FedEx Expands SAF Procurement Across Five Airports

FedEx is increasing its procurement of sustainable aviation fuel across its US air network, with new agreements covering operations at five major airports.

The agreements span Newark Liberty International Airport, Oakland International Airport, Miami International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

They are expected to secure more than 20 million gallons of neat SAF through calendar year 2027, with the fuel delivered in blends ranging from 30 per cent to 50 per cent depending on location.

FedEx is working towards a target of sourcing 30 per cent of its jet fuel blended from alternative sources by 2030.

“The latest agreements represent an expansion of SAF within the FedEx air network enabled, in part, by state and federal level incentives,” said Greg Paulus, Vice President of Enterprise Sourcing at FedEx.

Building on Existing SAF Deployment

The latest agreements build on FedEx’s existing procurement of alternative aviation fuels.

Starting in 2025, the company secured approximately five million gallons of neat SAF through agreements that resulted in the deployment of 16.5 million gallons of blended SAF across five US airports.

With the latest procurement phase, FedEx said SAF blends will represent a significant share of its jet fuel consumption at the five airports covered by the new agreements.

The expansion demonstrates how fuel procurement is becoming part of the company’s wider approach to reducing emissions from its logistics network, while also providing demand for greater SAF production.

“SAF is one of the most impactful decarbonization solutions available to aviation today and an important part of our approach to reducing emissions,” said Karen Blanks Ellis, Chief Sustainability Officer and Vice President of Environmental Affairs at FedEx.

“For the market to grow, supply needs to be reliable, affordable, and sustainable. Expanding our procurement allows us to employ more SAF in our network while bolstering the demand for greater production and scale.”

Supply, Infrastructure and Economics Shape Expansion

FedEx said further expansion of SAF use will depend on the development of the wider market and the availability of suitable supply and infrastructure.

The company will continue evaluating opportunities to increase SAF deployment where supply, infrastructure and economics align with the requirements of its air network.

The agreements form part of FedEx’s broader sustainability strategy, which includes a goal of achieving carbon-neutral global operations by 2040.

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Zip Brings Supplier Risk into Procurement Workflows

Zip has expanded its AI Risk Orchestration technology to cover risk management across the supplier lifecycle, enabling procurement teams to assess vendor risk within the same platform used to make purchasing decisions.

The company unveiled the expanded solution at its Zip Forward 2026 conference alongside Sourcing and purchase order (PO) Management Superagents, new data partnerships, an app marketplace and accrual accounting automation.

AI Risk Orchestration was first introduced in April 2025 to incorporate vendor risk reviews directly into purchasing workflows. Zip has since worked with organisations including Mutual of Omaha, Stripe, Affirm, Rivian, Metro Bank and Checkout.com to develop the offering.

According to Zip, customers using the technology have achieved 85 per cent faster cycle times, 98 per cent supplier portal completion rates and twice the supplier risk coverage, while reducing manual review work by up to 90 per cent.

Rujul Zaparde, Co-Founder and CEO of Zip, said: “Risk management has traditionally lived beside procurement, even though the purchasing process is where companies decide which vendors they’re willing to trust.”

“We started by bringing risk into that decision. Now we’ve built the full, AI-powered, third-party risk management experience around it, so companies can move faster without separating risk from the work itself.”

AI Automates Supplier Risk Reviews

The expanded system can triage purchasing requests, determine when assessments are required and pre-fill questionnaires using existing supplier information.

It then scores suppliers against an organisation’s own risk methodology and identifies findings from questionnaires, documents and other sources. Issues can be tracked through to resolution before a purchase receives approval.

Reassessments can also run automatically according to company policies, while continuous monitoring alerts relevant teams when critical risk factors change.

For AI suppliers, the system can assess areas including data privacy, security, model access and the handling of sensitive company information before purchasing commitments are made.

Kate Hiykel, Manager of the Vendor Management Program at Mutual of Omaha, said: “Zip’s AI Risk Orchestration, in combination with its agents, has changed how we do vendor management.”

“With the automated scoring, we are able to consistently apply our framework and methodology to all vendor reviews, both at intake and monitoring, which is something we haven’t been able to get ‘just right’ before. We are beyond excited to continue this maturation with the next iteration of AI Risk Orchestration and Zip’s Superagents.”

Superagents Target Sourcing and PO Management

Zip also introduced a Sourcing Superagent designed to help procurement teams manage sourcing events from initial requests through to supplier selection.

Its PO Management Superagent uses purchase order history, billing information and company policies to recommend and prepare actions when orders require attention. Zip said this could help reduce blocked payments and improve forecasting and accrual accuracy.

The company is also adding external procurement data through partnerships with NPI, SpendHound, Tropic, Beroe, Brightfield and TEEM, initially focusing on price benchmarking and supplier use cases.

A new app marketplace will allow procurement and IT teams to install integration templates and connect Zip with other enterprise systems.

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SOVEREIGN AI IN CRITICAL SUPPLY CHAINS

NVIDIA and Palantir Technologies have announced a collaboration to bring sovereign AI to critical supply chains, beginning with NVIDIA’s own operations.

The deployment combines NVIDIA Nemotron open models with Palantir Foundry and its Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP), grounded in the Palantir Ontology. Together, the technologies are designed to increase supply chain visibility, identify constraints, codify operational expertise, and guide decisions at machine speed.

FROM WAFER TO TOKEN

NVIDIA operates an exceptionally complex supply chain, spanning millions of parts, thousands of suppliers, and a global network of manufacturing partners. Bringing a rack-scale AI system into production requires the coordinated availability of compute, memory, networking, power, cooling, and mechanical components.

As demand for AI infrastructure accelerates, NVIDIA is working with its ecosystem to secure supply for the 1.3 million parts in each NVIDIA Vera Rubin rack and speed up AI infrastructure scaling.

