EDITOR’ S INSIGHT
Matt High, Editor-in-Chief, Procurem
“ The shift towards centralisation reflects a distinct hunkering down by procurement”
There’ s no denying procurement has it hard at the moment – geopolitical instability, uncertainty in the operating environment, rising costs and supply chain disruptions, as well as the need for balancing more strategic and efficient business priorities will likely keep pressure on for some time.
Within that context, the results in this section come as little surprise, demonstrating that leaders are fully focused on mitigating risk and controlling as many of the processes as possible. It’ s exciting to see unity in how and where the function is focused in the face of collective challenges – reinforcing the ongoing evolution from backoffice organisation to strategic powerhouse.
Cost reduction and efficiency, selected as a priority by 68 % of respondents, will be crucial for
bringing much-needed stability, particularly as most enterprises are operating in a climate of cautious spending and extracting maximum value without compromising quality or efficiency.
Given the current challenges, we might have expected responses toward risk and resilience to be even higher, particularly as procurement teams are being tasked with building more agile, diverse and shockresistant supply chains.
Of course, technology and innovation is critical to delivering on that expectation – the results not just in this section, but across our whole survey demonstrate that. Here, we see a strong appetite to digitalise and automate, no doubt driven by investment in technologies like AI, machine learning, digital twins and predictive analytics – all of which deliver the kind of
22 The Procurement Survey 2025