How AI is Transforming Procurement Talent Strategy

What are the current trends in procurement talent?

Rising skill demands, digital transformation, and evolving workforce expectations mean it’s significantly harder to find and retain procurement talent today that it was in previous years. In fact, 58% of those responsible for hiring procurement and supply professionals globally have struggled to find and retain talent in the past 12 months.

Different generations want different things from their working life, so talent strategies that have worked for past generations won’t necessarily attract young talent of the future. Younger generations value work-life balance, purpose, and flexibility in their roles. Plus, they’ve grown up with technology, and expect advanced digital tools to be available for them to help them in their roles. Today, this includes Artificial Intelligence.

How is AI changing the talent landscape in procurement?

The growing capabilities and prevalence of AI is affecting the procurement talent landscape in two major ways.

1. Job roles are changing, demanding greater data literacy, and placing more emphasis on value-generating tasks rather than time-consuming manual processes.

   With AI in procurement, you can automate routine tasks like invoice processing, supplier onboarding, and spend analysis. This means procurement professionals are free to focus on higher value activities and identifying innovative opportunities to add value.

   As procurement roles shift to focus more on data interpretation, risk management, and incorporating business objectives like ESG goals into procurement strategy, they’ll require different skills. And that means a greater need to embrace AI in procurement talent strategy to upskill your current workforce and hire talent with wider-ranging capabilities. Potential new roles you might look to recruit for include:

   1. Procurement Data Analyst: to interpret supplier metrics, spend data, and AI-generated insights

   2. AI Procurement Strategist: to design and govern AI-driven procurement workflows

   3. Innovation Lead: to develop sustainable, cutting-edge, and technology-focused solutions and strategies

2. Younger generations want to work in procurement teams that embrace the capabilities advanced technology offers — and are actively seeking roles in teams that embrace AI.

   Young professionals expect technology to be part of their job roles. They’ve grown up with advanced capabilities and are broadly more comfortable with automation, data analytics, and AI in procurement. They’re used to being able to automate routine tasks, so look for roles that empower them to do so — and avoid working for teams with high administrative burdens.

   Younger generations also value career growth opportunities and understand that having more exposure to strategic decision-making early in their career enables more dynamic career paths as they progress. So, as older generations approach retirement and younger generations fill up more and more of your workforce, positioning your team as digitally mature is a must.

How are leading procurement teams evolving to attract and retain talent?

To attract and retain top talent in today’s procurement landscape, you need to embrace and champion new technology. A strong AI in procurement talent strategy can help organizations rebuild their procurement processes around AI, you can foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning that new talent will want to be part of.

To attract and retain talent to fill the digital skills gap in procurement, you must:

1. Define tech-focused roles and offer upskilling programs and certifications to help your workforce adapt. As your procurement team’s digital maturity increases, job roles will evolve. And you need to make sure you work with your employees to secure your team’s continued success. Applying AI in talent management can help organizations identify emerging skills gaps, align training with evolving roles and ensure employees have the capabilities they need to adapt to new digital demands.

2. Position yourself as a technology-forward employer to attract the talent of tomorrow. With competition for procurement talent high, you need to make sure you stand out from the crowd. Showcasing your most innovative tools, processes, and strategies, and positioning yourself as an early-adopter, will help you attract the younger generation — and get them excited to work with you as you continue to digitally mature.

3. Adopt backend capabilities to create more attractive ways of working. Technology and AI don’t just offer capabilities that improve your procurement processes, they can also improve the broader way of working. With remote collaboration and real-time decision making, AI in talent management can support more flexible, hybrid work environments. This helps create the autonomy and work-life balance that young professionals are most drawn to.

Conclusion

Technology like AI will continue to evolve, and it’s most likely that these advancements will accelerate in speed and scale. You need to keep maturing digitally and embracing change if you want to keep your costs low and opportunities high.

Continual technological advancements also mean the current skills gap in procurement will just keep widening unless you address them now. AI in procurement talent strategy should therefore include upskilling programs and digital literacy training to ensure the employees you currently have can adapt to the new demands of their roles. And you need to showcase the cutting-edge technology your procurement team is implementing to attract the talent of tomorrow.

To learn more about WNS Procurement, and discover how it can help your organization adopt the tools and technology needed to attract the talent of tomorrow, visit here.