Choosing the Right Path: Build, Buy, or Adopt Generative AI in Digital Procurement
Which approach delivers the most value for your organization?
Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly reshaping source-to-pay (S2P) processes, giving chief procurement officers (CPOs) new ways to automate tactical tasks and amplify strategic impact. Yet once priority use cases are identified, one fundamental question remains: Should you build, buy, or adopt GenAI capabilities?
Why the build, buy, or adopt decision is critical for CPOs
The choice between building, buying, or adopting GenAI solutions can significantly influence your organization’s competitive advantage, speed to value, and risk profile.
Building GenAI solutions enables tailored functionality and robust data security for unique business needs but often requires greater investment. Buying off-the-shelf GenAI tools for procurement can lower costs and accelerate implementation, though this may mean compromising on privacy and flexibility. For organizations already using established platforms, adopting built-in GenAI features is the most cost-effective route, but offers the least control over capabilities.
Each path presents distinct trade-offs—so how do you determine which approach will deliver the greatest value for your organization?
What to consider when choosing your GenAI path
The build versus buy versus adopt decision framework is composed of four main factors: Strategic fit, budget constraints, market considerations, and data privacy. Some of these factors can in turn be broken down into subfactors.
A step-by-step guide to making the optimal GenAI choice
Use our simplified decision tree to navigate the build, buy, or adopt decision for GenAI in procurement. Start with competitive advantage and data privacy, then consider tool availability, budget, speed to value, and current solution capabilities. This structured approach enables informed, confident choices tailored to your organization’s needs.
A CPO’s perspective on building for the future
To my fellow CPOs navigating build vs. buy to implement GenAI for Procurement —the “Build” path won’t be right for everyone, and there are excellent tools out there that are absolutely fit for purpose. We chose to build, not because it was easy, but because it was the right strategic move for where we’re headed. This wasn’t just a tech decision, it was a choice to invest in our people, our platform, and our future.
Emma Chontos Chief Procurement Officer, Intuit
