Merlin Insights
Ask your spend anything. Answers in seconds.Merlin Insights answers procurement questions in plain English. AI agents read your spend, supplier, contract, sourcing and invoicing data and come back with a chart, the key findings and what to do next. No coding, no report building.
Trusted by procurement teams at
Swissport
Regeneron
The usual way, the why gets stuck in tickets, exports and queues. With Merlin Insights, it is a prompt away.
Five hurdles, almost three weeks, and the moment to act has passed.
Ask in plain language. Get the complete analysis.
From question to clarity, in seconds.
Ask, and a team of AI agents connects the data, finds what matters and tells you what to do about it.
Ask in plain English
Type the question the way you would ask a colleague.
- Ask about spend, suppliers, categories or business units in plain English.
- Get a chart, a one-line snapshot and key findings back, without writing a query or building a report.
Agents work behind the scenes
The right agents pick up your question.
- See the Agent route your question to the Data Analyzer and Trend Analyzer.
- Follow every step in the agentic AI exploration trail, so you know how the answer was reached.
Answers to the why behind the spend
Ask why, not only what.
- Ask why spend went up and see the price discrepancies, affected SKUs and excess spend behind it.
- See where the savings are, supplier by supplier, before the next negotiation.
Overview to detail in one click
Go from the big picture to the line item.
- Click from a category into sub-categories, suppliers and line items without a new report.
- Keep the snapshot and findings in view as you go deeper.
Every answer ends with a next step
Turn an insight into action in one click.
- Get recommendations with every answer, from tighter contract compliance to consolidating vendors.
- Click a suggested follow-up, such as “Show me POs without contracts”, and keep going.
Every answer comes with the why and the what next.
Merlin Insights does not stop at a chart. Here is what comes back when you ask a question.
- 1SnapshotOne line that answers the question first, before any chart.
- 2The chartThe right visual for the question, built on the fly from your data.
- 3Key findingsWhat stands out, such as the categories and business units with unusual spikes.
- 4RecommendationsA suggested next step for every insight, so you know what to do about it.
- 5Drill-down pathClick from category to sub-category, supplier and line item without a new report.
- 6Agent trailWhich agent did what, so you can see exactly how the answer was reached.
The questions your team asks, answered.
Here are a few to get you started. Ask about your spend, suppliers, contracts or invoices the way you normally would, and Merlin Insights takes it from there.
Three suppliers hold most of the spend in two critical categories.
Thousands of small purchases sit outside contracts at higher unit prices.
IT hardware and facilities drove most of the increase.
Purchase price variance rose with two valve suppliers after a surcharge.
Two suppliers missed delivery dates on most orders this quarter.
IT is the largest category this year, and it is growing.
Price discrepancies on identical SKUs across suppliers drove excess spend.
IT spend rose quarter on quarter, led by hardware.
The same SKUs are bought at different prices across business units.
A share of spend runs through POs with no contract behind them.
Three business units show spikes against last year.
One service category has the most off-contract spend.
Your data. Instant answers.
Conversational first
Ask in plain English and get an answer in seconds, with no coding, no SQL and no report building.
Actionable intelligence
Every insight comes with a suggested next step, so the answer turns into a decision, not another report.
Data from across Source-to-Pay
Answers draw on spend, supplier risk, contracts, sourcing and invoicing, not one data set at a time.
A team of AI agents
Spend analytics, risk analysis and data analyzer agents work through your data in real time, around the clock.
Every answer traceable
The agentic AI exploration trail shows which agent did what, so you can see how each answer was reached.
One click to detail
Go from a high-level view to sub-category, supplier and SKU detail without asking for a new report.
What our customers say.
“The process that has improved the most with Zycus’ digitization has been our true visibility on spend on a one-click basis. Something that used to take us weeks is now done in 2 seconds.”
“This AI-powered tool has transformed how we manage Source-to-Pay requests, providing real-time notifications to keep us informed and enabling seamless on-the-go approvals.”
Regeneron“I’m impressed with Zycus for providing a single platform that fosters team collaboration and customizing solutions to meet our needs at Regeneron. Their quick turnaround on change requests has been excellent.”
not bolted on
“The only partner able to cover the procurement transformation journey with AI built into it, not bolted onto it.”
Swissport
Universal recognition, undisputed leadership.
Questions buyers ask about Merlin Insights
Still have a question?
Bring a question your team struggles to answer today, and we'll show you how Merlin Insights answers it.
Talk to usWhat is Merlin Insights?
Merlin Insights is conversational procurement analytics from Zycus. You ask a question about spend, suppliers or categories in plain English, and a team of AI agents reads your Source-to-Pay data and answers in seconds with a chart, the key findings and a recommended next step. It is part of the Merlin Agentic Platform and built into the Zycus Source-to-Pay suite.
How is Merlin Insights different from spend analysis dashboards and BI tools?
Dashboards and BI tools show the views someone built in advance, and a new question usually means exporting, cleansing and pivoting data or waiting for an analyst. Merlin Insights answers new questions as you ask them, draws on data from across Source-to-Pay, and adds findings and a suggested next step to every answer.
What data does Merlin Insights use?
Merlin Insights draws on data from across the Zycus Source-to-Pay suite, including spend, supplier risk, contracts, sourcing and invoicing. Because it reads the suite’s shared data, there is no separate export or data merge before you ask.
Which AI agents work behind Merlin Insights?
An Orchestrator Agent works out what the question needs and routes it to the right agents. Data Analyzer and Trend Analyzer agents read spend patterns and spot anomalies, and an Insight Generator writes the key findings and suggested next questions. Spend analytics and risk analysis agents cover spend and supplier risk.
Can I see how Merlin Insights reached an answer?
Yes. The agentic AI exploration trail shows each agent’s step next to the answer, from identifying the question to analyzing categories and business units and generating the findings.
Do I need SQL, coding or report-building skills?
No. You ask in plain English, the way you would ask a colleague, and drill down by clicking into categories, suppliers and line items.
What kinds of questions can I ask?
Questions such as how IT spend changed last quarter, which suppliers are underperforming, what tail spend is doing to margins, why spend went up this quarter, or how concentrated your supplier base is in a category.
See your own spend question answered in seconds.
Bring a real question about your spend, suppliers or categories. We'll show you how Merlin Insights answers it, with the chart, the findings and the next step.
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