Procurement at the Tipping Point: Deloitte’s 2025 Chief Procurement Officer Survey Reveals the Pressure and Promise of Technology Disruption

New York, Aug. 19, 2025

Key takeaways

• Surveyed chief procurement officers (CPOs) are accelerating investments in digital transformation and artificial intelligence (AI), with top performers — or as the report terms these “Digital Masters” — allocating up to 24% of their budgets to procurement technology.
• Top procurement organizations achieve three times greater returns on GenAI investments compared to peers.
• Risk management and talent development remain top priorities as CPOs navigate rising costs, regulatory demands and supply chain disruption.
• Procurement’s influence is growing, with CPOs playing a critical role in risk management and strategic decision making.

Why this matters
Procurement leaders are at a critical inflection point, facing unprecedented complexity from global supply chain disruption, regulatory shifts and rapid technological advancements transforming the industry at large. Deloitte’s “2025 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey,” now in its 12th year, captures insights from over 250 CPOs across 40 countries, revealing how procurement leaders are embracing Generative AI (GenAI) and agentic AI, investing in talent, and managing risks to guide the C-suite amid increasing market turbulence.

Key quotes
“As the role of the chief procurement officer continues to evolve, these executives are increasingly recognized as indispensable, trusted advisors to the C-suite. Our 2025 survey underscores the critical importance of CPOs serving as transformative agents of change — empowering organizations to harness the full potential of digitally enabled supply markets and driving value through vertically integrated solutions.”
— Jennifer Brown, offering leader, supply chain and network operations, Deloitte

“Procurement is at the forefront of managing increasing supply market complexity, and successful CPOs know harnessing the power of digital and AI is helping drive resilience, efficiency and growth. Organizations that prioritize both tech modernization and talent investment are better able to not only survive but thrive amid market fluctuations.”
— Ryan Flynn, principal , Deloitte

Digital transformation is leading the way
Surveyed CPOs are making bold moves to modernize procurement, with a strong focus on digital tools and AI investment. Digital Masters, representing the top quartile of procurement organizations, are allocating up to 24% of their budgets to technology — nearly double the investment reported in 2023. This audience projects this number to increase again in the next fiscal year to 26%. GenAI and agentic AI adoption are helping streamline processes, and these big bets are paying off, with Digital Masters achieving an average 3.2x investment return on GenAI, while Followers saw projected slightly above 1.5x increase in ROI.

Siloed operations and talent gaps remain key barriers
Siloed ways of working — 57%; competing priorities diluting focus — 46%; organizational or technology capability to support execution — 40% and the talent gap — 34% were ranked among the top barriers preventing value delivery by the surveyed CPOs. Without a serious investment in developing talent and breaking away from siloed operating models, procurement is at risk of losing its ability to align with and influence business units and partner functions. Despite these concerns, the use of AI for autonomous processing presents a major opportunity for lowering costs and driving ROI that procurement organizations can help deliver.

Resilience is key amid rising costs and regulatory shifts
As the risk landscape continues to evolve and geopolitical uncertainty intensifies, CPOs are taking action. The top three most effective strategies for mitigating risk among surveyed respondents are: maintaining active alternative sources (74%), enabling greater visibility into the supply chain (64%) and enhancing supplier information sharing and collaboration (61%).

For additional results of the 2025 CPO Survey, visit: 2025 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey | Deloitte US.