecks. Furthermore, many manufacturers still rely on paperbased contracts and scattered communication channels, making it difficult to assess market conditions in real time and confirm whether they’re getting the most competitive prices.
According to Vazghen Nikolian, CEO and cofounder of Wimble AI, addressing these inefficiencies is one of the most critical challenges for the industry. Building on his background in supply chain management, artificial intelligence, and logistics, he cofounded Wimble AI to automate several key aspects of the procurement process and reduce the potential for cost overruns.
Wimble AI is already being used by manufacturers in the automobile and chemical sectors, delivering tangible benefits by leveraging AIdriven negotiations and realtime data to help businesses optimize costs, shorten negotiation cycles, and avoid unnecessary administrative burdens.
Identifying the shortcomings of traditional procurement
Procurement has traditionally required a lot of manual effort: Teams often spend weeks exchanging emails and phone calls with suppliers, only to settle on prices that can be higher than they should be — issues that are only compounded by outdated pricing models and fragmented communication. Without realtime insights into market conditions, manufacturers may struggle to confirm fair pricing or negotiate effectively. These inefficiencies not only drain resources but can also lead to inconsistent pricing and missed opportunities for cost savings.
Vazghen Nikolian identified these issues in his leadership position at a supply chain company in Eastern Europe. He knew that procurement needed an overhaul to solve its efficiency and cost problems, but at the time, tech was not advanced enough to automate sourcing and negotiation. However, the recent emergence of transformerbased models changed this.
Recognizing the potential for AI to outperform humans in price optimization and supplier negotiations, Nikolian founded Wimble AI to address the recurring problem of pricing misalignment.
The Wimble AI approach
By integrating advanced negotiation algorithms and large language models, Wimble AI provides manufacturers with datadriven methods that keep pace with evolving market conditions.
The platform reimagines procurement from the ground up, replacing slow and manual workflows with autonomous AI agents that can instantly analyze supplier pricing trends across global databases. It then negotiates deals automatically using realtime market intelligence and optimizes purchasing decisions based on price, delivery time, and supplier reliability. By eliminating much of the manual backandforth with vendors, it allows companies to finalize procurement decisions faster and with more confidence. These same capabilities enable procurement teams to better scale to meet their growing needs, since negotiations are handled autonomously and don’t require additions to the workforce.
Ultimately, Wimble AI aims to alleviate operational delays and help manufacturers consistently secure more favorable terms — allowing them to focus resources on their core business functions.
The future of AI in procurement
Despite the promise of AI, supply chain sectors have historically been slow to adopt new technologies, with concerns about data security, implementation costs, and general skepticism posing significant barriers to innovation. But Wimble AI is already producing tangible benefits for established industry players, setting a standard for how AIdriven procurement can deliver measurable results. As the manufacturing sector grapples with increasing competition and tight margins, these early success stories highlight the practical benefits of automated sourcing and supplier negotiations.
By providing realtime market analysis, optimizing pricing structures, and streamlining communication, Vazghen Nikolian is taking part in the global redefining of procurement. For him, the transition to AIdriven solutions is no longer a matter of “if” — but “when.” As the marketplace continues to evolve, he believes that embracing automation and databacked decisionmaking will be crucial for manufacturers that hope to remain competitive and profitable in the years ahead.
