Why AI Is Reinventing How Businesses Buy Everything

a16z’s Seema Amble and Elena Burger sit down with Lio co-founder and CEO Vladimir Keil to ask where AI-native startups have an advantage when incumbent software companies already own the customer, the data, and the system of record. Their answer comes down to the work that happens outside those systems. In procurement, a final price in an ERP can hide hundreds of emails, spreadsheets, supplier conversations, engineering analyses, and decisions across legal, finance, and operations. Vlad explains how Lio uses multi-agent systems to take on more of that end-to-end work, from sourcing and RFQs to negotiation, shipment tracking, and invoices. They also discuss how enterprises learn to trust agents with increasingly consequential decisions, why the last 20% of an internal AI build can require most of the effort, and what happens when both buyers and suppliers have agents working on their behalf. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:58 - Why AI startups still beat incumbents 04:19 - The hidden work behind an $8K line item 06:18 - Retrieval, process, policy, principal 09:27 - The incumbent's internal conflict 14:48 - What procurement actually looks like 21:13 - Procurement at Boeing-scale 28:03 - A bolt order, end-to-end 37:57 - What a durable vertical AI company looks like 44:46 - When both sides deploy agents Resources: Follow Vladimir Keil on X: https://x.com/askvladi?lang=en Follow Vladimir Keil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimir-keil/ Follow Seema Amble on X: https://x.com/seema_amble Learn more about Lio: https://www.lio.ai/ Seema Amble’s “Investing in Lio” article: https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-lio/ Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.

Vladimir KeilguestSeema AmblehostElena Burgerhost

Oct 2, 202659mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: October 2, 2026
Duration: 59m
Channel: a16z
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

a16z’s Seema Amble and Elena Burger sit down with Lio co-founder and CEO Vladimir Keil to ask where AI-native startups have an advantage when incumbent software companies already own the customer, the data, and the system of record. Their answer comes down to the work that happens outside those systems. In procurement, a final price in an ERP can hide hundreds of emails, spreadsheets, supplier conversations, engineering analyses, and decisions across legal, finance, and operations. Vlad explains how Lio uses multi-agent systems to take on more of that end-to-end work, from sourcing and RFQs to negotiation, shipment tracking, and invoices. They also discuss how enterprises learn to trust agents with increasingly consequential decisions, why the last 20% of an internal AI build can require most of the effort, and what happens when both buyers and suppliers have agents working on their behalf. Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:58 - Why AI startups still beat incumbents 04:19 - The hidden work behind an $8K line item 06:18 - Retrieval, process, policy, principal 09:27 - The incumbent's internal conflict 14:48 - What procurement actually looks like 21:13 - Procurement at Boeing-scale 28:03 - A bolt order, end-to-end 37:57 - What a durable vertical AI company looks like 44:46 - When both sides deploy agents Resources: Follow Vladimir Keil on X: https://x.com/askvladi?lang=en Follow Vladimir Keil on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vladimir-keil/ Follow Seema Amble on X: https://x.com/seema_amble Learn more about Lio: https://www.lio.ai/ Seema Amble’s “Investing in Lio” article: https://a16z.com/announcement/investing-in-lio/ Stay Updated: If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to like, subscribe, and share with your friends! Find a16z on X: https://twitter.com/a16z Find a16z on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/a16z Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5bC65RDvs3oxnLyqqvkUYX Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a16z-podcast/id842818711 Follow our host: https://x.com/eriktorenberg Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see http://a16z.com/disclosures.

SPEAKERS

Vladimir Keil
guest
Co-founder and CEO of Lio, which builds AI agents for enterprise procurement.
Seema Amble
host
Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) focused on AI and enterprise software.
Elena Burger
host
Host at the a16z podcast who moderates interviews on technology and startups.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of a16z, featuring Vladimir Keil and Seema Amble, Why AI Is Reinventing How Businesses Buy Everything explores end-to-end procurement agents beat chatbots—deployment, trust, and exceptions matter AI incumbents have distribution and data, but startups can outperform by solving the full cross-system, cross-stakeholder “job” rather than only augmenting a single system of record.

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