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$2M spent on AI for procurement. 6% adoption rate within the company. A CPO told me this last month. They had everything a successful AI project should need: - Machine learning models from top vendors. - A data science team. - Executive support. - Budget approved. And dashboards nobody opened. I asked him what went wrong. "We built the perfect solution," he said. "But the team won't use it." Here's the problem: They tried to solve everything at once. Most procurement AI projects fail because teams aim for comprehensive solutions that require perfect data, complete process changes, and immediate company-wide adoption. It's too much, and too fast. The teams that succeed do the opposite: They start small. At Suplari, we call it finding your "AI beachhead": One procurement pain point where even messy data can deliver quick wins. Maybe it's spotting maverick spending in your biggest category. Or flagging unusual price changes with strategic suppliers. - Start there. - Prove ROI. - Then expand. Here's what actually drives AI adoption in procurement: 1. Quick wins beat perfect solutions A 20% improvement in contract compliance today is worth more than a comprehensive CLM system your team ignores. 2. Integrate with existing workflows Build AI into how your team already works. Don't make them learn new processes or change their day-to-day habits. 3. Amplify expertise, don't replace it Your category managers have years of knowledge. Use AI to supercharge their insights, not replace them. 4. Improve iteratively, not all at once Each small success builds confidence for the next phase. Big bang launches rarely survive contact with reality. The companies getting AI right in procurement aren't waiting for perfect data or perfect solutions. They're starting where they are and building momentum. What's your AI beachhead in procurement? Want to see how AI performs with messy procurement data rather than perfect demo datasets? Check out Suplari's approach: https://suplari.com/

I'm calling it. The "wait and see" era of AI in procurement is officially over. Yesterday we hosted our 2nd Suplari Customer “AI in Procurement” Roundtable and the energy was palpable. We are moving past the hype and into the reality of high impact use cases. (Sidenote: The leaders winning right now aren't chasing unicorns. They're solving real problems in their business today) Agentic AI is no longer a "future state." Our customers are proving it works today, and they brought receipts to the roundtable. Here are my four biggest takeaways from yesterday’s session, focused on practical tips on getting started, straight from our Customer Leaders in the trenches: 🚀 Focus on Problems, not novelty Success starts when you go very use case driven and business first. How are problems showing up today? Attack them and iterate. One leader reminded the group that this is a tool in your toolbox to help you go deeper, faster. It doesn’t replace humans. But a power-user leveraging this will replace someone who isn’t. 🛡️ Trust is built on consistency You cannot scale what you do not trust. One participant noted trust is earned when the AI can withstand an audit and explain its reasoning in plain language, with a focus on consistent, defensible results. Suplari’s Agent passed this test with flying colors because it is grounded in data, with robust resourcing, procurement expertise, and fit-to-purpose tools at its disposal. 🧹 Waiting for “perfect data” is the perfect trap Stop waiting for perfect data before you start. Roundtable participants shared how using the Agent surfaced exactly where their source records needed to be fixed, or where a process needed to be improved upstream. It also exposed where additional data would provide richer and more actionable insights. They are using AI to drive better data hygiene, and broader data availability, rather than using messy data as an excuse to do nothing. 🗣️ Master the conversation Adoption is a mindset shift. As one participant noted, treating interactions with the Agent as a conversation, not a one and done task, is a huge unlock. It recalls your previous conversations and can use past insights to inform future ones. Off-the-shelf technology can’t compete. Procurement is evolving - The future will see humans paired with digital workers and autonomous workflows that will redefine our industry speed and impact. Are you still stuck in the "theoretical" phase or are you ready for results? Let’s talk about it in the comments or send me a DM.

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In my +15 years of experience, I've seen most CPOs fail to get data access because they ask for too much at once. The typical request could sound like: "We need spend data, contract data, supplier data, and invoice data from all systems." The result is that: - CFOs see it as an expensive request - The IT team sees an extra load on them The problem is in the approach. Here's how I suggest you proceed: 1. Build the business case first Identify the objectives procurement aims to achieve, and explain how data is required to deliver on them. Make it clear that you can't achieve these objectives without that data. 2. Map data to outcomes Work with a partner who can connect the dots. At Suplari, we help teams show precisely which data delivers which outcome. For example: - Supplier performance data prevents failures. - Contract data reduces leakage. - Spend data finds savings. Our AI procurement agents power all this. 3. Start with quick wins Get some data, deliver value, and then move on to the next one. Don't need all the data at once. You can start with data components and deliver on the business case in milestones. This way, you will help the business ingest or execute more efficiently while still addressing all other priorities. 4. CPOs get the approval from the business leaders. At this point, you will get access to the data needed to make strategic decisions and improve a company's cash flow. As you can see, getting data access is more about proving you can turn data into decisions that matter to the CFO, the CIO, and the business. What outcome would make your data request impossible to deny? Need help connecting data to value? Discover our AI procurement agents: https://suplari.com