Q1 2024 Insider roundup: A deep dive into AI; following procurement tech market movements; updated coverage of 18 vendors

Throughout the year our analyst team provides vendor-specific profiles and tech solution analyses as part of Spend Matters Insider content. Our coverage also explores the latest thought leadership topics about procurement and supply, the technology that serves it and comparative analyses based on demos and the scoring of 500+ RFI requirements across 12 source-to-pay (S2P) categories that create our Vendor Ranking data. In this roundup of Q1, we review the Vendor Analyses and other Insider content that the team produced in the previous quarter. We then look ahead to what members can expect in the coming months.

Artificial intelligence in procurement

During the first quarter of 2024, the Spend Matters team followed the theme of ‘Artificial Intelligence in Procurement.‘ The major highlights are described below.

‘Meet AI’

In the ‘Meet AI’ series, the Spend Matters analyst team explored the implementation of AI in various segments of the procurement process. Each article gives an overview of the technology’s relevant capabilities, how GenAI is used and a high-level market outline that is informed by our recently conducted vendor survey. You can find each module covered below:

‘Autogmentation’

The introduction of newer iterations of AI and particularly GenAI, however, does not represent the further removal of the human from the workplace but a transformation to a new relationship with technology. Spend Matters Lead Analyst Bertrand Maltaverne has dubbed this new relationship ‘Autogmentation,’ a mixture of automation and augmentation. In the Q4 of 2023, he wrote a four-part series that delves into the history of automation, AI and how procurement may proceed. In this quarter, the Spend Matters analyst team builds on this foundation by giving an overview of how vendors have implemented GenAI in their solutions.

The 6 different ‘flavors’ of GenAI implementations in procurement applications

While the novelty of GenAI remains fresh, procurement solutions are rushing to add some kind of GenAI capability to their solutions. Not all implementations are the same, however. To clarify this, Bertrand Maltaverne works through the different influences on a GenAI’s design and the degrees that a GenAI may be implemented.

AI Basics

With the explosive expansion of AI, you might have missed out on the chance to learn what an AI actually is, how it works and what it can do. Pere Sivecas, Spend Matters Development PM and Software Architect, has compiled a four-part video series that covers the basics you need to know, the first two of which are free while parts three and four require a basic Insider subscription.

Exploring the world of procurement tech in Q1

Spend Matters Insider coverage in Q1 included more than just our staple Vendor Analyses and our quarterly theme. Our team keeps tabs on the latest news in the procurement world and explores ideas that will inform that world’s future. A collection of these quick takes, conference insights and solution comparisons is below.

2024 procurement tech vendor insights series — Analyst wrap up

The Christmas-New Year Period of 2023-2024 saw Spend Matters soliciting thoughts from expert tech and service providers about what the coming year will bring to the market. Senior Analyst Bertrand Maltaverne reflected on the major themes found in the responses we received.

Vendors in focus in Q1

In Q1, Spend Matters published 18 Vendor Analyses as part of our Insider coverage. As detailed below, the analysts’ work in Q1 took a special interest in solution providers that tackle issues of supplier risk management.

AP automation

Billhop offers a streamlined alternative to traditional supplier onboarding, categorizes the core transaction as trade payables rather than long-term debt on balance sheets and ensures compliance with regulations and company policies.

Data Semantics uses Serina, an AI-enabled tool, to support organizations in automating and managing their AP invoice processes through advanced OCR, automated approval workflows and detailed analytics.

Category management and sourcing

ChAI is a pricing and market intelligence solution that allows customers to understand future raw material prices, providing insights for procurement, risk management and finance, so that they can stay on top of market changes and provide visibility of short- to long-term forecasts.

Covalyze utilizes its AI-backed cost analytics to support direct materials management and category management, provides ETL software to transform data into a usable format and can connect data from multiple ERPs.

Contract lifecycle management

LexCheck gives procurement departments access to very specific redlines without needing to consult legal users by returning contract reviews based on company-specific playbooks to mitigate risk.

Pactum addresses the lack of attention paid to long-tail suppliers with a suite of products that automate various types of negotiations with suppliers and eliminates the need for manual, human-led contract negotiations.

Source-to-contract

Mercanis responds to the growing need for organizations to streamline and improve their procurement operations through the adoption of digital solutions by focusing on flexibility — specifically, on providing a modular and configurable platform — and usability to ensure a wide and low effort adoption.

Sourcing

Fairmarkit’s sourcing solution initially specialized in tail spend management, but having seen success in this area, it has begun to expand beyond this niche to tackle more strategic sourcing events by developing capabilities like intake management, enhanced supplier recommendations and user guidance. Part one of this three-part analysis provides an overview of Fairmarkit’s sourcing solution, an overall SWOT analysis and a list of key competitors, part two examines the solution’s strengths and weaknesses and offers considerations for a potential user to take into account and part three provides a detailed overview of each module and concludes with an analyst summary.

Spend analytics

Sievo has long established itself as a staple in the procurement spend analytics space, and in recent years it has expanded its coverage to include areas adjacent to its traditional focus, such as CO2 emissions and ESG analytics. The first part of this three-part analysis covers Sievo’s analytics offerings, a company-level SWOT analysis and a list of key competitors, part two examines the solution strengths/weaknesses and offers user considerations and part three provides a detailed overview of each module and an analyst summary.

Supplier management

Hellios is a supplier information specialist that manages industry-based communities of buying organizations that want to mutualize their SIM processes and delegate certain activities.

Canopy centralizes supplier information, streamlines supplier management and automates the supplier onboarding process to assist procurement and finance teams in managing a wide range of supplier data.

Supplier risk management

Sphera SCRM is the new name of riskmethods, which Sphera recently acquired to complement its ESG-focused capabilities with riskmethods’ original supply chain risk management ones to enable its customers to anticipate their suppliers’ compliance and ESG/risk impacts.

Prewave maps entire supply chains down to the raw material extraction level, ensuring a meticulous understanding of potential vulnerabilities, with a specific focus on risk identification and compliance with international legislation.

Supply Risk Solutions embeds risk in sourcing strategy development, supplier selection and management by providing customers with a way to identify and mitigate tier-1 and tier-2 supply chain risks that uses supplier-verified information.

Kodiak Hub is a supplier management solution providing a cloud-based platform that offers automated dashboards, scorecards and analytics to address various stakeholder needs, focusing on supplier performance, risk, quality and ESG.

Halo Ai addresses third-party risk management problems by consolidating supplier data into one platform with the goal of becoming a one-stop-shop for TPRM.

Vendor management system

Deployed offers a platform of AI-driven solutions that aim to ease the pain of writing SOWs by reducing lengthy turnaround times, providing clarity in project scope and simplifying the end-user experience.

Suites

VORTAL offers a comprehensive platform for Iberian and South American organizations in government, construction and healthcare sectors wanting to enhance their upstream processes.

Coming up in Q2

Looking beyond Q1 and into Q2, Insider members can expect the steady stream of Vendor Analyses to continue.

In addition to the regular work, the Spend Matters analyst team will pursue a quarterly theme of Intake and Orchestration and author an ‘Intro to’ series, in which the team will give a beginner course to the various parts of the procurement technology landscape.