Utopia Versus Dystopia: A Brief Look at the Decades Ahead

The value potential of digital solution is enormous. However, if you look at the procurement function itself and the people employed in it, there are different pathways imaginable which future role they will play. It could be that they will be marginalized by smart application which simply are making better choices than a human mind is able to do. In that dystopia procurement professionals are facing a doom future in which they stand at side with little value creation by themselves. In another scenario—utopia—however digital will even further boost procurement as a function on the strong pathway to success it has already started on many years ago. Robots for instance take away the mundane, redundant tasks that give buyers the freedom to focus on more value adding and strategic activities. Even the smart AI applications need to be fed at first with the likely parameters and data sets that truly matter for their choices. Not to mention: The tasks they are solving need to be defined first by humans based on the highest business needs. If Procurement professionals keep staying close to the value that is expected from them, if they understand which enablers lead them there and based on that actively shape their digital agenda the future for sure will be bright.

“Jumpstart to Digital Procurement” is guiding CPOs into this bright future.