M2 · FIRST FUNCTIONS · P05

The Procurement Playbook

Eight vendors. One customer. Five clauses.

10 SLIDES · ~10 MIN · PLAYBOOK OVERVIEW
Key Takeaways
  • Buy the platform. Build the integration. Demand the clauses.
  • 8 — overlapping AI contracts at a typical mid-market firm.
  • ~30% — capability overlap across active agent vendors — the same job done by multiple seats.
  • 6+ mo — to unwind a single platform bought in error.
  • Email your CFO and CISO today: "We are running an AI contract audit. I need a complete list of active AI vendors within 14 days.".
MODULE 2 · PLAYBOOK 05 · FIRST-FUNCTION DEEP-DIVE

The Procurement Playbook

Eight vendors. One customer. Five clauses.

BuildClub Academy
01 · THE HOOK

Mid-market AI procurement is already out of control.

8
overlapping AI contracts at a typical mid-market firm.
Everest Group 2026
~30%
capability overlap across active agent vendors — the same job done by multiple seats.
Everest Group 2026
6+ mo
to unwind a single platform bought in error.
operator network interviews
THE THESIS

Buy the platform.
Build the integration.
Demand the clauses.

The Thesis
02 · THE FIVE CLAUSES

Five clauses every CEO must require before signing.

Data Residency
Where stored, processed, accessed — country, region, sub-processor.
your law, not theirs
Model Swap Rights
Visibility and approval before the vendor changes the underlying model.
no silent upgrades
Output IP
Who owns generated artifacts, derivatives, and training rights on your data.
your data, your output
Exit & Portability
Leave with your data, workflows, agent histories, and embeddings — in usable form.
data follows the customer
Audit Access
Logs, compliance proof, incident records — on demand and on schedule.
logs are evidence

Five clauses, in order: outcome SLA, model-swap notification, data residency, exit clause, scoped credentials. Refusal of any one is a signal.

03 · ROOT CAUSES

Why eight overlapping contracts arrive without approval.

1
Department-level buying
Marketing, Sales, Support, and Legal each pick their own agent. None route through procurement.
2
Free-tier sprawl
Free seats become workflows. Workflows become production. Production becomes a vendor dependency.
3
SaaS bundles
The CRM already has AI in the SKU. Nobody opted out.
4
Shadow pilot
IT pilot runs six weeks. Nobody shuts it down. Now it is the system of record.
04 · THE CONSOLIDATION PLAYBOOK

Cut the stack in five moves — inventory first, renewals last.

1
2
3
4
5
1
Inventory
Active AI contracts logged across all business units. 14-day deadline, no exceptions.
2
Map overlap
Group by capability, not by vendor. Find the duplicates underneath the brand names.
3
Pick platform
Identify the platform you would consolidate on if starting clean today.
4
Outcome pricing
Demand outcome-based pricing on the top 3 contracts. Refuse seat pricing.
5
Cut at renewal
Exit the overlapping contracts at their next renewal date. Do not break contracts early.
05 · OUTCOME PRICING

Refuse seat pricing. Make vendors price the work.

Takeaways
  • 1 Seat pricing — $200–600 per user per month regardless of output.
  • 2 Outcome pricing — Intercom Fin: $0.99 per resolution; HubSpot Breeze: $0.50 per conversation.
  • 3 Outcome pricing is available on CX and Sales tools now. Demand it everywhere else.
06 · STACK MAP

The four archetypes and which platform wins in each.

Microsoft shop
Copilot + Azure OpenAI + Fabric. Default for most mid-market.
Salesforce shop
Agentforce + Einstein + Data Cloud. CRM is the system of record.
Lean tech-forward
Anthropic + Perplexity + point solutions. Build-heavy, low legacy.
Vertical SaaS heavy
Sector-specific AI baked into the vertical SaaS. Least control, most lock-in.
07 · VENDOR SIGNALS

What a vendor that cannot hold these terms is telling you.

1
Refuses data residency
Data is a training input, not a service.
2
Refuses model-swap notification
Plans to silently upgrade. Your prompts are their beta test.
3
Refuses output IP
Legal exposure on every artifact generated.
4
Refuses exit portability
Vendor lock-in is the business model.

Treat each refusal as a due-diligence finding, not a negotiating style.

MONDAY-MORNING ACTIONS

Five moves before the next renewal.

Monday Morning
  1. 1
    Email your CFO and CISO today: "We are running an AI contract audit. I need a complete list of active AI vendors within 14 days."
  2. 2
    Pull the next 90 days of AI renewal dates — those are your leverage windows.
  3. 3
    Redline the five clauses into every active contract negotiation or renewal.
  4. 4
    Pick the one platform you would consolidate on if you started clean.
  5. 5
    Name the procurement owner — one person, one mandate, one budget.
P05 · Questions CEOs Ask

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the core idea of The Procurement Playbook?
Buy the platform. Build the integration. Demand the clauses.
What does the data say a CEO should pay attention to?
8 overlapping AI contracts at a typical mid-market firm. ~30% capability overlap across active agent vendors — the same job done by multiple seats.
What should a CEO do Monday morning after reading The Procurement Playbook?
Start here: Email your CFO and CISO today: "We are running an AI contract audit. I need a complete list of active AI vendors within 14 days."; Pull the next 90 days of AI renewal dates — those are your leverage windows; Redline the five clauses into every active contract negotiation or renewal.
What are the steps in The Procurement Playbook?
1) Inventory; 2) Map overlap; 3) Pick platform; 4) Outcome pricing; 5) Cut at renewal.
Where do the claims in The Procurement Playbook come from?
The playbook cites Everest Group 2026; The Register (Apr 2026) — industry coverage; CEO interviews — operator network; Public AI procurement discourse (Gartner, Forrester, May 2026).
P05 · Sources

All Sources in This Playbook

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