AI IN PROCUREMENT
However, procurement isn’ t just about getting a contract over the line. The moment a negotiation requires judgment, trade-offs or the reshaping of a commercial position, human intervention becomes critical. There are also issues such as market volatility, geopolitical risk, ESG commitments and supplier innovation which are all difficult to reduce entirely to automated logic. AI won’ t replace negotiation, but it will eliminate the operational effort, allowing procurement professionals to focus on the areas where experience, context and commercial instinct have the greatest impact.
“ Human negotiation will always remain essential in areas of subjectivity, such as where requirements are uncertain, or pricing models are open to interpretation or challenge. We still need human involvement when the
“ I don’ t think the future is fullyautonomous procurement. It is AI-augmented procurement”
Steve Bradburn Senior Manager of Solution Consulting Conga contract structure, not just the price, is up for negotiation or when the outcome carries long-term risk and strategic implications,” says Hannah.
The future procurement workforce: Fully autonomous or AI augmented? Historically, procurement teams have been disproportionately consumed by low-value, high-volume activity, and while AI takes much of the heavy lifting out of negotiations by cutting time spent on contract redlining and manual administration, will the future be fully autonomous?
Steve disagrees:“ I don’ t think the future is fully autonomous procurement. It is AI-augmented procurement. AI will take on the repetitive analysis and administrative work, allowing professionals to focus more on higher-value decision-making.
“ The role will shift and arguably become more important, as teams move their focus from process management toward business strategy and strengthening supplier relationships.”
Hannah echoes this, highlighting the strategic value of AI and humans working together, rather than an end to the need for the role:“ We are leveraging AI to refocus our procurement teams’ time, shifting from the volume of commercial agreements to strategic supplier relationships. This strategic pivot has allowed our teams to spend more time challenging vendor pricing models and underlying assumptions, ultimately improving the value of our agreed contracts.”
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