How Tata Play Became a First-Mover in Autonomous Procurement with Zycus’ Merlin AI

In one of the most talked-about PLaN sessions, Tata Play’s supply chain leader shared a rare, inside look at what it takes to operationalize agentic AI in procurement—with real events, real suppliers, and real savings.

Tata Play, a Zycus customer, became the first enterprise in India to deploy autonomous negotiation for tail spend. Three months after launch, the results have reshaped how their procurement team works. The system automatically identifies suppliers, builds lightweight sourcing events, negotiates, evaluates responses, and recommends awards—all within hours instead of days.

The speaker highlights how the team initially monitored each sourcing event, gradually increased trust as the agent improved, and ultimately reduced manual oversight as outcomes grew more consistent. This balance—AI-driven execution with human judgment—is now the backbone of their procurement strategy.

The session also touches on what made their deployment successful: clean data foundations, smart category selection, leadership alignment, and willingness to embrace agentic systems not as experiments, but as operational partners.

If you want to understand what real AI adoption looks like—beyond proofs of concept, beyond hype—this is the story you need to watch. Tata Play – Zycus partnership proves that autonomous procurement is not theoretical nor experimental. It’s live. It’s measurable. And it’s redefining how procurement teams deliver value.