PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
“ My vision for the function is about how we can become a much more modern and more strategic , business enabling function ”
NICOLAS WALDEN SENIOR DIRECTOR , PROCUREMENT EXECUTIVE ADVISORY MEMBERSHIP PROGRAMMES THE HACKETT GROUP
It ' s about how we change the focus from simply talking about using technology . My vision for the function is about how we can become a much more modern and more strategic , business enabling function . And a key part of that will be the data and insights that we need to tap into to enhance decision making .”
But while AI is likely to be the next key enabler in the future , Walden doesn ’ t think procurement is there yet . “ I don ’ t think we are anywhere close to AI taking over procurement , but today if we think about what AI is , we are seeing some real life , interesting and powerful examples such as automated negotiation bots . You ’ ve got an AI powered tool that extracts data from a stream of requisitions that business users are raising , and then it goes out to suppliers and haggles with them . We are also seeing AI solutions being used in third party risk management , the tools are able to review and search through a large database of contracts or suppliers and market information , and identify differences and areas of risks to recommend actions for the business to take . So I can see AI being a huge enabler but we ' re really only at the start of that journey , I don ' t see it taking over the whole of procurement any time soon .”
procurementmag . com 47