As chief procurement officers weigh up how to make sure their agency is resilient forward of one other difficult 12 months, expertise stays prime of the agenda. Nonetheless, a brand new report from Proxima suggests transformations is not going to yield prime outcomes if organisations neglect the important thing ingredient of human management in 2026.
Based in 1994, Proxima offers procurement advisory companies and procurement transformation options to a consumer record starting from a number of the world’s largest companies to fast-growing, high-potential small and medium-sized enterprises throughout a variety of provide classes, and in sectors from aviation to authorities, from manufacturing to banking. Recognising that legacy, in 2022, it turned a part of Bain & Firm, one of many world’s largest technique consultancies.
With the world of procurement dealing with a 12 months of speedy change, Proxima has sought to stipulate essentially the most outstanding tendencies which chief procurement officers might want to adapt to. The 2026 CPO Report incorporates reflections from CPOs at a number of the world’s largest manufacturers throughout a variety of sector, having convened main chief procurement officers to get their tackle the alternatives and challenges within the 12 months forward. Whereas this takes in a variety of themes, three specifically emerged because the main points on the minds of CPOs this 12 months.
Simon Geale, government vice chairman for procurement at Proxima, defined, “AI topped the charts, showing in each CPO interview, and the contexts weren’t too dissimilar; our CPOs have been primarily rolling out a small variety of outlined use instances, whereas additionally encouraging their groups to capitalise on private productiveness uplifts inside outlined guardrails… Intently following AI in reputation have been conversations about resilience and evolve procurement fashions, the folks and companions who comprise them, and excel in a distinct financial context amid a generational shift in expertise. In 2026, we transition from a disruption-led to a design-led strategy.”
Reframing resilience
The indicators are already clear that 2026 will see a continuation of the US-led geopolitical disruption of final 12 months. On the similar time, different provide chain disruption ensuing from excessive climate occasions and rising costs are additionally more likely to ramp up. As procurement is the primary level of management for what companies can affect immediately relating to their resilience, many companies might be working to handle prices, shield efficiency and maintain provides flowing as circumstances change.
However whereas on paper, the reply could appear easy: constructing further layers of resilience into the availability chain means figuring out alternate options, diversifying suppliers, exploring twin or multi-sourcing fashions, and understanding the trade-offs; in observe, it represents a big strategic shift in how we’ve got traditionally bought, and is more likely to lead to elevated value to the enterprise.
Making certain board-level buy-in relating to resilience upgrades is due to this fact key. To do that, CPOs intend to push ahead with an essential message: that boards can see the worth within the funding, flipping the KPI on procurement from value to threat as a major driver of enterprise worth.
Stefan Grunwald, CPO with Henry Schein, advised Proxima’s research, “In my expertise, threat mitigation, the roots of resilience, is a core precedence, and the exec is ready to just accept that there’s a premium to be paid for constructing a brand new strategic functionality. Continuity of provide just isn’t a burden; it’s a aggressive benefit.”
AI solutions
CPOs talking to Proxima insisted that AI “is the reply”, however 2026 sees an essential second the place they have to outline “what was the query?” To see returns on hefty AI funding in 2026, it lastly must be built-in throughout the entire procurement course of, linking collectively demand forecasting, value estimating, negotiations, coordinating with suppliers and refining product specs.
If so, the consultants contend that AI can “actually facilitate guided shopping for”, together with centrally controlling what folks can see and do – permitting a decentralisation of the procurement course of. Whereas procuring one thing to reply shortly to a altering enterprise issue may need historically confronted a departmental maze, now it may turn into a easy dialog: What are you shopping for?” “Right here’s do it.” “It’s achieved.”
Nina Bomberg, CPO at Hamburger Energiewerk, believes this might rework how procurement is considered in an organization for the higher, arguing, “I imagine that folks usually bypass procurement because of friction. If AI can take away that friction and save everyone within the firm simply 10 minutes a day when they’re making an attempt to purchase one thing, they are going to be eternally grateful… On the similar time, well-trained AI brokers and well-designed prompts not solely ship constant outcomes but additionally allow us to place ourselves as a contemporary, engaging, and forward-looking perform. On this approach, we will maintain our prime expertise as a result of their work is extra significant, and entice new expertise who wish to work in a extra fashionable atmosphere.”
Clear your knowledge
A well-known idiom in knowledge analytics is “rubbish in, rubbish out”. Even with the supposedly revolutionary capabilities of AI, this rule of thumb nonetheless applies: nevertheless highly effective your analytics engine is, how costly the GenAI you expect to assist propel your organization’s productiveness to new heights, in the event you feed it unhealthy knowledge, it’s solely going to have the ability to generate substandard outcomes.
A sensible reality for a lot of is that fixing the core – together with remedying technical debt, and imposing stronger knowledge governance insurance policies, may unlock extra productiveness than simply rolling out enterprise AI within the quick time period. Particularly, the consultants famous that clear knowledge, clear processes, intentional selections, and organisational readiness have been all important to profiting from these modifications.
Mitzi Campbell, CPO of Worldwide Paper, defined, “IP had some technical debt upon my arrival, within the type of a closely custom-made twenty-year-old SAP atmosphere. We’ve developed over that interval, as have SAP and different options, and our programs haven’t stored tempo. What labored again then doesn’t work now. Our processes have been okay, however cumbersome and rigid, and the information output was inconsistent and troublesome to work with, requiring historic information and context… Whereas the market is sizzling on AI, our core goes to ship important preliminary advantages for IP updating. Sure, I wish to stroll into my room and ‘discuss to my knowledge bot,’ however proper now we’re catching up in order that we will construct for the long run, pushing digital laborious. We do use AI for on a regular basis private productiveness, however IP is unlikely to be a modern adopter on the enterprise stage.”
Total, then, the chances of AI stay a number one issue for CPOs in 2026. However Proxima’s research in the end suggests the underlying message isn’t about expertise in any respect. As a substitute, it boils right down to a matter of management.
Geale concluded, “It’s about management, by a interval of disruption and into one in all design. The following 12 months in procurement might be thrilling, as ideas and modifications which have lengthy been mentioned start to be carried out at scale. So, for present and aspiring leaders, the problem is not whether or not change is coming, however how they select to guide it.”
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