THE PROCUREMENT INTERVIEW
The conversation around artificial intelligence in procurement has shifted dramatically. While discussion once centred on possibilities and potential, today’ s procurement leaders are demanding something far more concrete: measurable return on investment.
This evolution represents a turning point for the profession: one that requires careful navigation between technological enthusiasm and practical business outcomes.
Tricia Miller, SVP Product Marketing and Chief Evangelist at Coupa, brings a unique perspective to this challenge. With a background in procurement before moving into her current marketing role, she understands the operational realities facing procurement teams and the transformative potential of AI technologies.
Reframing the ROI question The most critical shift in thinking about AI adoption involves reframing the question of return on investment. Rather than asking what ROI AI will deliver in isolation, Tricia believes organisations must think more holistically about their procurement objectives.
“ The focus should not be on what is the ROI that AI is going to deliver,” she explains.“ It’ s much more‘ what is the ROI that the procurement function is going to deliver and how does AI help that?’
“ AI cannot be looked at in silos. It has to be,‘ what is your functional priority and how is AI going to make the accomplishment of that priority better?’”
Tricia Miller, SVP Product Marketing and Chief Evangelist, Coupa
“ These two are not mutually exclusive. AI is another tool in the belt of the procurement function that should allow them to operate more effectively or operate with a greater level of intelligence.”
This perspective transforms AI from an end goal into an enabler of broader procurement outcomes. The results can be substantial. Tricia notes that, with some of the agents Coupa has recently delivered, organisations have seen reductions in manual auditing efforts to identify fraudulent buying, while efforts to create requisitions or respond to knowledge questions have decreased by between 50-70 %.
She adds:“ These are key outcomes that the procurement team need to deliver to show value to the organisation and they can be accomplished because they’ re executing with a greater level of intelligence.”
24 March 2026