Augment Acquires Merlin, Targeting an $8 Trillion Legacy Industry with AI

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – April 29, 2026 – In a strategic move poised to send ripples through the backbone of the U.S. economy, supply chain AI platform Augment today announced its acquisition of Merlin, a stealth startup that has been quietly developing artificial intelligence solutions for the wholesale distribution industry. The deal marks the official entry of Augment, a company backed by $110 million in capital, into the colossal $8 trillion U.S. wholesale distribution market.

Merlin’s capabilities will be integrated into Augment’s flagship product, Augie, an AI-powered teammate already deployed across the logistics sector for freight brokers, shippers, and carriers. This expansion adds a crucial, and historically underserved, link to Augment’s growing map of the supply chain, promising to bring modern AI productivity to an industry still largely dependent on legacy systems and manual processes.

“Distributors represent one of our most vital industries. Without them, hospitals run out of vital supplies, factories grind to a halt, and home builders can't build — yet they still run on legacy systems and spreadsheets. That changes now,” said Harish Abbott, co-founder and CEO of Augment. The acquisition brings not just technology, but deep industry expertise. Merlin’s leadership, including distribution veteran Alex Moazed, Nick Johnson, and former Grainger head of AI John Schumacher, will join Augment to spearhead the new division.

A Tech Overhaul for the Economy's Backbone

Wholesale distribution is one of the largest and most critical sectors in the economy, yet it has remained one of the most technologically fragmented. For decades, enterprise distributors have wrestled with what the industry calls “operational complexity”—a web of disparate ERP systems, inconsistent product terminology, and labor-intensive manual workflows that erode margins and stifle growth. Simple tasks like entering a customer’s purchase order can take a sales representative half an hour, while checking on an order status often requires a phone call to a supplier.

This environment has proven resistant to generic, one-size-fits-all tech solutions. According to Merlin founder Alex Moazed, who joins Augment as President of Wholesale Distribution, the B2B distribution sector is extremely decentralized, creating a landscape where standardized software often fails to adapt. Moazed, a founder of the B2B distribution-focused investment firm Applico Capital and co-author of Modern Monopolies, evaluated over 700 supply chain technology companies before concluding that the specific needs of enterprise distributors were not being met.

This acquisition signals that AI technology has finally matured to the point where it can tackle this complexity. By integrating Merlin’s specialized knowledge, Augment is betting it can succeed where others have fallen short, offering a solution built to handle the operational realities of the industry, from complex unit conversions to customer-specific SKU language.

Building a Unified Supply Chain Intelligence

For Augment, the acquisition of Merlin is more than just an entry into a new market; it is a critical step toward realizing a much broader vision. The company is strategically assembling an end-to-end AI platform designed to manage and understand the entire supply chain, from manufacturing to last-mile delivery.

Before this deal, Augie was already adept at navigating the complexities of freight and logistics. By adding distribution to its repertoire, the AI platform gains visibility into a crucial piece of the puzzle. As distributors operate some of the nation's largest private fleets and are among the biggest shippers of freight, the integration creates a powerful feedback loop.

“The more of the supply chain Augie manages, the better it understands every transaction on it — where freight is coming from, why it's moving, and what happens on either end. That intelligence compounds,” Abbott explained. “We're not building separate product infrastructure for separate industries. We're building one AI platform. The more of the supply chain it touches, the more valuable it gets for everyone on it.”

Data Privacy and Domain Expertise: The Keys to Adoption

One of the most significant hurdles for AI adoption in traditional industries is trust, particularly concerning data. Many distributors view their operational data—pricing, customer lists, and purchasing patterns—as a core competitive asset. The idea of feeding this data into a shared AI model that could benefit a competitor is a non-starter.

Augment is tackling this head-on by making data privacy a central tenet of its platform. Unlike generic AI tools that often pool data to train shared models, Augie is designed so that each customer’s data remains proprietary. All AI learning is isolated within each enterprise, ensuring that a distributor's competitive intelligence remains its own.

“Our top priority is putting the customer first. This industry runs on trust, and distributors rely on us not only to deliver AI automation, but to safeguard their data, one of their most valuable assets,” said Moazed. This commitment, combined with Merlin’s deep domain expertise, is designed to overcome industry skepticism and foster adoption.

The platform consolidates the entire quote-to-cash lifecycle into a single hub. It can ingest orders from emails and PDFs, automatically translating unstructured customer requests into structured ERP entries. It monitors supplier portals for pricing, checks product lead times, and provides sales teams with an internal knowledge hub for instant access to specifications and procedures.

Early Results Signal a Tipping Point

While the acquisition is new, the technology is not untested. Merlin was operating in stealth with a formidable roster of initial clients, collectively representing over $20 billion in distributor revenue. Early adopters include industry leaders such as Ewing Outdoor Supply, a $1 billion landscape distributor, and Reece, a $3.5 billion plumbing and waterworks giant, alongside Insco Distributing and Brooks Safety Solutions.

The results from these early deployments are compelling. “Augie saves me 80% of the time spent on quoting,” reported Mike Mackey, Commercial Services Manager at Ewing Outdoor Supply. “It's as if I had my own personal assistant. It seamlessly integrates with workflows and automatically connects to my inbox and the ERP, with product search functionality that blows our ERP and website out of the water.”

This testimonial highlights the tangible impact of specialized AI. By automating tedious, time-consuming tasks, the platform frees up experienced personnel to focus on higher-value activities like customer service and strategic sales. For an industry squeezed by tight margins and a tight labor market, such efficiency gains are not just a convenience—they are a competitive necessity. With this acquisition, Augment is making a bold declaration that the technological transformation of the supply chain's silent giant is finally underway.