Procurement is navigating one of the most disruptive and fast-changing periods in its history. 

Drawing on thousands of conversations across CASME’s global community of procurement professionals, this article explores how leading procurement teams stay ahead.

1. Continuous Value Creation is Replacing Traditional Savings Cycles

Procurement’s evolution into a holistic value creator continues to accelerate. Organisations now expect Procurement to deliver a broader spectrum of value across innovation, resilience, sustainability and customer/stakeholder experience, not just cost savings.

This evolution requires earlier involvement in business planning, new commercial models and deeper category expertise.

Early stakeholder engagement results in stronger outcomes

Industry research shows that a substantial portion of the cost (often quoted* as around 70%), quality and performance outcomes is determined during the early stages of planning and design. When Procurement is involved upfront, teams influence strategic decisions that affect long-term value, instead of simply negotiating transactional outcomes.

*Source: McKinsey & Company, ‘Design to Value’ research

Long-term value is becoming the priority

More organisations are moving away from rigid annual cost savings targets and towards continuous multi-dimensional value creation. Data insights are increasingly used to weigh short-term trade-offs against longer-term benefits, ensuring Procurement supports broader business ambitions.

Best practices for building continuous value:

• Engage early with the business to challenge assumptions and influence requirements
• Use value frameworks that balance cost, innovation, risk and ESG factors
• Develop rolling category strategies that evolve as business needs change
• Adopt commercial models that incentivise shared value, not just savings
• Strengthen analytical capability to quantify long-term impact.

"We’re in the midst of a strategic transformation fuelled by AI, resilience, and a renewed focus on value creation,” observed a Director of Indirect Global Strategic Sourcing in the gaming sector.

“As the company embraces AI across functions, we’re seeing both opportunities and challenges, while the technology accelerates decision-making and streamlines communication, it’s also led some stakeholders to believe they can bypass Procurement altogether. That’s why we continue to reinforce our role as a value driver and risk mitigator. AI is empowering us to work smarter and faster but staying ahead requires ongoing investment in training and development to ensure our teams evolve alongside the technology."

2. Procurement Risk Management is Becoming Multi-Dimensional and Fast-Moving

Risk today is more volatile, interconnected and far more complex. During CASME discussions, members consistently highlight the speed at which new risks emerge, including:

• Geopolitical instability
• Cyber vulnerabilities
• Third-party risk
• Regulatory pressure
• Supply chain fragility
• ESG scrutiny.

What once appeared as isolated incidents now spread quickly across global networks, demanding a more proactive and structured approach to procurement risk management. 

Resilience is now a core priority

Supplier diversification, geographic risk assessment, contingency planning and near-/reshoring are becoming standard practice for balancing resilience with efficiency.

Cybersecurity risk increasingly sits within Procurement’s remit

Growing digital supply chain connectivity increases exposure to cybersecurity threats. Procurement now works closely with IT and risk teams to evaluate supplier security, data controls and system vulnerabilities.

Best practices for modern risk management:

• Map supply chains beyond Tier 1 to uncover hidden dependencies
• Use structured scenario planning to test responses to likely disruptions
• Diversify critical suppliers and geographies to reduce concentration risk
• Build unified risk dashboards for real-time visibility
• Embed resilience clauses into contracts and maintain backup sources.

According to a General Manager, Procurement & Fleet, at a healthcare services provider: “The biggest shift we’re seeing is the rising importance of third-party risk management, driven by the need for deeper supply-chain visibility to ensure continuity and identify vulnerabilities early, evolving legislation and emission reduction commitments. 

Essentially refocusing our priorities on supply assurance - strengthening relationships with suppliers, ensuring business continuity, and accelerating the use of AI and digital systems to assess risk and assurance more effectively.”

3. AI in Procurement is Transforming Expectations

The use of AI in procurement has shifted from being a competitive advantage to an operational necessity. Yet its rapid evolution is outpacing the capability, governance and change readiness of many organisations.

CASME members consistently highlight the growing gap between what AI tools can deliver and what their procurement teams, systems and processes are currently equipped to support. Progress is often constrained by:

• Skills and capability gaps
• Governance and risk concerns
• Change management challenges
• Misalignment between Procurement, IT and Finance.

AI is redefining the procurement operating model

From contract analytics to supplier insights and automated workflows, AI is redefining Procurement’s role from process manager to strategic orchestrator. But realising this potential requires teams with digital confidence, data governance and redesigned ways of working.

New skills determine AI success

Analytics, digital literacy, scenario planning and stakeholder engagement are becoming essential skills. Without these capabilities, organisations will struggle to capture the value that AI can provide.

