insights

What is Autonomous Negotiation? – An explainer

At the inaugural ProcureTEX event in September, Beroe published An Introduction to Real Autonomous Negotiation, the industry’s first comprehensive explainer on the transformative potential of autonomous negotiation in procurement.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sharing a series of extracts from the guide which will help break down key concepts, challenges, and opportunities behind one of the most exciting developments in procurement technology. Today, we’re starting with a quick explainer on autonomous negotiation.

The term "autonomous negotiation" is rapidly gaining traction in procurement circles. Yet despite growing interest, platforms and solutions offering truly autonomous negotiations remain rare. Most “autonomous” platforms on the market today have been built upon the same limited negotiation formats which have existed for decades and repackaged under new branding, rather than advancing the underlying technology.

In reality, what is marketed as “autonomous” today often offers little more than automated extensions of traditional bidding and e-sourcing tools. While these can enable incremental efficiency gains, they fall well short of delivering the transformative ROIs that true autonomy can enable.

True autonomy, when grounded in intelligent decision-making and behavioral modeling, can deliver transformational outcomes – including significantly greater savings and dramatically faster sourcing cycles.

So, what is it that sets a genuine autonomous negotiation apart?

Before vs. after autonomous negotiation

Feature	Traditional Negotiation	Autonomous Negotiation
Negotiation Speed	Slow, manual	Fast, automated
Strategy Consistency	Varies by person	AI-driven, situation-specific recommendations
Supplier Engagement	One-size-fits-all, manual, buyer intervention	Context-aware, automated, fair
Outcomes	Prone to variability	Optimal outcomes, in all circumstances

For negotiations to be both authentic and autonomous, three criteria must be met:

1. They actually negotiate

True negotiations involve dynamic, iterative interplay between parties to reach mutually beneficial outcomes and, most importantly, learn during negotiations and not just after. Traditional e-auction tools may digitize the collection of supplier quotes and simple auctions, but they lack the capacity to recommend, respond, learn or create value collaboratively.

More than just quote collecting, truly autonomous systems will:

Negotiate in several rounds, learning during each
Balance variables beyond price such as deal terms, clauses and SLAs
Use game theory and modeling to maximize value

2. They’re genuinely autonomous

While many digital tools can streamline repetitive tasks, true autonomy implies the ability to independently execute complex processes and respond intelligently to changing conditions.

These systems don’t just help you click faster, they:

Run end-to-end negotiations
Act as an intelligent agent
Learn and get sharper with every deal

3. They can handle any negotiation setup

Any robust autonomous negotiation platform should accommodate both bilateral and multilateral scenarios:

Bilateral – Strategic, high-value, complex deals? No problem.
Multilateral – Multiple suppliers, conditional offers, ESG filters? Autonomous negotiation platforms thrive on it.

The most advanced systems are designed to seamlessly switch between or combine these approaches, ensuring the negotiation strategy aligns with the unique context of each procurement event.

To learn more, download our complete guide: An Introduction to Real Autonomous Negotiation here.