Making Procurement Artificially Intelligent!

Artificial intelligence is one of the most cliched topics in the Procurement world.

Often AI is talked about as the “Manna” from heaven; that has the ability to cure all ills. Should we not look at it more objectively and try to answer a few questions?

What can AI support in procurement today?

To highlight a few areas –

1. Tail Spend Management
2. Invoice Processing
3. Helpdesk
4. Inventory Management/Re-ordering
5. Master Data Management/Clean-up 

Should current procurement organizations integrate AI technology to existing processes or change their processes to accommodate AI technology?

• Even with AI, just like any other sunrise technology of its day, we should remember that it is a means to an end not the end in itself. The required business objectives should remain the north star, the AI and related technologies should enable that to be achieved more seamlessly and efficiently. The existing process nor the enabling technology is as sacrosanct as the required business objective.

Advances in AI related technologies provide new product opportunities or will it make existing processes better?

• Again, deep learning technologies can be likened with the sharp edge of a knife. It depends, what the doer does with it and how successfully. The technology itself is neither right or wrong, nor only improvement focussed or new-product development specific. Technological advancement is the only way forward, that will eventually keep throwing new product opportunities; it is up to us business users and technologists to keep stabilizing our systems & processes before upgrading them to the next level enhancements.

How will be the role of procurement professionals be impacted AI?

• It’s for each one of us to choose, but one certainty is that we have to participate if we want to stay professionally relevant. The procurement roles may vary from full-fledged Procurement-AI technologists, Procurement Business analysts, Master Data Scientists, traditional Category Managers (but at ease with AI-tech usage), CPO’s who can seamlessly develop/manage People-Process-AI-enabled Systems to run their procurement departments.
• New age, Procurement professionals will also have to work to train their business partners to bring them up to speed with the enhanced multiple self-help abilities of the procurement systems (most should be intuitive).

Which of the AI related technology in procurement will advance most in over the next 5 years? AI, machine learning or blockchain?

• I would bet for a close contest between AI and Blockchain; while machine learning would still be a while away. While AI technologies, would help quickly garner the low tech, low complexity, repetitive task spectrum of the procurement process; the Blockchain technologies would be extremely useful in trust deficit areas i.e. Smart Contracts, Automated Invoice Payments, Auditable Logistics and related Insurance claims processing, provenance of ethical sourcing, banking transactions, etc. 

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