📍 Basel, Switzerland  · 

Monish
Pahwa

Procurement Leader × AI Builder · 15 Years Global Experience

AI & Procurement Solutions Lead with 15 years of global procurement experience — and a hands-on AI builder. I have envisioned, designed and deployed AI-based procurement tools using Python and R, including NLP-driven spend management, contract analysis using RAG with vector databases, and M&A spend-intelligence platforms. Proficient in LLMs, vector DBs, AWS and Azure. Delivered 15% cost reduction and reduced procurement lead times by 15–20% through automation and analytics-driven sourcing.

View My Experience LinkedIn →
15+
Years in ICT Procurement
15%
Cost reduction delivered
20%
Cycle time improvement
6+
AI tools built & deployed

Procurement domain expertise meets production data science — not theoretical, built and deployed in regulated environments.

⚡ Procurement
Strategic Sourcing Category Management Supplier Negotiation Contract Management Spend Analytics Post-Merger Integration
🧠 Data Science & AI
Python R SQL DuckDB NLP TF-IDF UMAP HDBSCAN RAG Pipelines Vector Databases LLMs Shiny
☁️ Cloud & Infrastructure
Docker Cloud Deployment AWS Azure DigitalOcean GitHub Linux
01 —

Profile

I am a Procurement Leader and AI Builder with 15 years of global procurement experience across the Swiss regulated sector. I combine deep category expertise — ICT, Professional Services, Indirects — with hands-on AI and data science capabilities that most procurement professionals simply don't have.

I have envisioned, designed and deployed AI-based procurement tools using Python and R, including NLP-driven spend management platforms, contract intelligence pipelines using RAG and vector databases, and M&A spend-intelligence tools. I am proficient in LLMs, vector DBs, and cloud platforms including AWS and Azure.

Whether the role is senior ICT Procurement Manager or AI & Procurement Solutions Lead, I bring a rare combination: the strategic credibility of 15 years in procurement and the technical depth to build the tools that transform it. Currently completing a Bachelor's in Data Science & AI at FHNW.

Areas of Expertise

ICT Procurement AI & Procurement Solutions Global Sourcing Category Management NLP & LLMs RAG Pipelines Python · R AWS · Azure Spend Analytics Contract Intelligence Supplier Negotiation Post-Merger Integration

Languages

English · French · German

Location

Switzerland · German national with EU C permit

02 —

Experience

Jan 2024 — Present
Current Role
ICT Procurement Strategy Manager
HELVETIA INSURANCE GROUP · Basel Metropolitan Area
  • Developed and implemented ICT procurement strategies, achieving a 15% cost reduction across key categories.
  • Negotiated supplier contracts to secure favourable terms and enhanced service levels.
  • Coordinated with IT and finance teams to align procurement strategies with organisational needs.
  • Analysed market trends to inform procurement decisions and contribute to strategic planning.
  • Built and deployed AI-powered procurement analytics tools adopted across the procurement function.
ICT Procurement Post-Merger Integration AI Tooling Supplier Strategy FINMA nDSG/GDPR
Jan 2023 — Dec 2023
Category Management
Procurement Category Manager
EAO · Switzerland
  • Led supplier negotiations, achieving a 10% cost reduction in key categories through strategic contract terms.
  • Streamlined procurement processes, reducing lead time by 15% and enhancing operational efficiency.
  • Developed category strategies that improved supply chain performance and aligned with business objectives.
  • Conducted market analysis to identify trends, informing purchasing decisions and optimising sourcing outcomes.
Category Strategy Supplier Negotiation Market Analysis Process Improvement
Jan 2018 — Jan 2022
Global Role
Global Procurement Manager — Indirects
CERDIA (A Blackstone Company) · Basel, Switzerland
  • Managed global procurement for indirect categories, focusing on strategic sourcing and supplier relationship management.
  • Achieved a 15% reduction in costs through strategic sourcing projects across key categories.
  • Implemented process improvements that reduced procurement cycle time by 20%.
  • Negotiated favourable contract terms fostering long-term supplier partnerships.
  • Coordinated with cross-functional and cross-border teams to maintain supply chain continuity during market disruptions.
Global Sourcing Indirect Procurement Supplier Relations Cross-border Teams Cost Reduction
03 —

AI Projects

01
Spend Analysis Platform
End-to-end supplier consolidation tool processing large-scale invoice data. Fuzzy matching, clustering, and deduplication algorithms. Deployed on cloud infrastructure in a regulated environment.
⚡ No visibility into supplier landscape → Built NLP clustering platform → Enabled data-driven consolidation decisions at scale
R · Shiny · DuckDB · Docker · Cloud
02
Contract Intelligence Pipeline
Local-first RAG pipeline for large-scale contract analysis. Vector embeddings with hybrid semantic search and conversational Q&A. Zero data leaves the corporate perimeter — built for regulated environments.
⚡ Hundreds of PDFs unqueryable → Built local RAG pipeline → Team queries entire contract portfolio in natural language
DuckDB · Ollama · Vector Search · BM25
03
Category Intelligence App
Supplier matching and deduplication across multi-entity invoice datasets. Built for nDSG/GDPR compliance with session-based data handling. Fully Dockerized and deployed in production.
⚡ Duplicate suppliers across datasets → Built TF-IDF matching engine → Identified and consolidated suppliers across complex entity structures
R · Shiny · TF-IDF · Docker · nDSG
04
Contract Risk Analyzer
OCR pipeline with automated clause extraction across multiple risk categories. Change-of-control detection, severity classification, and structured report generation using a local LLM for privacy-preserving analysis.
⚡ Manual contract review taking weeks → Built OCR + LLM risk analyzer → Critical clauses identified and scored in hours
R · OCR · Local LLM · Structured Output
05
Supplier News Monitor
Real-time supplier risk monitoring combining web search APIs and local LLM summarization. Delivers automated briefings on supplier developments relevant to active contracts and categories.
⚡ No supplier news monitoring → Built automated AI briefing tool → Team stays ahead of supplier risk without manual effort
R · Shiny · Web Search API · Ollama
06
Negotiation Brief Generator
Automated negotiation preparation tool generating structured briefing documents from contract and spend data. Significantly reduces manual preparation time for strategic sourcing events.
⚡ Negotiation prep taking days → Built AI brief generator → Structured briefing documents produced in minutes
R · LLM · DuckDB · Word Output
04 —

Education & Certifications

2024 — 2028
BSc Data Science & Artificial Intelligence
FHNW — University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland
Present
MBA — Krannert School of Management
Purdue University
2021 — 2022
Certificate in Leading Innovation in Digital Procurement
IMD Business School
2022
Management of Biotech, Medtech & Pharma Ventures
EPFL — École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
2022 — 2023
Data Science, ML, Power BI, SQL & AI Certifications
DataCamp and Pluralsight — 25+ certificates
05 — CONTACT

Let's build something smarter.

Open to senior ICT procurement, procurement analytics,data engineering and digital transformation roles in Switzerland. Available for discussions.

Send a message
💼 linkedin.com/in/monishpahwa ✉️ monish@monishpahwa.com