As we approach 2030, what specific sourcing tasks will be automated versus those that will be elevated? In this timeframe, how will the function evolve to meet net-zero commitments and shift from traditional governance to more frequent, real-time oversight?
Tom Cummins, RS Group: All of our day-to-day transactions are already on that path right now. We’ re automating a significant number of those transactions. In 2030, I expect all of them to be automated on both sides of it: the input from suppliers, but also how our teams deal with them on our side. All of it.
Bavik Pathak, Alstom: We want the focus to be on strategy, right? And how we manage the supply base to ensure that they’ re performing to our needs and our clients’ needs, and then building our category management strategies to support the identification of the right suppliers.
Ashley Hetrick, BDO USA: We’ ll certainly see some sort of automation of repetitive tasks, even from a quality perspective, because we need stable quality ultimately, otherwise it will affect the margin of the project.
So RFX, normalisation and nonconformity predictions, and all those things, we can automate. But, for example, if we have a supplier crisis, those things will not change. That’ s when human intervention is needed, so the value of human judgment in the humanin-the-loop becomes more valuable.
We still have humans in the process, but the type of work they do significantly changes. It is that strategy and business partnering. We play an exercise with our
100 June 2026