How to Source Suppliers with AI: From Long List to RFQ

Sourcing suppliers is slow for a simple reason: most of the work is searching, reading and chasing, and none of it can be skipped. You need a long list, a short list, quotes you can actually compare, samples and a clear view of what a unit costs once it reaches your warehouse. An AI team takes on that legwork. This guide shows how AI employees split supplier sourcing into roles, which platforms they use and where a person stays in charge.

Why supplier sourcing takes so long#

Whether you buy packaging in Ohio, components from Shenzhen or private label goods for an online store, the process looks roughly the same:

• searching several marketplaces and directories, each with its own filters;
• separating manufacturers from trading companies and resellers;
• checking that a company exists and is who it says it is;
• writing to dozens of suppliers, then following up with the ones who went quiet;
• turning quotes in different formats, currencies and Incoterms into something comparable;
• ordering samples, tracking them and recording what you thought of each one.

A buyer in a small company does this between other jobs, so the long list stays short and the comparison ends up being "the one who answered first". AI employees fix the volume problem, not the judgment problem: they do the searching and paperwork, and you decide who you trust.

How an AI team splits the work#

In Super Intellect every paid AI team has its own dedicated Windows workspace with a browser, Excel and email. An employee works on supplier sites the way a buyer would: runs searches, opens profiles, downloads catalogs, reads spec sheets. Nothing has to be connected by a developer, it simply uses the same websites your team uses.

For a sourcing project, three roles usually share the job:

Ready-made versions of these roles are in the AI employee catalog, and the B2B team setup puts procurement, logistics and contract review together. You can follow every employee through screenshots of its screen, refreshed every few seconds, and a log of its actions.

Step 1. Write a sourcing brief#

The quality of the long list depends on the brief. Give the team what you would give a new buyer:

• product, spec and drawings or reference photos;
• target quantity per order and per year;
• target unit price range, if you have one;
• required certifications and standards (for example, UL, CE or UKCA marking, FDA registration, food contact rules);
• preferred regions and regions you want to avoid;
• deal breakers: no trading companies, no MOQ above a certain level, no suppliers without a factory audit report.

If you are new to writing task descriptions for several employees at once, see how to brief an AI team.

Step 2. Build the long list#

The researcher works through the sources that fit your product:

• Thomasnet for North American manufacturers, distributors and custom fabricators, filtered by capability, location and certifications.
• Alibaba, Global Sources and Made-in-China for Asian manufacturers, with attention to verified supplier badges, years on the platform, main markets and whether the profile shows a factory or a trading company.
• Trade show exhibitor lists. Shows such as the Canton Fair, industry expos in the US and UK, and sector events publish exhibitor directories that are often more current than marketplaces.
• Industry associations and directories for your sector, plus ordinary web search for companies that do not list on marketplaces at all.

Step 3. Check the companies#

A polished profile is not proof of anything. The procurement specialist runs the desk checks a careful buyer would do:

• UK companies: looks the company up on Companies House, checks that it is active, compares the registered address and directors with what the supplier tells you and notes overdue accounts.
• US companies: searches the business registry of the relevant Secretary of State to confirm the entity exists and is in good standing.
• Overseas suppliers: compares the business license details shown on the profile with the company name on the website and in emails, checks the domain age and contact details and looks for mismatches.
• Reputation: reads reviews, transaction history shown on the platform and any public complaints.

The result is a short note per supplier with green, amber or red flags and the reason for each.

Step 4. Send RFQs#

This is where sourcing usually stalls: writing thirty careful emails takes a whole day. The procurement specialist drafts a separate RFQ for each supplier, referencing what it saw on their profile, and lists exactly what you want quoted: unit price at two or three quantity breaks, MOQ, lead time, Incoterms, payment terms, sample cost and tooling.

Emails to strangers wait for your yes: you read the drafts, edit if needed, click Confirm, and the employee sends them from the mailbox you assigned. It then tracks replies, sends a polite follow-up to suppliers who did not answer and asks for anything missing from a quote.

Step 5. Compare quotes in one table#

Quotes arrive as PDFs, spreadsheets and email text, in different currencies and on different terms. The employee normalizes them into one comparison table:

Step 6. Work out landed cost#

The cheapest factory price is often not the cheapest product on your shelf. The logistics coordinator adds up what a unit costs once it reaches you:

• product price under the quoted Incoterms;
• freight to your port or warehouse, from forwarder quotes you approve;
• insurance;
• import duties and taxes based on the commodity code you confirm (HTS in the US, the UK Global Tariff in the UK);
• customs broker and port fees;
• inland delivery to your warehouse.

The employee prepares the calculation and shows its assumptions. Classification of goods and duty rates should be confirmed by your customs broker, because a wrong code changes the whole picture.

Step 7. Samples and the final decision#

For the two or three best suppliers, the employee prepares sample requests, tracks shipments and sets up a scorecard: quality, packaging, accuracy to spec, communication speed. You test the samples and make the decision.

Placing the order, paying deposits and signing contracts stay with a person. The employee can draft a purchase order or a supplier agreement from your template for your review.

What stays with you#

• choosing the supplier and negotiating the final terms;
• every payment, deposit and signed contract;
• product compliance decisions and anything a regulator might ask about;
• factory visits, audits and the relationship itself.

What it costs#

You pay per AI team per month. On the SUPER II plan one team with its own Windows workspace costs 24 000 ₽ (≈ $255) per month, and the Several teams plan lowers the price per team from 5 teams. See the pricing page for details.

Where to start#

1. 1Pick one product you need to source or re-source this quarter.
2. 2Sign up free and give a procurement employee the brief from Step 1.
3. 3Review the long list, approve the first RFQs and let the team build the comparison table.

If you want to see how several roles share one job, read AI team for business.