PROCUREMENT TECHNOLOGY
Military tensions between China and Taiwan( 62 %) and the war in Gaza( 58 %) further complicate the global logistics map. This convergence of crises has forced 18 % of UK firms to cut ties with suppliers in specific countries entirely, a clear sign that global disruption is actively fragmenting supply chains.
Agentic AI: from dashboards to orchestration The emerging use of agentic AI calls for a fundamental evolution of procurement functions. Recent years have seen ongoing inflationary pressure and supply shocks test the limits of legacy models. Procurement leaders are now tasked with predicting both external and internal volatility, tracking disruptions from minor starting points to preempt major events.
Roman Belotserkovskiy, Partner at McKinsey & Company, says:“ Across hundreds of conversations with procurement leaders, and based on what we are seeing in live transformations, the pattern is consistent. Leaders are moving beyond dashboards and insights toward agentic systems that deliver not just efficiency, but materially higher effectiveness.
“ As sourcing, negotiations, contract compliance and value preservation are increasingly augmented by AI, the real question becomes: how do we deliberately transition humans to focus on judgment, orchestration and relationships?”
86 April 2026