Controlled raw material exports, volatile trade policies, and ongoing geopolitical crises: the framework for procurement is currently shifting faster than any annual contract. In this environment, negotiations are no longer just about price, but increasingly about supply security itself. This webinar demonstrates the tools procurement teams need now and how AI agents can support them.

Lucas Trümpler (Business Development at Tacto) and Phil Hartmann (Customer Development at Tacto) explain in this webinar why classic negotiation levers are reaching their limits and share concrete approaches and phrasing to achieve better results, even under pressure.

Why the old negotiation playbook no longer works

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For years, a simple pattern worked: threaten to switch suppliers, rely on experience and relationships, and negotiate once a year. This playbook is currently losing its effectiveness. Alternatives are limited, often making the threat to switch an empty promise. Suppliers negotiate using cost models, market indices, and reference prices. Anyone entering a discussion without their own data basis is at an argumentative disadvantage. Furthermore, because markets move on a monthly basis, the annual negotiation rhythm no longer reflects reality. A survey during the webinar confirms this: 64 percent of participants cite rising raw material and energy prices as their greatest negotiation pressure, and 53 percent still prepare for price negotiations using Excel and manual research.

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Four tools for two worlds

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The core of the webinar is a simple distinction: am I dealing with normal headwinds or a genuine crisis, and is the focus primarily on terms or on availability? From this matrix, four tools are derived: creating price transparency, opening the package, establishing priority, and separating crisis from opportunism. The first two are primarily effective during normal headwinds. Creating price transparency means breaking down a demand into its components—raw materials, energy, labor, logistics, and margin—and checking each item against market data. Opening the package means negotiating the entire deal from the start: payment terms, contract duration, Incoterms, and purchase commitments have different values for both sides.

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Securing priority and separating crisis from opportunism

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The other two tools are used during genuine bottlenecks, when the goal shifts from price to supply capability. Establishing priority means making it clear to the supplier why it is worth prioritizing your demand: through planning security, purchase commitments, or faster payment. In the case of crisis-related price increases, it is essential to acknowledge and share genuine additional costs, while clearly identifying the opportunistic portion, limiting it in time, and including a revision clause so that the surcharge does not become the new normal.

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Agent-supported negotiation preparation

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A large part of the work happens before the meeting. This is exactly where AI agents come in: they break down costs, link internal data with market indices, and prepare a robust negotiation dossier before the first conversation even begins. The webinar demonstrates the process from the supplier overview and relevant findings to the finished dossier. This allows procurement teams to enter every price discussion with better facts, securing both price and supply capability.

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Conclusion

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This webinar highlights how negotiation in volatile markets is fundamentally changing. Success depends on accurately assessing market conditions, selecting the right tools, and using data-driven arguments rather than gut instinct. Mastering these fundamentals while leveraging agentic support allows you to negotiate with confidence, even under pressure.

Lucas Trümpler and Phil Hartmann from Tacto demonstrate how procurement teams negotiate in strained markets: from distinguishing between headwinds and crises to four concrete tools and agent-assisted preparation. Includes sample phrasing and a live demo of the negotiation dossier.