NVIDIA is deploying the new AI stack across its supply chain to create a shared command centre, starting with materials allocation decisions that affect how quickly parts move through the wider supply chain.

By identifying potential constraints earlier, evaluating alternatives faster, and allocating materials based on end-to-end production impact, the system aims to strengthen the reliability and efficiency of NVIDIA’s AI infrastructure supply chain.

As Jensen Huang, founder and CEO of NVIDIA, explains, “NVIDIA and Palantir are transforming this vast operational graph into sovereign intelligence – combining NVIDIA Nemotron models with Palantir’s Ontology to reason, plan and orchestrate the journey from wafer to token.”

AI BUILT AROUND EACH ORGANISATION

Rather than relying solely on general-purpose AI, the approach allows organisations to post-train NVIDIA Nemotron open models using their own operational data through Palantir Foundry and AIP.

“NVIDIA has arguably the most valuable, intricate and complex supply chain in the world. Our sovereign stack, powered by Nemotron models and Ontology, is delivering capabilities that exceed the frontier while providing alpha protection qualities unavailable otherwise,” said Alex Karp, co-Founder and CEO of Palantir Technologies.

“We are very proud of our partnership and its cornerstone role in the sovereign AI revolution,” he adds.

Within AIP, NVIDIA cuOpt software enables optimisation and scenario planning, allowing teams to model supply constraints, assess trade-offs, and understand the operational impact of allocation decisions. The resulting models can recommend actions, explain trade-offs, and flag emerging risks, while supply chain experts retain control over final decisions.

The system can also support a continuous learning loop. Each recommendation, planner action, and production outcome can contribute to further model improvement through Palantir Autopilot, NVIDIA NeMo AutoModel, and NeMo RL libraries.

This enables organisations to preserve operational knowledge, measure decisions against real-world outcomes, and continually improve specialised AI models.

DESIGNED FOR SOVEREIGN DEPLOYMENT

The companies intend to extend the learnings from NVIDIA’s deployment to help organisations across complex industries build more resilient, responsive, and intelligent supply chains.

The jointly developed Palantir Sovereign AI Operating System Reference Architecture is designed for enterprise-scale deployment, with the NVIDIA supply chain implementation running on NVIDIA reference architectures.

Organisations can deploy the AI stack on-premises with system manufacturers including Cisco and Dell Technologies, or in co-location and cloud environments with Rackspace and Nebius. This flexibility enables enterprises to run AI where their data, systems, and operational requirements demand it.

By combining open AI models with proprietary operational data and infrastructure under organisational control, NVIDIA and Palantir are targeting a supply chain intelligence model that can adapt to each enterprise’s unique requirements.

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Exiger Rebuilds Supply Chain Platform Around AI

Exiger has unveiled an AI-native version of its 1Exiger platform, designed to automate supply chain, procurement and compliance processes through autonomous AI agents.

The upgraded platform includes 1EXIGER.AI, an enhanced AI execution layer built using the company’s new AI product development lifecycle (AI-PDLC). It combines Exiger’s proprietary supply chain data with AI, domain expertise and secure infrastructure.

The transformation follows a USD$1.2 billion investment led by Carlyle, Insight Partners and JMI Equity in 2023, as well as three subsequent acquisitions that expanded Exiger’s proprietary data assets.

Brandon Daniels, CEO of Exiger, said: “With the AI-PDLC, we were able to rapidly execute this platform upgrade, integrating the most advanced agentic AI capabilities in just months and creating a platform for the ongoing release of new functionality on a daily and even hourly basis. 1Exiger will be like the smartphone of supply chain, readiness, and trade management, with new versions seamlessly deployed for an ever-improving experience.”

“This product development platform and built-in supply chain data universe obliterates the ‘build vs. buy’ decision for the supply chain, acquisition, and procurement communities, giving them the data they need and the tooling that allows them to use it effortlessly.”

Agentic AI Targets Supply Chain Decisions

The platform has evolved from a supply chain risk solution into a centralised AI platform covering operating networks from parts and suppliers to regulators and customers.

Its autonomous agentic workforce is designed to learn and adapt with each decision, while the platform draws on a supply chain knowledge asset containing three trillion data points.

Daniels said: “Our capacity to revolutionize markets by building fit-for-purpose tooling and proprietary data into cutting-edge agentic workflows will allow us to not only dominate our core supply chain, readiness, trade compliance, and procurement markets, but also stretch into new ones.”

“With the AI-PDLC, Exiger can do with a few hundred Experience Builders, a new role we’ve created aligned with AI-Native development, and engineers what companies with 10,000 staff engineers do. We’re operating at the bleeding edge. The customers building alongside us retain their own data while leveraging Exiger’s competitive advantage to create and own their AI future.”

AI Compresses Platform Development

Exiger said AI now writes 95 per cent of first-generation code within its AI-PDLC. The company said the approach compressed a platform upgrade originally estimated at three years and USD$180 million into a four-month, USD$20 million project.

Steve Bailey, Partner at Carlyle and Chairman of Exiger’s Board of Directors, and Dayne Baird, Partner at Carlyle and Board Member, said: “Exiger’s AI transformation reflects a forward-looking approach to innovation and a commitment to continually rethinking conventional approaches.

The timing of this release is particularly compelling as defence and government customers are increasingly demanding sophisticated AI capabilities for supply chain mapping and decision-making. We believe Exiger is well positioned to meet this growing demand.”

Investors Back Exiger’s AI Strategy

Ryan Hinkle, Managing Director at Insight Partners and Board Member, said: “Exiger’s AI-driven innovation engine generates durable moat, almost at-will, and their AI-PDLC is among the most advanced in the market, inside or outside of Silicon Valley.”

