Nothing makes my point better than slide 15 on Trends in Procurement priorities in the 2026 Procurement Agenda and Key Issues Study Results sponsored (at least) by Jaggaer, SAP and Unit4 (and likely others).
Basically, every year you have the concerns of
- supply continuity
- cost reduction against inflationary price increase
- strategic business advisory
- digital transformation and the tech-du-jour (analytics to AI)
- operating model improvements
All of the risks fall into our eight ever present risk categories:
- Talent: Access, Acquisition & Retention, Retiring Workforce Impact
- Disasters: (Other) Supply Chain Disruptions
- Cyberattack: CyberSecurity Risks
- Spend Pressure: Economic Downturn, Changing Customer Expectations, Capital Access, Competitive Alternatives
- Supply Shortage (and Trigger Events): Trade Wars, Geopolitical Tension
- Regulatory Compliance: Regulatory Compliance, Ethics & Privacy, Product Liability
- Corruption: IP Loss
- Tech-Du-Jour: AI-enabled Tech, Tech Transformation Delays, Tech Obsolescence
It’s the same-old, same-old situation when it comes to initiatives, except the tech-du-jour (AI) is nearing the top of the list, and the ecosystem is essentially the same, only the names of the players have changed. And, of course, the conclusion is, surprise surprise, to employ the tech-du-jour which, lo-and-behold, Hackett stands by and stands ready to help you with (despite the 94%+ failure rates found by MIT and McKinsey).
In other words, it’s the report we expected, and the first of many to come. (As you can expect every other analyst firm and consultancy will soon be releasing theirs, if they haven’t already. But we won’t be reading them, and for the next five years at least, neither should you.)
And, with the exception of the key shifts in concerns, issues, risks, and barriers, which could be a two page summary, it’s not a report you need to read through as very little has changed in the last decade.