Let’s be blunt, a leadership-team conversation about artificial intelligence can soon become focused on the potential for dollar savings and headcount reduction.
Despite the best efforts of CPOs to reallocate resource from automated tasks to higher-value activities, the truth is the lure of cash on the bottom line is often too strong to resist for a CEO or CFO who is trying to satisfy the short-term demands of investors.
So, as we continue to navigate these disruptive times, the Procurement Leaders community is coming together to explore how capabilities must evolve. Our hypothesis is clear – if CPOs continue to allow their people to cling to the tasks that AI will absorb, we are inviting strategic failure.
And so in early December 2025, we hosted two conversations – one with CPOs and one for other senior-level members. Each was focused on future-fit talent – the capabilities required of procurement in an AI world.
One key challenge that came through from the latter discussion was how leaders must balance the need for increased capacity with pressure from top management for headcount reduction.
The rise of AI is not simply a tool upgrade; it’s a fundamental stress test of the capabilities and relevance of the procurement function. As a result, the skill set that defined the function historically might lead to obsolescence moving forward: if your teams are still focused on the mechanics of procurement, they are missing the strategic window that AI has opened.
The shift is immediate and irreversible. AI capabilities are rapidly assuming command of repetitive activities and, so, the fundamental challenge now is to transition category managers from tactical execution to strategic disruption.
As a result, they must stop “babysitting” categories and instead focus on taking a strategic view, analysing business needs, and fundamentally reshaping spend processes across the enterprise.
The future-focused procurement executive understands that the role of their team is no longer to perform tasks, but to augment, analyse, and strategically influence. As CPO, are you leading this necessary evolution? Or are you preparing to explain why your highly capable, but technically obsolete, team failed to secure the required strategic capacity?
It’s a deliberately provocative question, but there will be many more like this as we continue to grapple with the adoption of AI.