“Achieving 50% core market growth this year only reinforces our strong conviction in the Exiger team and what they’re building.”

Bob Nye, Partner at JMI Equity and Board Member, added: “Rather than defend legacy approaches, Exiger embraced its philosophy of innovation-led transformation and reinvented its business ahead of the market.”

“In doing so, the company has created a blueprint for how category leaders can harness AI to unlock new avenues of growth. We believe Exiger represents a compelling model for AI-native transformation across the JMI portfolio.”

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Autonomous Delivery Concept Targets European Logistics

Stellantis Pro One and UQI Robotics are collaborating on autonomous delivery technology as they explore how driverless vehicles could support more efficient last-mile logistics operations.

The companies plan to develop the Box-on-Wheels proof of concept, an autonomous logistics vehicle intended to integrate autonomous driving, electrification, connectivity and supporting services into a single logistics solution.

The project will initially focus on Europe, where validation activities are expected to assess operational performance, customer value and the potential to scale the technology. Expansion into other international markets could follow as development progresses.

AI and Robotics Drive Last-Mile Automation

The collaboration combines Stellantis Pro One’s commercial vehicle expertise with UQI Robotics’ capabilities in AI, robotics and autonomous driving.

UQI Robotics will provide autonomous systems, software and perception technologies underpinning the concept. The company was established as a joint venture between UBTECH and Miracle Automation in 2020 and has deployed more than 7,000 robots across 66 cities and regions worldwide.

Stellantis Pro One will focus on adapting and scaling the technology for Europe and other potential markets while developing services, connectivity, fleet integration and business solutions around the autonomous vehicle.

Eric Laforge, Global Senior Vice President at Stellantis Pro One, said: “Professional customers are increasingly looking for solutions that go beyond the vehicle itself.”

“Through this collaboration with UQI Robotics, we are exploring how autonomous technologies, connectivity and services could contribute to the future of commercial mobility. While autonomous urban commercial vehicles are already becoming a reality in China, this collaboration allows us to evaluate how such technologies could be adapted to other markets and customer needs.”

From Commercial Vehicle to Logistics Platform

Box-on-Wheels is intended to explore a broader role for commercial vehicles within logistics operations, moving beyond transportation towards an integrated autonomous delivery platform.

The companies see potential for the technology to improve operational efficiency, reduce complexity and support more sustainable delivery models.

Laforge added: “Together, we aim to explore a truly disruptive approach to the light commercial vehicle sector, expanding the role of the vehicle from a transportation asset to an integrated logistics platform that can help operators improve efficiency, productivity and sustainability.”

The concept also forms part of Stellantis’ FaSTLAne 2030 strategy, combining autonomous logistics, AI, electrification, connectivity and services.

Autonomous End-to-End Logistics

UQI Robotics is ultimately targeting an autonomous end-to-end logistics system combining autonomous vehicles with humanoid robots.

Li Bei, Chairman and CEO of UQI Robotics, said: “Together, we aim to explore the development of a new generation of autonomous logistics vehicles and delivery solutions that meet the needs of customers in Europe and other international markets and are designed for deployment at scale.”

“This collaboration also marks an important milestone in UQI Robotics’ long-term vision to build an autonomous end-to-end logistics system with autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots.”

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Jaggaer Expands Direct Materials Capabilities

Jaggaer has completed its acquisition of German spend and price intelligence specialist Ivoflow, combining its end-to-end procurement platform with technology designed to help manufacturers identify savings opportunities across direct materials.

The transaction closed on 11 September 2026. Ivoflow, founded in 2020 and based in Koblenz, Germany, provides technology that connects enterprise resource planning (ERP) and procurement information with external market data to assess whether supplier pricing reflects underlying market conditions.

The acquisition is intended to bring this intelligence directly into procurement workflows, allowing buyers to identify price differences across suppliers, plants and geographies and determine where potential savings opportunities exist.

Andrew Roszko, Chief Executive Officer of Jaggaer, said: “Ivoflow will enable buyers to manage more of their direct materials within a single platform, bringing powerful market and cost intelligence into supplier negotiations.”

“This means more transparent, fact-based conversations with suppliers, stronger partnerships, and better commercial outcomes. We see real opportunity to invest in the team, expand the platform, and accelerate what we can deliver together.”

AI Targets Supplier Price Increases

Direct materials typically account for between 50 and 70 per cent of cost of goods sold for complex manufacturers, according to Jaggaer, yet fewer than two per cent operate a purpose-built spend and price intelligence capability for the category.

Ivoflow is designed to address this by combining purchasing records with external information including commodity indices, currency movements and cost data.

Its technology recalculates expected costs at individual part level as market conditions change, giving procurement teams additional evidence when negotiating with suppliers.

AI is also used to analyse supplier price-increase requests. The technology identifies cost drivers such as raw materials, currencies and labour and compares them against market data to determine how much of a proposed increase is supported by changing costs.

Spend Intelligence Moves into Procurement Workflows

Combining the platforms is intended to allow pricing analysis to take place within the systems buyers already use to manage purchasing activities.

Jaggaer provides technology covering processes from supplier selection and sourcing through contract negotiations and invoice payments. Adding Ivoflow is intended to provide buyers with greater intelligence on whether the prices being negotiated represent fair market value.

Ivoflow can also analyse an organisation’s wider spend to identify categories where prices have moved out of line with market conditions before suppliers request increases.

The company currently serves 17 enterprise manufacturing customers and has €77.6 million in tracked savings under management.

Jaggaer Plans Further AI Investment

Jaggaer plans to invest in Ivoflow’s team, technology and product roadmap following the acquisition.

Planned development areas include AI-powered scenario modelling, savings-probability generation and proactive procurement guidance.

