StarLink, IBM Team Up on Agentic AI Procurement Solution
StarLink, a leading technology distributor in the Middle East market, has partnered with IBM to revamp its procurement process. The company, based in the UAE, specializes in four domains: cybersecurity, cloud, artificial intelligence, and agentic AI, as well as digital infrastructure.
The project aimed to address operational challenges in the procurement function, including manual purchase order processing, slow quote cycles, fragmented workflows, and inefficiencies in extracting data from unstructured documents. Working with IBM, StarLink developed an agentic AI solution that automates key steps across the purchase order lifecycle, reducing manual work and improving efficiency.
The solution uses AI agents to automate tasks such as email intake and classification, enterprise resource planning validation, document processing, and accounts payable execution. It integrates with Oracle NetSuite, Docling, and Automation Anywhere to coordinate end-to-end workflows with greater visibility, governance, and control.
According to StarLink, the solution is projected to save an average of 11,500 hours annually: 6,000 hours from automating 9,000 purchase orders, 1,500 hours from automating 14,000 quotes, and 4,000 hours from quote comparison. The company cited one example where the agentic AI solution reduced the time required to compare internal documents, partner purchase orders, and vendor quotations from 30 minutes to just 3 minutes, a 90% reduction.
Zaidoun Arbad, Vice President at IBM, stated that IBM Bob and IBM Watsonx Orchestrate provide a governed approach to building, running, managing, and optimizing AI agents. The solution is powered by these two major IBM technologies, which enable partners like StarLink to apply agentic AI capabilities to practical business workflows.