AI in Procurement and “Autogmentation” Part 2 — The current state of AI

Part 1 of our mini-series focused on the impact of technology on the business world and, more specifically, on procurement. After considering the key milestones in the history of digital technology, we discussed the various impacts that technology can have in terms of automation (efficiency) and augmentation (effectiveness). We also mentioned a strong dependency between the two value drivers and that “new technologies can not only handle a growing number of repetitive and manual tasks but also perform increasingly sophisticated kinds of knowledge-based work.” It is why we stated that the term ‘autogmentation’ is a better representation of what the latest wave of technological innovations enables. So, in part 2, we dive deeper into these technologies and innovations. More specifically, we will focus on what AI is (and isn’t), whether it is different (or not) from other digital technologies, and how it is used in business and procurement.