By: Eng. Mohamed El-Baz
How many times have your company had a smart solution, yet couldn’t implement it because of the system? And why is it that startups can close deals in days, while large companies may take months to finalize the exact same opportunity?
The uncomfortable truth is that big companies don’t lose deals because of competitors, they lose them because of internal structural constraints that limit even their most skilled negotiators.
When interests do not align
A negotiator inside a company does not act for themselves, but on behalf of the organization. However, their incentives are not always perfectly aligned with the company’s goals.
A sales representative may push to close a deal at any cost to increase their commission, while a procurement manager might rush an agreement due to time pressure rather than the quality of terms.
To prevent such outcomes, companies impose strict limits on negotiators’ authority. The result is a lack of flexibility, forcing negotiators to constantly return to management for approvals. This leads to slow decision-making, loss of credibility with the other party. In this environment, the negotiator shifts from being a dealmaker to merely a messenger.
Bureaucracy kills deals
Large organizations often operate within complex structures, slow hierarchies, and a strong aversion to risk. While smaller competitors move quickly and adapt easily, big companies remain stuck in endless reviews, multiple layers of approval, and rigid policies.
In many cases, negotiators end up spending more time negotiating internally than they do with the client itself.
Trying to negotiate everything
Treating every clause in a deal as a battle leads to unnecessary complexity. The reality is that not every issue is worth negotiating, and not every detail creates real value. Over negotiation drains time and resources, slows down progress, and complicates deals without meaningful returns. The most effective companies know how to distinguish between what truly matters and what can simply follow standard market practices.
Short term pressure
Demand for quick results pushes companies to accept lower quality deals, make poorly considered concessions, and overlook long term value creation. Instead of asking, “What is the best possible deal?” the focus becomes “What is the fastest deal we can close?”
Using technology & AI to negotiate
Technology is beginning to reshape the landscape. Leading companies are already using AI to handle thousands of low value negotiations, allowing human negotiators to focus on complex, high impact deals.
At MIT’s 2025 AI Negotiation Competition, over 200 AI agents tested different strategies in multi-issue scenarios, showing they can reach complex agreements and that strategy strongly impacts both agreement rates and value creation. As these capabilities advance, companies will rely more on AI for constrained negotiations, freeing humans to focus on high-stakes deals requiring creativity and judgment.
Companies like Walmart and Maersk have successfully used AI-driven agents to complete thousands of negotiations with human counterparts.
A better way forward
Solving these challenges does not come from adding more controls, but from rethinking the entire approach to negotiation. Companies need to stop negotiating everything and focus only on the issues that truly impact value and use technology wisely in simple negotiation allowing human negotiators to focus on complex deals. They must redefine the role of the negotiator, not as a limited agent, but as a problem solver who explores options and provides recommendations rather than commitments.
About the author:
Engineer Mohamed El-Baz has more than 25 years of experience in entrepreneurship. He founded 15 companies in various field, such as training and education, software development, healthy food chains, real estate development, and stock exchange. He is the Chairman and CEO of several companies, including Healthy & Tasty, and E3mel Business Academy.
El-Baz is a member of the Entrepreneurship Society at King Saud University 2020. He was awarded an MBA from the Australian Institute of Business in 2013. He wrote a number of books, including “Successful Projects Ideas” and “A Guide to Establishing Small and Medium Enterprises.”
