diff --git a/packages/kbn-pm/dist/index.js b/packages/kbn-pm/dist/index.js
index 4d065411f91b61..abb941d2117131 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-pm/dist/index.js
+++ b/packages/kbn-pm/dist/index.js
@@ -48106,23 +48106,34 @@ async function isBazelBinAvailable() {
   }
 }
 
+async function isBazeliskInstalled(bazeliskVersion) {
+  try {
+    const {
+      stdout: bazeliskPkgInstallStdout
+    } = await Object(_child_process__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__["spawn"])('npm', ['ls', '--global', '--parseable', '--long', `@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`], {
+      stdio: 'pipe'
+    });
+    return bazeliskPkgInstallStdout.includes(`@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`);
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 async function installBazelTools(repoRootPath) {
   _log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["log"].debug(`[bazel_tools] reading bazel tools versions from version files`);
   const bazeliskVersion = await readBazelToolsVersionFile(repoRootPath, '.bazeliskversion');
   const bazelVersion = await readBazelToolsVersionFile(repoRootPath, '.bazelversion'); // Check what globals are installed
 
-  _log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["log"].debug(`[bazel_tools] verify if bazelisk is installed`);
-  const {
-    stdout: bazeliskPkgInstallStdout
-  } = await Object(_child_process__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__["spawn"])('yarn', ['global', 'list'], {
-    stdio: 'pipe'
-  });
+  _log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["log"].debug(`[bazel_tools] verify if bazelisk is installed`); // Test if bazelisk is already installed in the correct version
+
+  const isBazeliskPkgInstalled = await isBazeliskInstalled(bazeliskVersion); // Test if bazel bin is available
+
   const isBazelBinAlreadyAvailable = await isBazelBinAvailable(); // Install bazelisk if not installed
 
-  if (!bazeliskPkgInstallStdout.includes(`@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`) || !isBazelBinAlreadyAvailable) {
+  if (!isBazeliskPkgInstalled || !isBazelBinAlreadyAvailable) {
     _log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["log"].info(`[bazel_tools] installing Bazel tools`);
     _log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["log"].debug(`[bazel_tools] bazelisk is not installed. Installing @bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion} and bazel@${bazelVersion}`);
-    await Object(_child_process__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__["spawn"])('yarn', ['global', 'add', `@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`], {
+    await Object(_child_process__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__["spawn"])('npm', ['install', '--global', `@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`], {
       env: {
         USE_BAZEL_VERSION: bazelVersion
       },
@@ -48132,7 +48143,7 @@ async function installBazelTools(repoRootPath) {
 
     if (!isBazelBinAvailableAfterInstall) {
       throw new Error(dedent__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_0___default.a`
-        [bazel_tools] an error occurred when installing the Bazel tools. Please make sure 'yarn global bin' is on your $PATH, otherwise just add it there
+        [bazel_tools] an error occurred when installing the Bazel tools. Please make sure you have access to npm globally installed modules on your $PATH
       `);
     }
   }
@@ -59771,10 +59782,11 @@ __webpack_require__.r(__webpack_exports__);
 /* harmony import */ var path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__ = __webpack_require__(4);
 /* harmony import */ var path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2___default = /*#__PURE__*/__webpack_require__.n(path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__);
 /* harmony import */ var _build_non_bazel_production_projects__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__ = __webpack_require__(745);
-/* harmony import */ var _utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__ = __webpack_require__(131);
-/* harmony import */ var _utils_log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_5__ = __webpack_require__(246);
-/* harmony import */ var _utils_package_json__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_6__ = __webpack_require__(251);
-/* harmony import */ var _utils_projects__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_7__ = __webpack_require__(248);
+/* harmony import */ var _utils_bazel_run__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__ = __webpack_require__(374);
+/* harmony import */ var _utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_5__ = __webpack_require__(131);
+/* harmony import */ var _utils_log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_6__ = __webpack_require__(246);
+/* harmony import */ var _utils_package_json__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_7__ = __webpack_require__(251);
+/* harmony import */ var _utils_projects__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_8__ = __webpack_require__(248);
 /*
  * Copyright Elasticsearch B.V. and/or licensed to Elasticsearch B.V. under one
  * or more contributor license agreements. Licensed under the Elastic License
@@ -59790,17 +59802,19 @@ __webpack_require__.r(__webpack_exports__);
 
 
 