Ivoflow Co-Founders Daniel Demuth and Nicolas Neubauer will continue to lead the Ivoflow team within Jaggaer.

Demuth said: “Jaggaer gives us the opportunity to help shape the future of how manufacturing enterprises manage their spend and identify savings.

By combining Ivoflow’s capabilities with Jaggaer’s team, reach and platform, we can accelerate our roadmap, expand our AI capabilities, and build toward becoming the leading provider of spend and price intelligence for manufacturers globally.”

“We built Ivoflow to help manufacturing companies become leaders in cost excellence and drive profitability.

Joining Jaggaer gives us the reach and platform to bring that capability to many more customers and accelerate what we set out to build. We are very much looking forward to what lies ahead and to becoming part of the Jaggaer team,” said Neubauer.

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GOLD FOR A SECOND YEAR

Ivalua has achieved the EcoVadis Gold Medal for the second consecutive year, further strengthening its sustainability credentials with an improved score of 85 out of 100.

The enterprise AI platform for procurement has increased its score from 79 to 85, with only two percent of businesses assessed by EcoVadis achieving this level over the previous 12 months.

The recognition comes from EcoVadis, the world’s largest provider of business sustainability ratings, which evaluates more than 175,000 companies globally on how they integrate environmental, social, and governance considerations across areas including environmental impact, labour and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement.

For Ivalua, the latest result reflects progress across all three ESG areas, supported by a range of initiatives spanning its own operations and its wider relationships with partners, suppliers, and customers.

TURNING COMMITMENT INTO ACTION

Several developments have contributed to Ivalua’s improved EcoVadis score.

The company has streamlined its global recycling and reuse processes and partnered with Climeworks to remove 600 tonnes of CO2 through Direct Air Capture technology and nature-based solutions.

Alongside its environmental initiatives, Ivalua has introduced an employee-led volunteering programme across five countries, extending its sustainability efforts into its social impact activities.

The company has also published its latest Corporate Sustainability Report in accordance with GRI Standards, achieving the highest levels of reporting compliance and transparency.

At the same time, Ivalua has continued to invest in Green IT and internal sustainable procurement processes, aiming to advance sustainability alongside its partners, suppliers, and customers.

This focus extends to the organisations using Ivalua’s platform. A major global retailer, for example, leverages Ivalua as its global platform to quantitatively assess 100 percent of its supply chain against its broad set of sustainability criteria.

BUILDING SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAINS

Franck Lheureux, CEO of Ivalua, outlines how the company is committed to upholding its high standards, which is positively affecting the wider supply chain industry.

“As we partner with leading organisations worldwide to build sustainable and efficient supply chains, we are committed to holding ourselves to those same rigorous standards.”

“Earning the EcoVadis Gold Medal for the second consecutive year, with a further score improvement, is proof of our collective efforts and the momentum we keep building.”

The recognition highlights Ivalua’s efforts to connect sustainability with its core focus on spend and supplier management.

Ivalua describes itself as the only truly unified, enterprise AI platform for managing spend and suppliers, connecting people, AI, workflows, and data to help businesses become more profitable, resilient, and sustainable.

With more than 500 of the world’s most admired brands using its platform, the company is continuing to position sustainability as an integral part of procurement and supply chain management.

KEEPING THE MOMENTUM

Ivalua’s second consecutive EcoVadis Gold Medal marks another step in its sustainability journey, with the improvement from 79 to 85 demonstrating continued progress since its previous assessment.

From emissions removal and Green IT to employee volunteering, sustainable procurement, and more transparent reporting, the company continues to build sustainability into both its operations and the supply chains it supports.

With only two percent of businesses assessed by EcoVadis achieving the same level over the previous 12 months, the latest Gold Medal provides a strong benchmark for Ivalua as it continues to build on its ESG progress.

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GROWING EUROPEAN PRESENCE 

Sievo, a global procurement analytics company, has opened a new office in Paris as it increases its direct presence in France and Southern Europe. 

The move follows the company’s recent launch of an office in London, UK, and represents the next stage of its European expansion. 

“Our expansion in Southern Europe is a response to the growing demand for advanced procurement analytics,” said Sammeli Sammalkorpi, co-Founder and CEO of the company.  

PEAK OF PROCUREMENT INTELLIGENCE  

As Sievo’s customer base continues to expand, the company is also gaining access to a growing pool of data that supports community benchmarking. 

Sievo currently processes spend data representing more than 2% of global GDP. The company uses this data to provide procurement intelligence to enterprise procurement teams, AI agents, and the technology stacks they rely on. 

To support its expansion, Sievo has appointed Manuel Roger as Managing Director, South Europe. In his new role, Roger will oversee growth across France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, as well as the French-speaking regions of Switzerland and Belgium. 

Roger will build on Sievo’s existing presence across these markets, where the company already works with some of the region’s largest enterprises. 

Based in Paris, he will establish a dedicated team focused on working with both existing and prospective Sievo customers. 

Roger brings extensive industry expertise, a background in procurement, and experience scaling international software companies. 

DRIVING CUSTOMER OUTCOMES  

“Organisations increasingly require sophisticated, accurate data to manage complex global supply chains and identify areas for value creation,” stated Manuel Roger, Managing Director, South Europe at Sievo.  

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A NEW ERA OF RIDE-HAILING

Uber Technologies and Wayve have launched supervised autonomous rides in London, marking the first time autonomous trips have become available in the United Kingdom.

From September 3, Londoners requesting an UberX, Uber Electric, or Uber Comfort may be matched with a Wayve autonomous vehicle at no additional cost, with upfront fares displayed through the Uber app.

The service launches with all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles equipped with Wayve’s AI Driver and surround sensors. The in-vehicle experience, designed by Uber, includes an interactive screen available in 64 languages, allowing passengers to start their journey and view the vehicle’s planned route.

