Chapter Two
AI, Automation and the Next-Gen Procurement Ecosystem
AI and automation are rapidly reshaping the procurement landscape - not as future ambitions, but as present-day realities. Every respondent to our survey reported active application of AI or automation tools. Supplier risk monitoring (60%), contract lifecycle management (58%), and invoice/payment automation (57%) are the most prevalent use cases, reflecting a strong emphasis on efficiency, compliance, and risk mitigation.
However, adoption is not without friction. Integration challenges with legacy systems are the most common barrier (39%), followed by resistance to change (24%) and data governance concerns (20%). Interestingly, fewer cited budget, skills shortages, or unclear ROI as major barriers, while no one reported smooth, uninterrupted adoption. This suggests the procurement function is bought in on AI’s strategic value, but is grappling with implementation at scale.
Looking ahead, procurement leaders envision AI as a co-pilot rather than a replacement. Themes from open-ended responses point to AI's role in enabling predictive decision-making, automating routine tasks, enhancing supplier discovery and monitoring, and strengthening ESG compliance. AI will increasingly offer real-time, market-responsive recommendations while supporting strategic planning. Crucially, respondents highlighted the importance of Human-AI collaboration, reinforcing that technology must amplify, not replace, professional judgement.
Yet this transformation presents challenges for talent pipelines. As AI assumes traditional entry-level tasks, the foundational experiences once gained through manual work are diminishing. Leaders predict a shift toward early-career roles that demand strategic, analytical, and digital fluency from the outset. To bridge this experience gap, organisations must rethink training models, investing in simulation-based learning, structured onboarding, and partnerships with educational institutions.
Overall, while 75% of respondents feel “moderately prepared” to adopt digital technologies, only 10% consider themselves highly prepared. Procurement is entering a new era - but readiness will hinge on reimagining both technology strategy and talent development.
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Question 1: Where is your procurement team currently applying AI or automation tools?
Question 2: What is the biggest barrier to successful AI and digital tool adoption in your procurement function?
Question 3: How do you expect the role of AI in procurement decision-making to evolve in the next 3 years?
Question 4: How prepared is your team to adapt to new digital technologies (AI, automation, platforms)?
Question 5: How does the future pipeline of skilled professionals look without traditional entry-level roles as AI takes over junior procurement tasks? (open ended)
Question 1: Where is your procurement team currently applying AI or automation tools? (Respondents were asked to select all that apply)
Supplier risk monitoring
Contract lifecycle management
Invoice and payment automation
Sourcing and RFP management
Spend analytics and reporting
Negotiation and decision support
“AI is useful, but only up to a point. It works well for structured, predictable tasks like contract lifecycle management or invoice automation. But when it comes to supplier risk, which deals with the unexpected, AI becomes reactive, not predictive. The more complex the task - like negotiation - the harder it is to apply AI effectively. Right now, we’re seeing clear limitations in its strategic application.”
Lukasz Stolarski, Senior Strategic Sourcing manager, Viasat
"AI has the capability to completely redefine how procurement value chain delivery is transformed—and that power needs to be guided through a human-centered approach. Like any transformative technology, it should be focused on results, deploying use cases, delivering value, and next generation adoption. To mitigate analysis-paralysis risks, it’s imperative that we look at the deployments in a pragmatic way to solve key challenges that demonstrate results and to not try to solve everything.”
Darshan Deshmukh, President, ProcureAbility
Question 2: What is the biggest barrier to successful AI and digital tool adoption in your procurement function?
Integration challenges with legacy systems
Resistance to change from team or stakeholders
Data quality and governance issues
Lack of internal digital skills
Budget constraints
Unclear ROI or use case justification
"Concerns about legacy systems, data quality and the introduction of AI can be handled with agentic AI. Agents can work with existing platforms easily, adapting as needed. Data is never going to be perfect, get going with agents without worrying about perfection - this delivers more ROI. The best implementations of agentic AI focus on career growth by becoming a manager of agents. Management tools like leaderboards that track savings generated via agents help drive positive embracement of change."
Rinus Strydon, CRO, Pactum
“I find these results surprising. Legacy system integration was seen as the biggest barrier, yet data quality and ROI didn’t feature strongly - both of which are major concerns in my view. For me, AI is also a paradox: we talk about sustainability and AI as megatrends, but generative AI is energy-intensive and not inherently sustainable. While AI can ease some low-value tasks, I’m not convinced the return on investment is clear especially if we look at the total life cycle and its negative impacts.”
Carine Assaf, International Procurement Supervisor, Leading French Bank
Question 4: How prepared is your team to adapt to new digital technologies (AI, automation, platforms)?
Respondents said they are not preapred
"AI has the power to catapult procurement talent into entirely new career trajectories—but only if organizations are willing to completely rethink how they hire, train, and develop their people. This isn’t evolution—it’s reinvention. The talent needs are shifting from efficiency and effectiveness focus to critical thinking as AI continues to become a stronger solution for efficiency and speed. The HCAI (human-centred AI) deployments will make humans skills in synthesis, training, and critical thinking as key talent needs in procurement.”
Darshan Deshmukh, President, ProcureAbility
