An inflection point: Procurement's big bet on digital
Amid the challenges and promises of technology disruption fueled by the rise of Generative AI (GenAI) and agentic AI, today’s procurement function lies at an inflection point. Is betting on digital and AI paying off? When and how is procurement helping companies be successful?
Betting on human-centered digital transformation
Though technology has evolved to incredible levels of sophistication, humans still must be “in the loop” to maximize technology investments. Our analysis of the 2025 Deloitte Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey reveals a strong correlation between the combination of technology and talent competencies and better enterprise performance .
The GenAI revolution in procurement
From powerful large language models (LLMs) to advanced chatbots, GenAI has captured imaginations in the world of business. LLMs are becoming increasingly powerful and key to AI agents with built-in memory, reasoning and the ability to operate tools such as web searches. This combination promises to transform procurement.
Are your procurement teams digital-ready?
Digital literacy is the key competency not just individually, but as a collective function. Digital literacy is essential for procurement professionals, focusing on:
- Developing and applying skills and knowledge for core processes
- Understanding how technology can automate and augment traditional procurement processes and roles in new ways
- Identifying where and how to best combine human talent and digital skills into new capabilities for knowledge management and agentic workflows
- Keeping up with the latest developments in technology
Delve into our full report to learn how CPOs are attracting top digital-ready talent and developing both new and existing procurement talent teams to drive more value for the enterprise.
The ROI: Measuring digital investment returns
Investments in talent and the digital tools that support them are intended to drive performance improvements. The survey results show that organizations betting big in the right ways for their business significantly outperform followers across all procurement performance metrics. These leaders report superior results in key areas such as:
- Cost savings (96% exceeded/met plan vs. 80% of followers)
- Cost avoidance (94% exceeded/met plan vs. 75% of followers)
- Internal stakeholder satisfaction (84% exceeded/met plan vs. 59% of followers)
- Supplier performance (84% exceeded/met plan vs. 59% of followers)
- Innovation enablement (56% exceeded/met plan vs. 24% of followers)
How has your procurement function performed over past 12 months in the following areas?
Protecting enterprise performance in today’s volatile world
Amid rising cost pressures, geopolitical complexity, regulatory compliance issues and more, effective risk mitigation strategies have become increasingly important for CPOs given their responsibilities to help the enterprise optimize operational and financial performance. Of survey respondents:
identified finding alternative supply sources as the most effective mitigation strategy.
prioritized enabling greater visibility into the supply chain.
focused on enhancing supplier information sharing and collaboration.