Riders can choose whether to accept a Wayve vehicle or switch to a non-autonomous ride before the vehicle arrives. Once it reaches their location, passengers can unlock the doors and begin the trip directly through the Uber app.

AUTONOMOUS DRIVING, BUILT IN BRITAIN

At launch, Wayve vehicles will operate throughout London, excluding airports, with the service initially limited to a small number of vehicles. Uber and Wayve intend to expand gradually in line with rider demand, technological readiness, and regulation.

Safety remains central to the rollout. Any autonomous vehicle operating on the Uber network must meet the company’s Safety Guidelines, while the initial service will feature supervised autonomous rides with a trained, TfL-licensed private hire driver onboard to oversee each journey.

Alex Kendall, CEO and Co-founder of Wayve, described the launch as an important moment for the company and its home city, highlighting London’s complexity as a driving environment. He added that autonomous driving technology would complement the capital’s existing transport network as Wayve begins its global rollout with Uber.

Sarfraz Maredia, Global Head of Autonomous Mobility at Uber, similarly positioned the launch as a major milestone for scaling safe and accessible autonomous vehicle technology, while highlighting London’s status as a world-class hub for transportation innovation.

The rollout has also received government backing. Heidi Alexander, Transport Secretary, described the development as “a major milestone for the future of transport in London”, while emphasising the opportunities it could create for investment, skills, and passenger choice.

Business Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, meanwhile, called the introduction of autonomous vehicles on London’s streets a “hugely exciting milestone for the UK”, pointing to the use of homegrown British AI from Wayve as evidence of the country’s potential to lead the wider AI transformation.

SCALING A GLOBAL VISION

Founded and headquartered in London, Wayve has trained its AI technology on the capital’s challenging roads since 2018. Its ‘AV2.0’ approach centres on an AI Driver that learns from experience in a similar way to a human driver, enabling it to adapt to complex environments without relying on traditional HD maps or hand-coded rules.

The London launch forms part of the companies’ wider partnership, which includes investment to deploy Wayve-powered vehicles across 12 markets globally, beginning with the UK capital.

Wayve’s autonomous driving technology is designed to be agnostic to vehicle platforms and sensor configurations, supporting its potential to scale across different markets and vehicle types.

The companies also plan to introduce the Nissan LEAF, powered by the Wayve AI Driver using NVIDIA DRIVE Hyperion, as part of future services. The vehicle is expected to launch in Tokyo later this year.

With autonomous rides now operating on London’s roads, Wayve and Uber are putting British-built AI into a real-world transport network – offering a first glimpse of how autonomous mobility could become part of everyday urban travel.

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AI Agents Take on Complete Sourcing Events

Globality has introduced Glo 2.0 as a platform that allows procurement teams to automate sourcing from initial purchasing requests through to supplier award.

The platform uses specialised AI agents to generate requests for quotation (RFx), identify and invite suppliers, conduct negotiations, analyse results and recommend suppliers and award scenarios.

According to Globality, the technology is intended to address capacity constraints that can prevent procurement teams from competitively sourcing a larger proportion of organisational spend.

Joel Hyatt, Co-Founder and CEO of Globality, said: “This is the first truly autonomous sourcing platform where AI runs the complete intake-to-award process. Our agents don’t just automate a workflow; they reason through the data, decide the right approach for what’s being sourced, and act on your behalf with suppliers.”

What is Glo 2.0?

A central feature of Glo 2.0 is its ability to conduct supplier negotiations autonomously and simultaneously.

The platform can negotiate across factors including price, quality, delivery, service and risk. Once negotiations are completed, it performs scenario analysis and recommends a supplier and sourcing scenario.

Procurement teams can determine how much control is handed to the AI, with autonomy settings available at organisation, category or individual sourcing-event level.

In Collaborative Mode, procurement professionals retain responsibility for supplier interactions and award decisions, while Glo 2.0 provides commercial reasoning, develops the RFx and establishes the negotiation strategy.

In Autonomous Mode, procurement sets objectives and guardrails and approves the final award, while the platform manages the stages in between.

Samer Ijaz, Head of Strategic Sourcing at Dropbox, said: “Globality’s autonomous sourcing represents a meaningful opportunity to scale our sourcing work, enabling us to run more events efficiently and ultimately deliver greater value.”

Globality Targets Procurement Backlogs

Globality said more than half of addressable enterprise spend is still not competitively sourced, with procurement capacity forcing teams to prioritise higher-value events.

Glo 2.0 is designed to extend competitive sourcing across direct, indirect and tail spend without requiring procurement teams to manage every stage manually.

According to Globality, customers are running between five and nine times more sourcing events without adding headcount, while Global 2000 companies using its technology have achieved annual cost savings of between 10 and 20 per cent.

The company also said sourcing events that typically require six to 10 weeks can be completed in days using the platform.

Steve Dyson, Vice President of Global Indirect Procurement at HP, said: “We’ve been impressed by what Globality has delivered for our procurement organization over the years, and the early results from autonomous mode are the most exciting yet. We’re competitively sourcing spend we simply didn’t have the capacity to reach before.”

Conversational Intake Targets More Spend

Glo 2.0 also includes Glo Intake, a conversational interface intended to provide employees with a single entry point for purchasing requests.

The system interprets what an employee wants to purchase, applies the organisation’s procurement policies and routes the request through the appropriate process.

It can also conduct should-cost analysis to compare a submitted purchase with what the market supports, helping procurement teams determine whether an opportunity should be competitively sourced before a supplier commitment is made.

Globality said sourcing events carried out through the platform include an audit trail and AI explainability, with policies and procurement guardrails automatically applied.

Glo 2.0 is available immediately as an upgrade to Globality’s existing Glo platform.

