FINANCE & SPEND“ I strongly recommend that leaders explain the‘ why’ behind the change they are implementing, while actively encouraging their employees to be curious and experiment with AI tools.”
“ Collaboration is key: finance provides the invoice data, procurement adds the supplier context and together we build a full picture,” says John.
Ashifa Jumani, Director of Procurement at TELUS, comments:“ It’ s a clear paradox – procurement leaders understand AI’ s potential for strategic decision-making and higher-value work, but many functions are still overlooked in the wider investment strategy.”
Other barriers include data security and compliance risks( 36 %), limited AI expertise( 33 %), weak alignment with wider digital strategies( 33 %) and insufficient training( 33 %).
The path forward The report offers a clear roadmap: start with spend analysis and other high-volume processes to unlock working capital, then scale to more advanced applications like risk sensing and scenario modeling.
“ Start where cash, risk and cycle time intersect,” advises Gordon Donovan, Global VP of Research for Procurement and External Workforce at SAP.“ Automate intake-to-pay and three-way match, embed live risk signals into sourcing and give category managers AI Copilots to compress analysis-to-action.”
Nikolaus advises a measured approach:“ Procurement leaders should start small, celebrate successes and stay curious. If they can learn how to use AI to consolidate data, improve forecasting and enhance risk detection, these tools can help them become the intelligent
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