Best practices for digital and AI transformation:

• Begin with a digital readiness assessment to clarify gaps and opportunities
• Prioritise high-impact use cases first, such as analytics or contract intelligence
• Embed data governance to ensure accuracy and consistency
• Invest in team capability with structured digital upskilling programmes

“The most significant shift in Procurement today is the accelerated adoption of AI-driven technologies. Leveraging AI allows us to automate routine tasks while enhancing buyer expertise,” remarked a VP, Head of Procurement Strategy & Transformation, Global Procurement at a multinational software corporation. 

“This is not just about efficiency, it’s enabling Procurement to become a true strategic value driver. The transformation is moving the function from a transactional role to a strategic value enabler. Ultimately, we are aligning procurement strategies with business stakeholders’ objectives to unlock innovation and drive growth.”

4. Supplier Collaboration Is Becoming a Competitive Advantage

Supplier collaboration has become one of the strongest differentiators of procurement performance; particularly in indirect procurement, where significant untapped value remains. Many CASME member organisations now view key suppliers as strategic extensions of their own business.

Partnerships fuel innovation and shared value

Procurement teams increasingly engage suppliers on innovation, process improvements, cost optimisation and ESG initiatives. These partnerships unlock value that transactional negotiations alone cannot deliver.

Stronger supplier relationships increase resilience and reduce risk

Suppliers that trust and collaborate closely with their customers often deliver more reliable support during shortages, respond faster, share better insights and provide earlier access to innovation opportunities.

Collaboration is especially transformative for indirect procurement

In categories where suppliers bring specialised expertise, early engagement and co-creation are essential for unlocking efficiencies, generating new ideas and solutions.

Best practices for strengthening supplier collaboration:

• Segment suppliers to identify where deeper partnership will deliver the most value
• Create joint business plans outlining shared objectives and metrics
• Share forecasts and roadmaps to enable better supplier planning
• Use SRM tools to track performance and relationship effectiveness
• Build trust through transparency and fair, consistent commercial behaviour.

5. ESG in Procurement is Becoming Data-Driven and Non-Negotiable

ESG expectations have expanded dramatically in recent years. Regulators, auditors, investors and customers now demand measurable progress, not just policy statements or compliance narratives.

Procurement is increasingly responsible for delivering credible, measurable ESG performance, with increasing pressure to demonstrate:

• Supply chain transparency
• Carbon reduction
• Ethical sourcing
• Responsible supplier practices.

Expectations have shifted from ambition to evidence, placing Procurement at the centre of ESG performance and compliance. 

Scope 3 emissions dominate sustainability agendas

Supply chains typically account for the majority of an organisation’s environmental impact. Procurement must gather accurate emissions data, support supplier improvements and strengthen multi-tier transparency across the supply chain.

Regulatory reporting demands high-quality supplier data

With ESG-related reporting accelerating across regions, organisations are investing in better monitoring tools and processes to ensure accurate, verifiable and audit-ready supplier information.

ESG influences sourcing decisions and contracts

Sustainability criteria are increasingly embedded into supplier evaluations, sourcing strategies, KPIs and performance agreements. 

Across CASME’s Executive Forums in the US, EU and UK, CPOs and Procurement executives consistently report that ESG has shifted from a policy conversation to a challenge of data credibility. “The real change is the expectation that Procurement must now demonstrate ESG impact, especially across Scope 3, in a way that withstands regulatory scrutiny and commercial challenge. The pressure is no longer about stating intent, but proving it with high-quality, consistent and defensible supplier data,” noted a CASME Executive Forum Facilitator.

Best practices for ESG-focused procurement:

• Embed ESG requirements into sourcing decisions and contracts
• Standardise how supplier ESG data is collected and verified
• Prioritise high-impact categories such as Logistics, Packaging or Facilities
• Support suppliers through guidance and capability-building
• Align procurement KPIs with corporate sustainability targets.

A New Procurement Leader Is Emerging

Taken together, these five shifts - continuous value creation, multi-dimensional risk management, digital acceleration, supplier collaboration and data-driven ESG performance - signal a profound transformation for the profession. 

CASME’s global community is seeing a new kind of procurement leader emerge. One who is:

• Digitally confident
• Insight-led and analytically capable
• Skilled at cross-functional collaboration and influencing
• Equipped to navigate complexity with agility
• Comfortable with uncertainty
• Focused on long-term value and responsible growth.

Organisations investing in these capabilities today are building procurement functions that will thrive in the decade ahead.

Stay Ahead of the Changes Shaping Global Procurement

CASME’s procurement community includes thousands of indirect procurement professionals worldwide who gain exclusive access to real-time insights, peer-led discussions and practical tools that support better decision-making in an increasingly complex environment.

Explore CASME membership to see how we help corporate procurement teams build clarity, confidence and capability for the future.