The real answer is: yes (for the majority) and no (for the minority). So be in the minority. And continue to
Keep Calm and Carry On
Ignore the FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and the FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) that the vendors and analyst firms are trying to instill in you on a daily basis in an effort to get you to buy, buy, buy something that you probably don’t need and definitely won’t work for you. (Just remember that tech project failure rate has reached an all time high of 88% [and climbing]. The more FUD you fall for, the more failure you’ll see in return.)
It’s not about the shiny new hotness, it’s about what actually solves your problems and works for you. And, as I’m not sorry to say, more often than not in back office data processing (which Procurement is), it’s usually the Old Busted Hotness that gets the job done.
Moreover, the fundamentals of problem identification and problem solving HAVE NOT changed.
- Understand the problem
- Formulate the problem
- Find the root cause
- Identify potential solutions
- Evaluate potential solutions (independent of marketing or underlying tech)
- Select and implement a solution
And you can do this using one or more general problem solving strategies. Moreover, if you need to understand the underlying tech, you can employ an expert to help you. When it comes to solution selection, the right consultants are cheap, especially when they have a solid foundation in Tech and the Domain in which you are trying to solve the problem, and you don’t, and these consultants already know a large number of potential solutions to help you evaluate. (Sometimes hundreds of them.) (Need help finding the right consultant? You can always contact the doctor.)
Furthermore, while it could be difficult to figure out the process you should be using and the system you should be using to implement the process, there are expert consultants who can help you map what you have, explain the art of the possible, explain the pros and cons of each process choice, and come up with the real requirements for a solution RFP (which should NOT be a list of feature and functions, and should not specify the how, only the what — and if you don’t understand why, engage a technology expert to help you with the solution/technology RFP and DO NOT use a FREE RFP Template as they are all lies)!
Roll Up Your Sleeves
Staples lied to you and all of the vendors repeat the lies daily. There is NO Big Red Easy Button. There is no Magic Gen-AI solution. There will be no Agentric AI that will come along and make your job super easy — and if you are using any of your intelligence whatsoever to make strategic decisions, the technology will not replace you. (But properly applied, it will enhance your performance beyond belief … you’ll be able to do the work of ten (10) or more peers! Now, this might be bad news for your peers if they can’t adapt and aren’t near the top of their game, but fortunately for us, talent is super scarce in Procurement and no one who’s good at their job should be in danger of losing it, as long as they are willing to skill up and keep performing).
But you will need to do a LOT of work to figure out what you need, why you need it, how you employ it, how you will utilize it most effectively, how you will achieve the ROI, and how you will build and sell the business plan. Then you have to manage the vendor selection process properly, the implementor/integrator process properly, the training and adoption process (because it’s NOT a matter of if you buy it they will use it, it’s more like if you buy it they will do everything they can to bypass it until it is easier to use the system than bypass it and everyone understands it). And when it comes to training the ML/AI enabled systems and verifying their recommendations, you won’t just need your brain on full, but your research skills on full as these systems are so convincing even when the recommendation is the worst recommendation possible that lesser minds will just accept the recommendation blindly.
Be ready to use your Human Intelligence (HI!)
The more advanced the technology gets, the MORE you need to use your human intelligence. Your job will get much more mentally challenging, as it will soon revolve entirely around strategy and system training (and, of course, human relations — what the technology cannot do), as the promises of an easy life multiply. However, once you select, implement, train, and wrap your mind around the new technology, the (physical) effort and drudgery you will have to employ will decrease significantly as that is the work that will be turned entirely over to the system. A human intelligence that can properly make use of augmented intelligence is the one that will enable Procurement to thrive.
And Remember
Just because 2025 is just another year, that doesn’t mean it has to be another year of struggle. Just because vendors won’t make a difference; analyst firms won’t make a difference; and the C-Suite likely won’t see beyond their desperate need for cost savings (if only to increase profit so the CEO can take home a few more million dollars he doesn’t need); that doesn’t mean you can’t make a difference. As we’ve pointed out, we’ve reached a point where you can, even with very little budget to help you. You just need to do it, start saving, and use those savings to invest in more tools and processes that create more value. But you have to take the lead. It’s up to you.