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In June 2024, Intentful, a GMS company had the privilege of being a GenAI Partner of ProcureCon Marketing EU in London.
In the picture, from left to right, are: Szymon Okapa, Event Manager at GMS; Sarah Keller, Chief Global Enterprise Officer at GMS; Bruce Amick, COO and Co-Founder at Intentful; Marina Petrova, CEO and Co-Founder at Intentful | Head of GenAI at GMS; Greta Urman, EVP GenAI at Intentful; Gretchen Grant, AI Monetization Strategy & Execution Consultant at Intentful.
Amid keynotes, panel discussions, and fireside chats on our core expertise – AI-powered solutions, we conducted our 30-second Pain Point Survey among procurement professionals.
Our mission was to identify the key challenges procurement professionals expect to face over the next year. Now, we would like to share the results of this survey and welcome comments from you about these real-life procurement experiences and practical solutions to them.
Question 1: What are the top pain points you experience?
The survey results reveal that managing complex networks of suppliers and vendors stands out as the most significant pain point for procurement professionals, with 56% of respondents identifying this pain point as their top challenge. This finding underscores the intricate balancing act that procurement teams must perform daily, navigating a web of relationships to ensure cost-effective, quality, policy-compliant sourcing decisions.
Three other pain points tied each other for second place, with 44% of respondents naming each of them as a top pain point: evaluating responses to RFPs/RFIs, minimizing costs while maximizing quality, and securing a strategic role in business decisions. These issues reflect procurement's ongoing drive to contribute strategically and operationally to companies' sustainable, profitable growth.
Question 2: Which pain point are you prioritizing to work on over the next 12 months?
Respondents emphasized the importance of managing supplier and vendor relationships, with 33% focusing on this area in the next twelve months. Another 33% prioritized cost minimization and quality improvement.
The results show how intertwined the effective management of supplier networks is with delivering cost savings and quality enhancements.
Question 3: What resource could most help you mitigate your #1 pain point?
Respondents identified three key resources that could help mitigate their top pain point: technology, senior management support, and stakeholder alignment, each with 33% of the votes. This result shows the varied skills and solutions needed in procurement.
Technology offers ways to streamline processes, improve data analysis, and efficiently manage suppliers and vendors. In a time of digital transformation, using AI-powered tools can give procurement teams the agility and precision they need. Examples include AI Assistants and supply chain visibility tools. Adopting these technologies can enhance efficiency and growth. Take AI Assistant as an example: unlike the previous generation chatbots, AI assistants are powered by natural language and make it possible to communicate with it the same way as you would with a human. You can create an AI model that knows what you need it to know, put as much information into its “brain” as you’d like, and you have a co-intelligent agent to streamline any task
Other resources that were mentioned included senior management support, a prerequisite for procurement professionals to obtain the authority and resources needed to implement strategic initiatives. This support is vital for making procurement a key actor in achieving the company’s overall objectives.
Ensuring alignment among all stakeholders, from internal teams to external partners, helps facilitate better processes, communication, and decision-making. With everyone working together in the same direction, a collaborative environment results where procurement strategies fit well with broader business goals.
Intentful's AI-Powered Solutions for Procurement Success
The core of our solutions is an AI model that knows your business. Once you have an AI model that has the knowledge you’d like it to have, it will simplify and enhance procurement operations, helping professionals manage their tasks more effectively.
A robust knowledge base powered by generative AI makes managing supplier and vendor interactions more efficient and straightforward. Whether seeking details on procurement requirements by product, geography, or brand, your AI Assistant can simplify knowledge retrieval, providing instant and accurate insights through conversational queries. Use AI to do the work that requires time and resources, so that you can focus on more value-added activities like analysis, problem-solving, and strategic projects.
Generative AI can also assist in other tasks; for example, analyzing responses to RFPs and RFIs. Upload these responses to your own secure and private instance of the AI platform, allows you to conduct comparisons and extract valuable insights through conversational queries, saving time and improving accuracy.
Beyond operational efficiencies, generative AI enhances the strategic value of procurement teams within their organizations. AI-driven data insights can provide a deeper understanding of sourcing dynamics, positioning procurement teams as key strategic partners in decision-making processes.
The world is at the very beginning of the AI journey, but there is no doubt that the evolving technology landscape has great potential to address and mitigate procurement challenges.
Generative AI offers innovative solutions that can streamline operations, enhance strategic decision-making, and optimize supplier and vendor management.
If you are ready to explore practical AI-driven solutions for your organization, we would love to hear from you. Learn how Intentful can transform your procurement processes.
