What Procurement Leaders Want You to Know About Using AI

If there’s one team in an organization that’s chronically under-resourced, it’s procurement. You’re consistently asked to do more with less—forcing procurement teams to prioritize end-to-end margin management more than anything else, according to McKinsey. 

Combine that with a constant battle to get internal stakeholders to bring you into the process at the right time and there’s a lot of last-minute long hours and tedious box-checking built into every level of procurement, but especially for the most junior employees.

That’s no longer quite true.

Adding AI into your procurement workflow can have tremendous benefits—across procurement teams we surveyed for in our 2026 State of AI in Procurement report, 97.5% reported that AI improved how they worked. Artificial intelligence completely changes how procurement professionals can get things done. 

Yes, artificial intelligence can speed up your work and automate manual tasks. But that’s not what makes it exciting for procurement. What it really does is give you a chance to pursue more meaningful, strategic, exciting commercial work…instead of staying mired in endless “did they sign this?” back-and-forths.

We sat down with Tom Mills from Procure Bites about how AI can be incredibly useful for procurement, if used wisely. Here’s what to keep in mind:

Your #1 job as a junior procurement professional is to learn

In your early career, the best approach you can take is to learn as much as possible—and leaning too much on AI too soon may cut your career off at the knees.

“I’m a really big advocate for finding a mentor, and learning from the people around you,” says Tom. “That doesn’t necessarily mean someone who works in procurement. Some of my best mentors have been far removed from my organization, and it’s such a valuable perspective.”

AI can certainly answer questions about specific aspects of procurement if you’re not sure, but outsourcing this relationship-building to AI won’t help you get ahead. Tom cautions junior professionals to avoid outsourcing too much to AI too soon.

Instead, keep your head up during meetings and really listen to how conversations flow. Attend as many meetings in person, if you can. If there’s someone you admire, or you think is doing interesting work, try to get to know them.

“When you’re new to an organization, you have to be a bit brave, and put yourself out there,” says Tom. “You can ask your manager, or you may have a formal mentoring program, but there’s always more informal learning opportunities, too. So much of how I learned to negotiate came from listening in to my boss running a meeting on speakerphone, and taking notes.”

The AI use cases you should get comfortable with

Of course, that doesn’t mean you have to slog through mundane, tedious work when AI can handle that. Procurement professionals as a whole aren’t all bought in to using AI yet, but it’s increasingly included on job descriptions and expected for junior professionals to know when and how to use it well. When we asked procurement professionals about their AI adoption, we found that usage spans 14 different use cases, with no one clear winner rising to the top.

Source: The 2026 State of AI in Procurement Report

The best use cases, says Tom, are simple, repetitive tasks that procurement professionals honestly don’t like doing anyway, like:

• Automated document processing
• Consolidated spend reports
• Purchase order processing
• Contract lifecycle workflows, especially contract review
• Supplier risk assessments
• Compliance monitoring

“If you find yourself doing a repeatable, mind-numbing task that is taking up a lot of time, that’s a great spot to use AI,” advises Tom. “My gut check is always, ‘Are you using your brain?’ And if the answer is no, go for it.” 

AI can also help you get answers to questions you wouldn’t normally be able to find yourself. AI’s ability to take massive amounts of data and turn it into insights makes it an ideal collaborator as you work on more strategic decisions. If you’ve ever asked, “What’s the average time to complete a purchase order?” or wondered, “Which vendors have the longest-standing relationships?” AI can help.

Double down on your soft skills to make the most impact

As AI becomes more and more prevalent in the workplace, Tom recommends focusing on building your soft skills just as much as studying spend management or nailing the right RFP format. 

“I think soft skills are going to really differentiate the workforce moving forward,” he says. “Can you read the room? Can you negotiate effectively in tough circumstances? Can you persuade and influence? If you try to replace those with AI, it becomes very flat and transactional. You will lose the trust of your colleagues.”

Tom recommends building these skills most of all:

• Self awareness: Understanding your strengths, weaknesses, and how you’re perceived by others
• Adaptability: Thinking on your feet and pivoting in the moment as needed.
• Communication: Effectively articulating your point of view.
• Interpersonal skills: Working collaboratively with your team, internal stakeholders, and suppliers.
• Resilience: Rising to meet challenges and handling setbacks.
• Networking: Building connections with others.

Of these, it’s communication where Tom sees junior professionals make mistakes with AI.

The best procurement professionals prioritize the human element

ParSays Tom, “AI can be incredibly useful, but it’s still up to you to make the right decisions. Your human judgment needs to come into play. We should be asking the right questions to protect our organizations,” he says. 

This includes questions like:

1. What is AI actually solving for procurement? Why do we need this?
2. What is the total cost of ownership (TCO) with this implementation? Remember onboarding, training, data storage, and compliance can all add hidden costs.
3. What guardrails are put in place to protect confidentiality of our business data and supplier data?

Beyond the technical aspects of procurement, what makes someone great at procurement has everything to do with how they build relationships—and that’s something AI can’t replace.

“Your biggest impact in an organization isn’t your technical skills or how experienced you are. It’s how you are able to influence the organization to do the right thing. It’s your relationships. It’s your stakeholder management. It’s your collaboration,” says Tom. “If you get rid of all of those things that build trust with other people, you’re limiting your ability to have an impact.”

Read the whole series with procurement expert Tom Mills below:

• Procurement Expert Tom Mills on Where AI Is Actually Effective
• How Procurement Influencer Tom Mills Went from Buyer to Head of Procurement to Coach
• The 3 Biggest Challenges Procurement Professionals Faced in 2025—and How to Address Them in 2026
• How to Maximize Your First 90 Days in a New Procurement Org
• Process Before Tech: Why the Fundamentals Matter for Procurement Teams
• Why Procurement Professionals Get Burnout—And What to Do About It
• The Top 7 Negotiation Mistakes Procurement Professionals Make—And How to Fix Them
• People You Meet in Procurement
• These Procurement Horror Stories Could Happen to Anyone
• Spend Management Tips From Procurement Expert Tom Mills
• The Procurement Confidence Gap: How to Find Your Voice
• Why Procurement Feels So Lonely (and What to Do About It)
• The Soft Skills Every Procurement Professional Needs

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Ironclad is not a law firm, and this post does not constitute or contain legal advice. To evaluate the accuracy, sufficiency, or reliability of the ideas and guidance reflected here, or the applicability of these materials to your business, you should consult with a licensed attorney.