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REDEFINING ENTERPRISE CONNECTIVITY

As enterprises increasingly operate across multiple clouds, AI providers, partners, and locations, the complexity of managing individual network connections is becoming a significant barrier to deployment and scalability.

At Equinix Horizon, its inaugural customer and partner event, Equinix has announced Equinix Fabric One, a managed, any-to-any connectivity service designed to simplify how enterprises connect distributed cloud, network, and AI environments.

Built for the networking demands of the AI era, Fabric One will enable customers to specify what they need connected and their requirements, with the service determining and delivering the connectivity required to make it happen.

SIMPLIFYING CONNECTIVITY

For decades, enterprise networks have been built connection by connection for each partner and provider. As infrastructure becomes increasingly distributed, however, this model can create networking projects that require specialist expertise, cross-functional coordination, and ongoing management.

“Equinix Fabric One will reduce the complexity that’s slowing enterprises down by automatically managing connectivity across distributed architectures, based on the customer’s intent,” said Chris Audie, Chief Product Officer, Equinix.

Rather than assembling networking services component by component, customers will be able to specify their requirements through a portal, APIs, automation workflows, agent-based requests, or natural-language prompts.

Fabric One will then automatically orchestrate and manage the routing, cloud connectivity, encryption, resiliency, and failover required to deliver the desired outcome as a single managed service.

According to Andrew Buss, Senior Research Director, Cloud and Datacenters, Enterprise Infrastructure at IDC, networking remains an area of enterprise infrastructure heavily dependent on manual design and operations.

He highlights the growing demand for simpler, automated approaches to connectivity across distributed cloud and AI environments, with intent-driven technologies offering the potential to reduce operational complexity and risk.

NEUTRAL BY DESIGN

Equinix Fabric One is built on Equinix’s neutral exchange, which connects more than 10,500 businesses and approximately 3,000 cloud and IT providers. It also supports active deployments by eight of the top 10 AI model providers and nine of the top 10 neoclouds.

This neutrality is designed to give enterprises greater freedom to connect across providers while retaining flexibility as their technology and business requirements evolve.

Fabric One also leverages an open connectivity specification developed through collaboration between AWS and Google Cloud, supporting interoperability across distributed AI, cloud, and enterprise environments.

“Cross-cloud interoperability is the backbone of the AI era,” said Rob Enns, Vice President of Engineering, Cloud Networking, Google Cloud.

“By combining Google Cloud’s Cross-Cloud Network capabilities with Equinix Fabric One, we are giving customers an automated, intent-driven network that lets them quickly deploy distributed AI workloads,” he continued.

For AWS, the approach is intended to allow customers to define their connectivity requirements without having to manage the underlying complexity themselves.

“Customers shouldn’t have to figure out how to connect across multiple clouds and AI environments on their own. They should just define what they need and have it work,” said Robert Kennedy, Vice President, AWS network services.

Google Cloud similarly highlights cross-cloud interoperability as fundamental to the AI era, with Fabric One combining its Cross-Cloud Network capabilities with an automated, intent-driven network.

CONNECTIVITY THAT EVOLVES

As enterprises move towards increasingly distributed architectures and agentic environments, connectivity will need to become more flexible, scalable, and responsive.

Fabric One is designed with this evolution in mind, enabling applications and AI agents to discover, request, and provision connectivity programmatically without manual intervention.

“As technology environments become more distributed, AI workloads and multicloud architectures require connectivity that is flexible, scalable and easier to manage,” said Paul Hager, CEO, Hyundai AutoEver America.

“Equinix Fabric One has the potential to accelerate our efforts to meet those needs,” he added.

Equinix Fabric One is expected to enter beta later this year, with general availability planned for 2027, initially in North America.

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AI Agent Targets Software Procurement

Vertice has introduced an AI negotiation agent capable of managing multiple software negotiations simultaneously, targeting a procurement challenge that the company says leaves significant technology spend without adequate oversight.

Ana, the Autonomous Negotiation Agent, can manage software negotiations from end to end or operate as a copilot, allowing procurement teams to review individual rounds of negotiations.

The launch follows more than 4,000 live software negotiations covering USD$500 million of spend. Vertice said Ana has delivered average savings of 18 per cent while reducing purchasing cycles by 15 days.

The technology is intended to give procurement teams greater capacity to scrutinise software purchases and renewals without increasing headcount.

Vertice data indicates that one in seven software contracts automatically renews without oversight. Within tail spend, it said three in four contracts renew without being reviewed, potentially leaving vendor price increases, contractual changes and compliance issues unchallenged.

Ana Negotiates Price, Terms and Contract Length

Procurement teams can specify the outcomes they want Ana to prioritise, including price, payment terms and contract length.

The agent develops negotiation strategies for individual scenarios, selects negotiation levers, models potential outcomes, drafts interactions and tracks exchanges with vendors.

Customers can also provide previous vendor history and specify the tone to be used during negotiations. Ana can learn from previous email exchanges to draft communications in the customer’s own voice.

Eldar Tuvey, Founder and CEO of Vertice, said: “Most procurement teams only have the capacity to oversee a fraction of their software spend. The rest gets waved through. Ana changes the equation.”

“She brings market evidence, probabilistic outcome modelling, and the pattern recognition of hundreds of thousands of expert negotiations to every contract. She knows what good looks like. She knows where there’s room to move. And she knows how to get there – at a scale no headcount plan can match.”

Procurement Data Powers Negotiations

Ana draws on Vertice’s procurement intelligence dataset, which covers more than 250,000 negotiated contracts, over USD$75 billion in global indirect spend and more than two million price points across over 32,000 software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors.

The platform uses this information to provide real-time price benchmarking and peer comparisons, as well as vendor-specific negotiation tactics.