+
 async function buildBazelProductionProjects({
   kibanaRoot,
   buildRoot,
   onlyOSS
 }) {
-  const projects = await Object(_utils_projects__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_7__["getBazelProjectsOnly"])(await Object(_build_non_bazel_production_projects__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__["getProductionProjects"])(kibanaRoot, onlyOSS));
+  const projects = await Object(_utils_projects__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_8__["getBazelProjectsOnly"])(await Object(_build_non_bazel_production_projects__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__["getProductionProjects"])(kibanaRoot, onlyOSS));
   const projectNames = [...projects.values()].map(project => project.name);
-  _utils_log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_5__["log"].info(`Preparing Bazel projects production build for [${projectNames.join(', ')}]`);
+  _utils_log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_6__["log"].info(`Preparing Bazel projects production build for [${projectNames.join(', ')}]`);
+  await Object(_utils_bazel_run__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["runBazel"])(['build', '//packages:build']);
+  _utils_log__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_6__["log"].info(`All Bazel projects production builds for [${projectNames.join(', ')}] are complete}]`);
 
   for (const project of projects.values()) {
-    await Object(_build_non_bazel_production_projects__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_3__["buildProject"])(project);
     await copyToBuild(project, kibanaRoot, buildRoot);
     await applyCorrectPermissions(project, kibanaRoot, buildRoot);
   }
@@ -59835,9 +59849,9 @@ async function copyToBuild(project, kibanaRoot, buildRoot) {
   // the intermediate build, we fall back to using the project's already defined
   // `package.json`.
 
-  const packageJson = (await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["isFile"])(Object(path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__["join"])(buildProjectPath, 'package.json'))) ? await Object(_utils_package_json__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_6__["readPackageJson"])(buildProjectPath) : project.json;
-  const preparedPackageJson = Object(_utils_package_json__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_6__["createProductionPackageJson"])(packageJson);
-  await Object(_utils_package_json__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_6__["writePackageJson"])(buildProjectPath, preparedPackageJson);
+  const packageJson = (await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_5__["isFile"])(Object(path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__["join"])(buildProjectPath, 'package.json'))) ? await Object(_utils_package_json__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_7__["readPackageJson"])(buildProjectPath) : project.json;
+  const preparedPackageJson = Object(_utils_package_json__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_7__["createProductionPackageJson"])(packageJson);
+  await Object(_utils_package_json__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_7__["writePackageJson"])(buildProjectPath, preparedPackageJson);
 }
 
 async function applyCorrectPermissions(project, kibanaRoot, buildRoot) {
@@ -59852,12 +59866,12 @@ async function applyCorrectPermissions(project, kibanaRoot, buildRoot) {
   for (const pluginPath of allPluginPaths) {
     const resolvedPluginPath = Object(path__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_2__["resolve"])(buildRoot, pluginPath);
 
-    if (await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["isFile"])(resolvedPluginPath)) {
-      await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["chmod"])(resolvedPluginPath, 0o644);
+    if (await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_5__["isFile"])(resolvedPluginPath)) {
+      await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_5__["chmod"])(resolvedPluginPath, 0o644);
     }
 
-    if (await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["isDirectory"])(resolvedPluginPath)) {
-      await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_4__["chmod"])(resolvedPluginPath, 0o755);
+    if (await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_5__["isDirectory"])(resolvedPluginPath)) {
+      await Object(_utils_fs__WEBPACK_IMPORTED_MODULE_5__["chmod"])(resolvedPluginPath, 0o755);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/packages/kbn-pm/src/production/build_bazel_production_projects.ts b/packages/kbn-pm/src/production/build_bazel_production_projects.ts
index cd40653a6b54c2..a54d6c753d8d77 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-pm/src/production/build_bazel_production_projects.ts
+++ b/packages/kbn-pm/src/production/build_bazel_production_projects.ts
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ import copy from 'cpy';
 import globby from 'globby';
 import { basename, join, relative, resolve } from 'path';
 
-import { buildProject, getProductionProjects } from './build_non_bazel_production_projects';
+import { getProductionProjects } from './build_non_bazel_production_projects';
+import { runBazel } from '../utils/bazel/run';
 import { chmod, isFile, isDirectory } from '../utils/fs';
 import { log } from '../utils/log';
 import {
@@ -35,8 +36,10 @@ export async function buildBazelProductionProjects({
   const projectNames = [...projects.values()].map((project) => project.name);
   log.info(`Preparing Bazel projects production build for [${projectNames.join(', ')}]`);
 
+  await runBazel(['build', '//packages:build']);
+  log.info(`All Bazel projects production builds for [${projectNames.join(', ')}] are complete}]`);
+
   for (const project of projects.values()) {
-    await buildProject(project);
     await copyToBuild(project, kibanaRoot, buildRoot);
     await applyCorrectPermissions(project, kibanaRoot, buildRoot);
   }
diff --git a/packages/kbn-pm/src/utils/bazel/install_tools.ts b/packages/kbn-pm/src/utils/bazel/install_tools.ts
index dfd20f5974d67d..cee6eff317afa4 100644
--- a/packages/kbn-pm/src/utils/bazel/install_tools.ts
+++ b/packages/kbn-pm/src/utils/bazel/install_tools.ts
@@ -36,6 +36,22 @@ async function isBazelBinAvailable() {
   }
 }
 
