Built by the people who ran procurement
We spent our careers in procurement functions, and we kept seeing the same gap. So we built the thing we always wished existed.
This started on the procurement floor
Zavo began in 2021 as a procurement advisory firm, built by people who had run the function inside some of the world's largest companies, delivering savings and becoming strategic partners. But two things kept getting in the way.
Expertise was trapped in people. The results were repeatable, but the knowledge behind them lived with the practitioners who had done the work.
The work was trapped in systems. Procurement technology had multiplied, but the work had fragmented. More systems, more data and more places for knowledge to live without the practitioner judgment.
AI changed what was possible. For the first time, we could bring those two worlds together: the commercial knowledge and the judgment built through the years.
That became Zavo. An AI-native platform built on practitioner experience, connecting the work from intake to pay. One commercial record across spend, sourcing, contracts, suppliers, and payments. Zavo brings intelligence to procurement, while the judgment stays human.
Human-led, by design.
Why we built Zavo
“I spent years watching procurement teams search for answers that already existed across systems. The challenge was never a lack of information. It was a lack of context.
We built Zavo to solve that problem. By connecting the knowledge, commitments and intelligence already present across the business, we’re creating the Procurement Brain: an AI-native procurement platform that helps teams understand what matters, what is coming and where to act next.
Our vision is simple: to give procurement leaders the context and confidence to make better decisions, faster.”
Ian Cotter
Co-founder, Zavo
The people who built it
Before building Zavo, we built, ran and transformed procurement functions inside global businesses. That experience isn’t just behind the company. It’s built into the product.
Ian helps Private Equity and SaaS executives unlock measurable value by transforming procurement and deploying agentic AI. With two decades of leadership across PayPal, Citibank, Lightspeed, Okta, MUFG, and KKR, he has designed scalable operating models that drive sustainable impact. Before founding Zavo, Ian held leadership roles at GEP Consulting in Chicago and Accenture in London.
Ian Cotter
Co-founder
With more than 25 years of experience, Biju Mohan is recognized for shaping procurement and supply chain into strategic enablers of enterprise growth. He has guided Life Sciences and Pharma leaders through enterprise-wide transformations, from reimagining supplier performance to unlocking new operating efficiencies. At Zavo, Biju champions innovation, helping clients harness digital and AI-driven models that elevate procurement from a cost center to a competitive advantage.
Biju Mohan
Co-founder
Tunir Chatterjee brings over 25 years of consulting and technology leadership, advising executives across chemicals, CPG, financial services, and manufacturing. Known for driving EBITDA growth through transformation, he combines deep industry expertise with a vision for digital and AI-enabled procurement. At Zavo, Tunir partners with senior leaders to reframe procurement as a driver of resilience and value creation, building models that align cost efficiency with long-term enterprise impact.
Tunir Chatterjee
Co-founder
Ankit Nayyar brings over a decade of experience in procurement transformation with a focus on the Banking and Financial Services industry. He has advised mid-market and enterprise clients on strategic sourcing, supplier negotiations, and operating model design. He specializes in comprehensive transformations built on Zavo's intake-to-pay platform, delivering accelerated time to value and a procurement function whose gains compound year over year.
Ankit Nayyar
Vice President
The bits between the work
Building Zavo has taken us to a lot of places. These are some of the moments in between.
Where you’ll find us
We spend a lot of time in rooms full of procurement people. Some of it on stage.
Past events
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conversation
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