A growing number of procurement teams are exploring AI as a powerful enabler for fully orchestrated supply chain workflows and embedded real-time market intelligence. But how many organizations have successfully implemented these AI-driven processes, and what can the rest do to achieve their goals?
I recently joined a webinar hosted by Tim Burt from Procurement Leaders, alongside Zip’s Jim Czarnecki, to discuss the state of AI adoption in procurement, and how strategies are progressing. You can watch the full webinar on-demand now, but here are five of the topics from our conversation that I think are the most important for procurement professionals to consider.
Confidence is outpacing readiness for some organizations
Inspired by Zip’s recent research into how businesses are investing in AI-powered processes to manage organizational spend, we asked the webinar audience about their own experiences with AI implementation. Unsurprisingly, more than half said they were still exploring their options, with nothing currently in play, which reflects the research.
Over 80% of the respondents to Zip’s survey say they’re confident in their ability to deploy AI successfully. But just 26% say they’re “very prepared” to manage the change impact of AI on procurement and finance workflows. Teams are keen to find ways to incorporate AI into their processes, but there are still some foundational needs to consider, such as governance and compliance.
Don’t look for places to deploy AI; look for problems that need fixing
The fast pace and constantly expanding scope of AI – and the speed at which other organizations are adopting it – can amplify the hype around its potential. However, teams shouldn’t rush to apply AI to just any supply chain process.
The key is to start with the workflows; look for bottlenecks and complexities that can be alleviated with AI. Find a good candidate that will benefit from automation and embedded, real-time intelligence – a high-visibility, high-impact process with clear metrics attached. Targeting implementation like this will yield better results, both operationally and in terms of ROI.
AI puts market intelligence in context
Market intelligence is nothing new – smart procurement teams have had an eye on the conditions that affect their organizations and supply chains for years. But AI is helping this intelligence to be used more effectively, by placing it in context.
For example, traditional market intelligence could tell a manufacturer that there’s a new tariff on one of its key materials. But contextual intelligence goes further, analysing that market shift based on all the relevant factors for that individual business, such as stock levels, supplier locations, and recent spend on that material. With the right tools, it can proactively model the tariff’s likely impact on operations and alert teams to better purchasing options.
Before, market intelligence may have sat with a separate team, or at least in a parallel workflow. But AI embeds this contextual knowledge directly in the procure-to-pay workflow, delivering insights where they’re most useful for the team. Its rapid and expansive analytics power places up-to-the-minute forecasting at their fingertips. Prediction is no longer a separate task – it’s central to decision-making at key stages in the process, helping procurement play a more strategic role in guiding the organization.
AI may be a technology, but it’s a business implementation at heart
According to the research, AI readiness is highest among IT teams, as you may expect. But it shouldn’t be treated strictly as an IT implementation. If your organization is adopting AI to support business processes and outcomes, business stakeholders need to be in sync about priorities, from procurement to legal to finance.
Orchestration is all about how projects, requests, and information move through the organization. It’s about carving out the most efficient route where policies are applied consistently. Ensuring everyone agrees on what that flow should look like – and how it interacts with different departments and teams along the way – creates a more focused approach to finding and implementing the right AI solutions.
The final call is always a human decision
With AI, insight is built into the process flow, consolidating data about the organization’s industry, activities, categories, and suppliers into actionable advice. It can flag shifts in global supply chains, or track commodity price changes. That can all inform how procurement teams define and adjust their approach – but it can’t be the ultimate decision-maker right now.
The final step in any process is a judgement call – and that’s where human procurement expertise comes in. AI can move people away from gathering and poring over data, giving them space to focus on complex, strategic choices. It’s a fundamental shift for many organizations, but the more those organizations find the right applications for AI in their workflows, the more procurement teams will reap the benefits.