🌎 Global Outlook

🤖 Albania Makes History: The World’s First AI Procurement Minister

While the world of Procurement wrestles with scandals and inefficiencies, Albania has just played its ace: Diella, the world’s first artificial intelligence officially appointed as a government minister. This isn’t science fiction—it’s reality.

Who is Diella? The name means “sun” in Albanian, and on September 11, 2025, she was officially appointed Minister of Public Procurement. Her mission is simple but revolutionary: to completely eliminate corruption in public tenders.

Why Albania? The country ranks 80th out of 180 on Transparency International’s corruption index. Public tenders have long been a festival of bribes, with experts describing Albania as a hub for international gangs laundering profits from drug and arms trafficking.

How does it work? Diella will evaluate every public tender with complete objectivity. Prime Minister Edi Rama announced that responsibilities will be transferred “step by step” from ministries to the AI system, until “all public spending in procurement is 100% transparent.”

The numbers speak for themselves: since January 2025, when she was just a virtual assistant on the e-Albania platform, Diella has already processed 36,600 digital documents and delivered nearly 1,000 services. Developed in collaboration with Microsoft, she appears as a woman in traditional Albanian costume.

Reactions? The opposition calls it a farce: “The Prime Minister’s buffoonery cannot be turned into official acts of the Albanian state,” wrote opposition leader Bardhi on Facebook. Citizens are skeptical: “Even Diella will be corrupted in Albania,” commented one social media user.

The ultimate goal? Rama is aiming for EU membership by 2030, and tackling corruption is a fundamental requirement. His Socialist Party has pledged to conclude accession negotiations by 2027.

🔗 Sources: Procurement Magazine, Al Jazeera, France24

✈️ Boeing: How to Ruin a $60 Billion Supply Chain

If you’re looking for the perfect case study in how to wreck a $60 billion supply chain, Boeing is it. In 2025, over 60% of aerospace suppliers surveyed by RBC Capital Markets identified 737 MAX production as the industry’s main problem.

The numbers of disaster: Boeing lost nearly $12 billion in 2024, has 5,189 aircraft in backlog, and is producing just 27 MAX planes per month. At this pace, it will take 153 months (13 years) to clear the backlog. The Federal Aviation Administration capped output at 38 planes per month after a 737 MAX 9 door plug blew off mid-flight in January 2024.

The systemic problem: back in 2003, Boeing chose extreme globalization to cut costs. It sold its Wichita fuselage division to Spirit AeroSystems for $900 million, outsourced critical components, and turned suppliers from strategic partners into mere “cost centers.” The result? A supply chain so fragmented that when foam insulation runs short, the whole system grinds to a halt.

Today’s crisis? Supply chain issues with “foam insulation tape” and delays in seat deliveries. Problems that Boeing could solve in-house in a week 20 years ago are now enough to derail production of $100 million aircraft.

🔗 Sources: Aviation Week, IEN

🖼️ Meme of the Day

🔥 Scandal Focus

💰 Lava Jato: When $2 Billion Goes Up in Smoke

2025 has brought to light one of the biggest procurement corruption scandals in recent history. Lava Jato in Brazil led to the arrest of 292 people in a mega-corruption scheme involving Petrobras and 13 companies.

The numbers are staggering: contractors paid between 1% and 3% of contract value as bribes, causing over $2 billion in total damages. The kickbacks were laundered through offshore accounts, disguised as legal fees or inflated service costs.

How did the scheme work? Companies colluded to manipulate tenders, securing multimillion-dollar contracts in exchange for fixed percentages paid to corrupt officials. A perfect system that ran for years—until it all collapsed.

According to PwC, procurement fraud is now among the top three most disruptive economic crimes globally, right after cybercrime and classic corruption. And we’re not talking pocket change: supplier disruptions cost organizations astronomical losses in revenue and productivity.

The moral? Maybe Albania has it right: if humans are corruptible by nature, let’s try AI.

🔗 Sources: MongaBay PwC