The recent World Procurement Congress brought together procurement leaders from across the globe, from Australia to North America, representing diverse industries and perspectives. As a participant, I had the opportunity to engage with CPOs and senior management, gaining valuable insights into current industry trends and organizational priorities. Here are my key takeaways from the event:
The Human Element Remains Essential in an AI-Driven World
While artificial intelligence dominated many discussions, there was a consensus that human skills remain irreplaceable. CPOs and senior management recognize that even the most sophisticated AI tools cannot be used effectively without the right people and skill sets.
«Human contracts are still done between humans,» was a sentiment echoed throughout the event. Despite technological advances, procurement organizations increasingly invest in finding employees with the right mindset and analytical capabilities to achieve their business objectives.
My learning is that employees are key for CPOs and senior management. While they recognize the importance of AI, they also know that this intelligence cannot be used properly without humans and without their employees. That is why investing in employees is more important—finding the right people with the right mindset to achieve targets.
The Evolving Skill Set of Procurement Professionals
Procurement skills have undergone a significant transformation in recent years. As procurement spending becomes more crucial to organizational success, companies are emphasizing the buying process more.
The analytical requirements have evolved dramatically. Ten years ago, buyers might simply compare quotes, but today’s procurement professionals must analyze:
- Extensive data sets
- Market volatility factors
- Benchmarking information
- Supplier performance metrics
- Emerging trends
This shift has created demand for more analytical procurement professionals who can manage fewer, more trusted supplier relationships rather than handling numerous vendor interactions.
The skills of procurement and buyers are becoming increasingly different. Companies are caring much more about procurement and buying processes as spending becomes more crucial. Analytical skills are now more important than ever. With massive datasets behind decisions and external factors like volatility, benchmarking trends, supplier performance, and more, the procurement profession now requires a different skill set—more analytical, with deeper interactions with a limited number of trusted suppliers.
Partnership Over Pure Cost-Cutting
One of the most significant shifts in procurement strategy has been the move from pure cost-cutting to building flexible, resilient partnerships. This trend emerged mainly as a lesson from the COVID pandemic, when organizations discovered that strong supplier relationships were critical during capacity constraints.
Companies are more willing to invest in long-term partnerships built on trust and reliability. When capacity is limited, these partnerships prove invaluable—trusted suppliers will work harder to find solutions for valued partners. In contrast, transactional relationships often leave buyers without support during challenging market conditions.
I think partnership is a key element—a lesson from the last three or four years, especially during COVID. Openness to potentially invest a bit more in long-term partnerships with trust and reliability is more valued now than before. With good partnerships during times when capacity was limited, you still had an opportunity to manage your transportation. That’s why partnership has become a key element alongside transit time, supplier performance, and cost in identifying the right partners.
Technology as an Enabler of Better Decision-Making
The technology discussions at the Congress focused primarily on improving data visibility, visualization, and understanding. Procurement leaders are looking for tools that:
- Simplify complex data
- Provide visual representations of information
- Enable quick access to insights (including through AI interfaces)
- Help identify optimal solutions within short timeframes
The emphasis is on using technology to deliver immediate, actionable insights that procurement professionals can use in negotiations and strategic planning.
One of the key elements is bringing more visibility to different data, visualizing and simplifying data to help people understand what they’re using. While AI is essential, allowing you to talk to your laptop or phone to get results, the most crucial part is data and data visualization to get an engine that demonstrates the best solution quickly. It’s mainly about data, data visualization, and understanding different data to get immediate insights and understand which direction buyers and procurement should negotiate rates.
Sustainability Continues to Gain Momentum
Sustainability remains crucial for procurement leaders, though it is not as prominently featured as other topics. Organizations increasingly focus on reducing CO2 emissions and incorporating environmental factors into their procurement decisions.
Looking Ahead: Stability in Procurement Priorities
Despite constant market changes, the core priorities for procurement organizations have remained relatively stable. CPOs from major companies like Heineken and Diageo continue to focus on three key areas:
- Cost management
- Carbon reduction
- Partnership development
This consistency provides procurement technology providers with a clear direction and ensures that solution development aligns with long-term market needs.
The procurement world isn’t so volatile that this year’s themes differ dramatically from last year’s. That’s an advantage—we know how to develop our products to meet market interest. Cost, carbon, and partnership are the key areas that CPOs are focusing on.
5 Key Things I Learned at the World Procurement Congress
- Human expertise remains irreplaceable: Even with AI advancements, human analytical skills and relationship management are more crucial than ever.
- Procurement is increasingly strategic: Companies view procurement as a cost center and a critical strategic function with significant impact.
- Partnership trumps pure cost-cutting: Organizations that invest in trusted relationships with suppliers gain flexibility and resilience during market disruptions.
- Data visualization is critical: Simplifying and visualizing complex data enables better and faster decision-making.
- Employee investment pays dividends: Finding and developing talent with the right analytical mindset and skills is becoming a top priority for CPOs.
Frequently Asked Questions from the Event
During the Congress, several questions repeatedly emerged in discussions:
Q: How can we effectively balance AI implementation with human skills?
A: Focus on developing your team’s analytical capabilities using AI to handle data processing and pattern recognition. The most successful organizations view AI as an enhancement to human decision-making, not a replacement.
Q: What skills should procurement teams prioritize developing?
A: Analytical capabilities, data interpretation, relationship management, and strategic thinking are becoming essential. A technical understanding of supply chain systems is also increasingly valuable.
Q: How can we build resilient partnerships without sacrificing cost efficiency?
A: Look beyond immediate price points to total value, including reliability during disruptions. The cost of failure during capacity constraints often far exceeds modest premiums paid for trustworthy partnerships.
Q: What technologies are delivering the most value in procurement today?
A: Tools that enhance data visibility, provide benchmarking capabilities, and offer intuitive visualization of complex information are proving most valuable for strategic decision-making.
Q: How are leading organizations incorporating sustainability into procurement?
A: They’re making sustainability a core evaluation criterion alongside cost and performance, with increasing focus on measurable carbon reduction throughout the supply chain.
Final Thoughts
The World Procurement Congress reinforced that while technology adoption accelerates across the industry, the fundamentals of good procurement practice remain centered on human expertise, strong partnerships, and data-driven decision-making. Organizations that can balance technological innovation with investment in people and relationships will be best positioned to navigate the complexities of today’s supply chains.
Freightos is committed to supporting this balance by delivering solutions that enhance human capability through automation, visibility, and insight. Our platform combines data benchmarking, rate management, booking capabilities, and visibility tools in a single interface, designed not to replace procurement professionals but to empower them.
As we look toward the next year of transformation in logistics and sourcing, I invite you to reflect on how your organization is balancing technology innovation with human expertise.
