FINANCE & SPEND

of non-users cite trust and security concerns as a barrier to using embedded finance for procurement

Skill Dynamics 2026 report highlights that nine in ten organisations are operating with at least one critical skills gap, and 14 % have no dedicated training budget at all.

“ The starting point must be an honest assessment of where the gaps actually are,” Sam adds.“ That means working through each team member’ s skills in detail, what they’ re strong in and where there’ s room for growth, and building a development plan from there rather than applying a one-sizefits-all training approach.”

Equally, Sam stresses that as AI takes on more routine, transactional work, the skills that matter most are the ones it can’ t replicate, like negotiation, relationship building, supplier management and stakeholder communication.

“ These are also some of the biggest capability gaps identified in our research, so they need real investment and attention. Importantly, they need to be developed in context, grounded in real commercial situations rather than tick-box training,” he says.

2030 – touchless or just smarter? It is unrealistic to suggest that the future doesn’ t hold far more automated, intelligent and interconnected than it is today.

Businesses continue to move away from manual, fragmented processes towards embedded, data-rich payment experiences powered by AI and automation.

While technologies such as AI and machine learning are already streamlining core P2P tasks, Tulsi stresses that the future isn’ t about creating a‘ touchless’ office.

“ People will continue to play an important role in managing complexity, overseeing risk and maintaining strategic supplier partnerships,” she explains.

“ As P2P evolves, it’ s about using richer data and insight to support growth, enable smarter decision-making, stronger cashflow management and more resilient supplier relationships. By 2030, these intelligent, connected workflows should be the standard across finance functions.”

Instead, Tulsi describes the future of P2P as seamless orchestration – intelligent systems streamlining workflows behind the scenes, so teams can focus their attention on strategic priorities and decisions where human insight and expertise add the most value. Charlotte echoed this smarter, over touchless approach to P2P.“ By 2030, we’ ll have much better, smarter and more connected Sourceto-Pay processes, and AI will be doing far more of the routine heavy lifting

120 July 2026