It can also assess alternative suppliers and their likely offers to introduce competitive tension into negotiations.

Outcome forecasting uses Monte Carlo simulations across thousands of potential negotiation scenarios, with forecasts updated as negotiations progress.

Procurement teams can adjust requirements, terms and negotiation tone during the process, while the system maintains a searchable audit trail covering its strategy, reasoning and vendor dialogue.

Vertice Reports 18 Per Cent Average Savings

Vertice provided several examples of negotiations already conducted by Ana, including a LinkedIn Sales Navigator renewal where it reported savings of 31.2 per cent in 27 days.

In another negotiation, Ana used software usage data to challenge a proposed 20 per cent increase in licence numbers, with the resulting renewal closing 11.8 per cent below the previous year’s spend.

The agent also used pricing information from alternative vendors to generate competitive tension in another negotiation, which Vertice said resulted in savings of 21.3 per cent.

Beyond pricing, Ana can apply procurement requirements to software purchases. In one case cited by Vertice, the agent enforced a customer’s data protection policies by requiring a prospective vendor to provide sub processor transparency and evidence of SOC 2 Type II certification.

AI Extends Procurement Oversight Across Tail Spend

Vertice is positioning autonomous negotiation as a way for procurement teams to apply sourcing controls to contracts that might otherwise receive limited attention because of capacity constraints.

“We built Ana to bring savings, consistency, and control to every software purchase, at a scale no procurement team could ever deliver manually,” Tuvey said.

“Ana is an AI procurement agent that knows when to push, when to flex, and crucially, how to get to the right outcome without damaging the relationship.”

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Food Supply Chains Face Recall Readiness Gap

UK food and beverage businesses are highly confident in their ability to manage product recalls despite widespread gaps in supply chain traceability, according to new research from Balloon One.

The Trace Against Time study found that 93 per cent of businesses believe they could manage a live product recall quickly and accurately. However, 78 per cent believe recalls and withdrawals are becoming more frequent.

Businesses estimate it would take an average of four hours to identify every affected batch, stock location and customer destination during a recall. Almost a quarter – 24 per cent – said the process would take five hours or longer.

Where batch information is linked directly to stock movements, Balloon One said the same tracing exercise can take closer to 10 minutes.

Disconnected Systems Slow Product Traceability

The research highlights fragmented supply chain technology as a potential obstacle to faster recall management.

More than three quarters – 77 per cent – of respondents would need to consult at least two separate systems, spreadsheets or records during a live recall.

Only 24 per cent described their traceability data across warehouse, production and customer orders as fully real time, while a quarter continue to track batch and expiry information using spreadsheets.

More than half – 55 per cent – reported incomplete or inconsistent batch and lot information, while 42 per cent said expiry or shelf-life information is not always visible in real time.

Businesses are also manually reconciling information between systems more than 100 times annually, according to the research, while only 38 per cent have fully automated first-expired, first-out (FEFO) stock rotation.

Craig Powell, Managing Director at Balloon One, said: “It isn’t that recalls are badly managed, it’s that businesses have little oversight of the gaps in their own systems.”

“When teams are manually reconciling data between production, warehouse management, QA and ERP, they’re exposing themselves to real commercial risk the moment they need to pull a product quickly and accurately.”

Product Recalls Carry £545,000 Financial Risk

The potential financial consequences are significant, with respondents estimating the total impact of a serious product recall or contamination incident at approximately £545,249.

Poor visibility of expiry dates and shelf life has already resulted in customer complaints for 39 per cent of businesses during the past 12 months, while 32.7 per cent reported retailer chargebacks or penalties.

Product recalls and withdrawals are now the third-largest operational concern among businesses surveyed, cited by 37 per cent.

Respondents identified commercial pressures as the leading factor increasing recall risk, cited by 51 per cent, followed by supply chain complexity at 46 per cent. Shorter shelf lives and tighter delivery windows were identified by 39 per cent.

Contamination Leads Food Recall Causes

Foreign material or physical contamination was the most commonly reported reason for recalls, withdrawals and investigations during the previous 18 months, affecting 56 per cent of respondents.

Undeclared allergens followed at 40 per cent, with labelling and packaging issues at 39 per cent and chemical contamination at 37 per cent.

More than nine in 10 businesses – 92 per cent – had recalled, withdrawn or investigated an issue involving sandwiches, wraps or food-to-go products during the previous 18 months. The figure was 91 per cent for chilled ready meals and 89 per cent for prepared salads.

Supply Chain Visibility Could Limit Recall Impact

Balloon One argues that better integration of production, warehouse and enterprise resource planning (ERP) data could help businesses identify affected products more precisely and avoid unnecessary withdrawals.

“Without the right visibility, the safest decision in a live recall is to pull everything – this can mean you end up withdrawing far more stock than the problem warrants and absorbing the retailer penalties and lost sales that follow,” Powell said.

“Bringing it into one connected system is what lets you move quickly when a serious issue does land.”

The Censuswide research surveyed 502 decision-makers at UK businesses involved in manufacturing, processing, distributing or supplying chilled, convenience and ready-to-eat food products between 27 July and 4 August 2026.

The post Balloon One Research Reveals Major Gaps in Food Supply Chain Traceability appeared first on Supply Chain Outlook.

UKPackaging Expo Returns in November

UKPackaging Expo will return for its second edition on 10th and 11th November 2026 at Exhibition Centre Liverpool, bringing together packaging suppliers, buyers and decision-makers from across UK and international supply chains.

More than 120 exhibitors are expected to showcase packaging technologies and solutions in Hall C, covering sectors including food and beverage, automotive, ecommerce, beauty and pharmaceuticals.

The event follows the first UKPackaging Expo, which was held in Manchester in 2025.

