Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Content

Among the many trends happening in procurement today, artificial intelligence and machine learning are two of the biggest topics. A recent industry conference, Bid Ops’ Optimal AI event, brought professionals together to discuss the often confusing, but definitely complementary, role that AI can play in a procurement process.

Edmund Zagorin, Founder and CEO of Bid Ops, cut to the chase when talking with Spend Matters. “Is AI a meaningless buzzword or is it critical for businesses to ‘do more with less’ and manage volatility and change?"

There are only six days left before the ISM and Spend Matters Global Procurement Tech Summit. As we approach the kick-off to the event, I’ll share six different perspectives on speakers and areas attendees should be paying close attention to. Up first is one of our keynotes speakers, Anne Rung, who is leading a session titled “From the War Room: Technology Hits and Misses From the Federal Government.”

The circle of life includes death, and traditional procurement is dying. The sooner that procurement organizations, and the solution and service providers that serve them, recognize how the various aspects of the old procurement model are dying, the more quickly they can plan for rebirth. Honestly, I think procurement today is really not that different from 10–15 years ago, but procurement 10 years from today is going to be very different indeed, and it’s going to be because of technology.

AGCO’s story is fascinating – and will provide great business case fodder for manufacturers looking to build the case for investment themselves in such programs. But what are the business drivers for companies making investments in such programs today? At the core, companies are changing, silos are breaking down and stakeholders are collaborating 
as never before. As a result, a new concept is emerging: global supply chain risk management (SCRM).
 Quite often, the decisions to invest in SCRM are often driven more by the fear of negative press – and of course regulatory penalties – than the opportunity to make the supply chain more resilient and maintain top-line revenue and market share, even in the case of a supply chain upset.

One of the presentations at Coupa Inspire this week that I was particularly inspired by did not come from Coupa at all, but from Michael O'Leary, director of procurement offerings and strategy at IBM Commerce. Michael is a former procurement and supply chain executive within IBM. If you are interested in the Cliff Notes version of IBM’s procurement transformation, read the article from yesterday, IBM and Procurement Transformation: By the Numbers, Risk Management and More. During the second part of his talk after the IBM transformation story, Michael shared some of the initiatives IBM is working on around big data and procurement, leveraging Watson Data Explorer – IBM’s big data solution – alongside procurement and related supplier data.