+async function isBazeliskInstalled(bazeliskVersion: string) {
+  try {
+    const { stdout: bazeliskPkgInstallStdout } = await spawn(
+      'npm',
+      ['ls', '--global', '--parseable', '--long', `@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`],
+      {
+        stdio: 'pipe',
+      }
+    );
+
+    return bazeliskPkgInstallStdout.includes(`@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`);
+  } catch {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
+
 export async function installBazelTools(repoRootPath: string) {
   log.debug(`[bazel_tools] reading bazel tools versions from version files`);
   const bazeliskVersion = await readBazelToolsVersionFile(repoRootPath, '.bazeliskversion');
@@ -43,23 +59,21 @@ export async function installBazelTools(repoRootPath: string) {
 
   // Check what globals are installed
   log.debug(`[bazel_tools] verify if bazelisk is installed`);
-  const { stdout: bazeliskPkgInstallStdout } = await spawn('yarn', ['global', 'list'], {
-    stdio: 'pipe',
-  });
 
+  // Test if bazelisk is already installed in the correct version
+  const isBazeliskPkgInstalled = await isBazeliskInstalled(bazeliskVersion);
+
+  // Test if bazel bin is available
   const isBazelBinAlreadyAvailable = await isBazelBinAvailable();
 
   // Install bazelisk if not installed
-  if (
-    !bazeliskPkgInstallStdout.includes(`@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`) ||
-    !isBazelBinAlreadyAvailable
-  ) {
+  if (!isBazeliskPkgInstalled || !isBazelBinAlreadyAvailable) {
     log.info(`[bazel_tools] installing Bazel tools`);
 
     log.debug(
       `[bazel_tools] bazelisk is not installed. Installing @bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion} and bazel@${bazelVersion}`
     );
-    await spawn('yarn', ['global', 'add', `@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`], {
+    await spawn('npm', ['install', '--global', `@bazel/bazelisk@${bazeliskVersion}`], {
       env: {
         USE_BAZEL_VERSION: bazelVersion,
       },
@@ -69,7 +83,7 @@ export async function installBazelTools(repoRootPath: string) {
     const isBazelBinAvailableAfterInstall = await isBazelBinAvailable();
     if (!isBazelBinAvailableAfterInstall) {
       throw new Error(dedent`
-        [bazel_tools] an error occurred when installing the Bazel tools. Please make sure 'yarn global bin' is on your $PATH, otherwise just add it there
+        [bazel_tools] an error occurred when installing the Bazel tools. Please make sure you have access to npm globally installed modules on your $PATH
       `);
     }
   }
diff --git a/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh b/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
index e5e21e312b0ddb..61f578ba339715 100755
--- a/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
+++ b/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh
@@ -65,8 +65,3 @@ if [ "$GIT_CHANGES" ]; then
   echo -e "$GIT_CHANGES\n"
   exit 1
 fi
-
-###
-### copy .bazelrc-ci into $HOME/.bazelrc
-###
-cp "src/dev/ci_setup/.bazelrc-ci" "$HOME/.bazelrc";
diff --git a/src/dev/ci_setup/setup_env.sh b/src/dev/ci_setup/setup_env.sh
index 5dac270239c4af..0b835d4b9fa947 100644
--- a/src/dev/ci_setup/setup_env.sh
+++ b/src/dev/ci_setup/setup_env.sh
@@ -175,4 +175,15 @@ if [[ -d "$ES_DIR" && -f "$ES_JAVA_PROP_PATH" ]]; then
   export JAVA_HOME=$HOME/.java/$ES_BUILD_JAVA
 fi
 
+###
+### copy .bazelrc-ci into $HOME/.bazelrc
+###
+cp -f "$KIBANA_DIR/src/dev/ci_setup/.bazelrc-ci" "$HOME/.bazelrc";
+
+###
+### append auth token to buildbuddy into "$HOME/.bazelrc";
+###
+echo "# Appended by $KIBANA_DIR/src/dev/ci_setup/setup.sh" >> "$HOME/.bazelrc"
+echo "build --remote_header=x-buildbuddy-api-key=$KIBANA_BUILDBUDDY_CI_API_KEY" >> "$HOME/.bazelrc"
+
 export CI_ENV_SETUP=true