Are they being serious?

Anyone who follows my writing or research will know that I’m a massive advocate for commercial teams – buy or sell – to focus on strategic value. ‘Commercial innovation’ is always essential, but today’s challenging market conditions provide a new urgency. That represents a massive opportunity to step out of the shadows.

Forward-thinking organizations already grasp the significance that Artificial Intelligence is likely to have on their future plans and capabilities. It will touch every corner of their operations, not only driving efficiency, but also powering creativity. So forgive me my skepticism, but a recent report from GEP (‘Adopting AI Responsibly: Guidelines for Procurement of AI Solutions by the Private Sector’) strikes me as unrealistic in its aspirations.

It makes the claim that: “Procurement is best positioned within an organization to help the C-suite define and create a holistic blueprint for the organization’s Al strategy.”

Really? I can certainly see that Procurement will play a part in executing on the strategy and hopefully it will also be at the forefront in determining how AI will transform the process of procurement. But to suggest that Procurement is somehow at the forefront in defining and creating the corporate strategy for AI strikes me as a massive overreach, damaging credibility.

A successful AI strategy will demand cross-functional collaboration and it will depend on digital platforms. As different groups across the business start to understand its potential, there will be a myriad of use cases. These will require robust evaluation – for example, cost / benefit analysis, resource implications, ethical and reputational assessment, market and competitive impact, affect on existing products and services.

As WorldCC research is discovering, most organizations are still focused on developing a policy, especially as it relates to Generative AI. Those at the forefront have established multi-functional teams and are encouraging employees to identify potential opportunities, while also ensuring appropriate controls on how these exciting tools are used. Security and IP protection are the big issues.

So Procurement teams, get involved. Be up there in working out how AI can transform your operations and value. But let’s recognise that this is our chance to integrate and collaborate – not an opportunity to alienate others by seeking to control.