Mauricio Montes, Co-Founder and Commercial Director of UKPackaging, said: “Following a very successful launch in Manchester last year, we’re incredibly excited about the show coming up in Liverpool this November, which will really give us the chance to show how much we’ve grown and evolved already.”

Supply Chain Technology and Sustainability on Agenda

Alongside the exhibition, the Future Packaging Conference will feature 50 speakers and industry experts examining technologies and regulatory developments affecting the packaging sector.

The two-day programme will cover sustainability and the circular economy, AI and machine learning, smart packaging and Internet of Things (IoT) integration, advanced materials and nanotechnology.

Consumer trends, regulatory compliance, standards and digital transformation will also form part of the agenda.

For supply chain and procurement teams, the programme will provide a forum for examining developments that could influence packaging sourcing, materials and technology decisions.

More Than 120 Packaging Exhibitors Expected

The exhibition will bring together established packaging businesses and newer market entrants offering products and services across multiple industries.

Confirmed participants include Unilever, Avery Dennison, Jowat, Markem-Imaje, Air Sea Containers, Origin Packaging, Discovery Flexibles, The Label Makers, Advanced Labelling Systems and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), alongside industry associations and academic organisations.

“We’re thrilled to welcome such a strong wave of new exhibitors to UKPackaging Expo 2026,” said Montes.  

“The calibre and diversity of companies joining us this year shows just how much energy and innovation is flowing through the packaging sector right now. Our goal has always been to create a sourcing event that reflects how buyers actually procure – and the response from suppliers confirms that the North needed a dedicated platform of this scale. With stand space now almost fully allocated, the 2026 edition is shaping up to be our most dynamic and commercially impactful show yet.”

Connecting Packaging Experts

The organisers said the event is intended to connect packaging specifiers, buyers and other decision-makers with suppliers offering established solutions as well as emerging sustainable packaging concepts.

Kimpak representative Mustafa Tunk said: “We have chosen to exhibit at UK Packaging Expo to strengthen our presence in the UK market, meet existing customers, and establish new relationships with distributors, converters, and brand owners.”

“The UK is an important market for innovative and sustainable packaging solutions, making this exhibition an excellent opportunity to connect with key industry stakeholders.”

Packaging Suppliers Target UK Market

International suppliers are also using the event to strengthen their positions within the UK packaging market.

The Label Makers said it intends to demonstrate developments in modern label production and the role labels can play in sustainability and consumer experience.

Sarah Webster, representative for The Label Makers, said: “UK Packaging provides an excellent platform for connecting with brands looking to differentiate their products in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”

UKPackaging Expo 2026 will take place at Exhibition Centre Liverpool on 10th and 11th November, with visitor registration available free of charge.

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STRENGTHENING DATA AND AI FOUNDATIONS

Deloitte has acquired all of the assets of Wavicle Data Solutions (Wavicle), a data and AI engineering organisation with a market-leading Databricks practice.

The acquisition is designed to accelerate Deloitte’s ability to help organisations build AI-ready data foundations and strengthen its position as an enterprise orchestrator for Databricks.

Wavicle brings extensive experience managing Databricks across all major hyperscalers, alongside industry-specific data engineering expertise spanning consumer goods, manufacturing, financial services, life sciences, and healthcare.

For Deloitte’s clients, the combination is expected to support faster engineering delivery at scale. Forward-deployed engineers will work to develop customised, industry-specific solutions within a Databricks-centric multi-alliance portfolio.

“Together, Deloitte and Wavicle can help clients strengthen their data foundations and translate AI into lasting business value, faster and at scale,” says Jason Salzetti, chair and CEO, Deloitte Consulting LLP.

“This is a new, powerful combination for our clients that can address some of the data roadblocks to their AI-enabled transformations. This acquisition gives us even greater capabilities as we continue shaping the future of AI-enabled transformation.”

A STRONGER DATABRICKS CAPABILITY

The acquisition builds on Deloitte’s established relationship with Databricks, bringing together data, analytics, and AI capabilities through a long-standing alliance.

Deloitte’s Databricks business has also received significant recognition for its work across regulated and unregulated industries. At the Data + AI Summit, Deloitte was named a 2026 Databricks Partner Award winner in three Consulting and System Integrator categories – North America Partner of the Year, Banking Partner of the Year, and Public Sector SLED Partner of the Year.

The awards recognise collaboration delivering secure, measurable results across highly regulated industries, highlighting the growing importance of the Deloitte and Databricks relationship.

TRANSLATING AI INTO BUSINESS VALUE

The integration of Wavicle’s technical leadership and engineering expertise with Deloitte’s existing AI and Engineering capabilities is intended to help businesses overcome some of the challenges associated with modernising their data ecosystems.

Sundhar Sekhar, chief services officer, Deloitte Consulting LLP, says: “Modernising data ecosystems is a critical foundation for enterprises seeking to differentiate through AI.”

He adds that combining Wavicle’s technical background with Deloitte’s Databricks offering will enable clients to bring together modernised data foundations, industry knowledge, and intelligence solutions to move faster and deliver AI that performs in the real world.

For Wavicle, the acquisition represents an opportunity to combine its technical leadership and engineering talent with Deloitte’s broader AI and Engineering business.

“Our purpose has always been to make AI work for enterprises that build the real economy and make an impact on people’s lives,” says Naveen Venkatapathi, managing director for Wavicle.

“Combining our technical leadership and engineering talent with Deloitte’s impressive AI and Engineering business will help us deliver AI-powered, innovation-centred, data-strong futures for our clients across industries and sectors.”

With the acquisition bringing together complementary engineering, data, and AI capabilities, Deloitte is strengthening the foundations needed to help enterprises scale AI and turn emerging technology into measurable, lasting business value.

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