Executive Briefing: How to Buy The Right AI Solution and Save Millions

Source: Nate’s Newsletter Date: 2025-09-21 URL: https://natesnewsletter.substack.com/p/executive-briefing-how-to-buy-the

Summary

Nate argues that enterprises spending an average $1.2M annually on AI solutions lack the procurement expertise to evaluate them rigorously, creating a knowledge gap vendors exploit. Bad acquisitions result from inadequate due diligence, not inherent product limitations — and executive ownership of the procurement process is the lever.

Implications

AI economics thread. At $1.2M average annual spend, enterprises are committing meaningful capital to AI purchases without adequate evaluation frameworks. The gap between spend and sophistication is a market signal that consultants and independent evaluation services can capture.

Vendor positioning thread. The knowledge gap Nate identifies is strategically valuable to vendors — complexity and opacity in AI procurement benefit incumbents and inflate switching costs. Procurement frameworks that cut through this shift power toward buyers.

Watch: Whether enterprise procurement teams develop AI-specific RFP standards by 2026, or whether consulting firms (Accenture, Deloitte) capture that margin instead.