Make Way For AI Powered Intelligent Sourcing And Procurement

The Changing Procurement Landscape And AI

Over the years, procurement has evolved and so has the technology! The value driven by ERP systems, e-procurement and self-service portals has been transformative. But, as artificial intelligence (AI) is coming of age, the technological leaps have led to new opportunities, which necessitate a more strategic and smart procurement approach.

The time-consuming and error-prone traditional tools are not capable of facing the complex challenges of procurement teams. In-fact, it has been predicted by Gartner that in a few years most of the legacy software will be replaced. B2B tail spend products bought online and procurement software will be dominated by chatbots and virtual assistants. This means the future of procurement clearly hinges on Online Marketplaces and solutions that leverage AI.

Ensuring A Smooth Digital Transition

Over the years, enterprises have developed and deployed different forms of procurement systems, which obviously required significant amount of time and capital spend. To top the time and monetary investments, an enterprise had to undergo multiple changes and rip apart its existing infrastructure to ensure successful implementation. Unfortunately, it’s a scenario where the organisation adapted its style of working for the technology to succeed. And today, when procurement professionals are continuously faced with the new age demands in a rapidly evolving digital world, they can no longer depend on traditional technology.

That digital transformation is critical to the success of a business, has been mentioned by leading analysts time and again. And with out-dated technology in hand, bringing about the digital shift becomes a concern for most organisations. While every business wants to make this move, there is one question that they need to answer – Does your enterprise have the expertise and tools to become future-ready?

EdgeVerve has been working in the sourcing and procurement space and has realized the need for more purposeful solutions that can acclimatize organizational operations to the ever-changing market conditions. Businesses require an Over-the-Top (OTT) kind of approach with technology. This means that the technology should be designed to add value to the existing landscape, without disrupting it. This easy transition will enable enterprises to proactively reinvent procurement processes that access real-time information. These solutions intelligently identify new vendors, manage risk and compliance, and be able to measure value from the ecosystem, without the need to compromise on quality.

EdgeVerve’s Business Applications have been designed with the same OTT approach. Powered by Artificial Intelligence, Business Applications such as XtractEdge Procurement Assistant, XtractEdge Procurement Insights, XtractEdge Guided Buying and XtractEdge Tail Spend Management are built on the AI platform XtractEdge to respond to the new age business scenario.

These Applications focus on modernizing and automating procurement operations, and strengthening the team with valuable information. The AI capabilities ensure that the best buying decision is made by an organisation in an informed way.

Fit For The Purpose – EdgeVerve’s AI Powered Solutions For Specific Procurement Problems

The changing and demanding business scenario calls for a quick solution that can derive useful business insights utilizing the existing knowledge base. This cognitive capability can steer a business towards digital transformation and that’s where XtractEdge Procurement Insights comes in. These enable procurement officers to face several unforeseen problems in marketplaces that are sometimes beyond human comprehension. For instance, it’s critical for a business to know which suppliers it should avoid or prefer to ensure complete compliance and a smooth procurement process. XtractEdge Procurement Assistant uses advanced chatbots and virtual assistants to help further refine procurement processes by asking the right questions. It leverages data analytics to determine organisational needs and suggests the best payment/purchase medium. This helps manage risk and ensures compliance, educating procurement teams to make intelligent decisions.

Decision making is a major part of the job for a procurement team. These decisions have to be derived after a thorough analysis of structured and unstructured data from within as well as outside the organization. This is where XtractEdge Procurement Insights becomes a perfect fit enabling procurement officers make intelligent choices. The inputs shared by the Business Applications helps Procurement teams select the right vendor and avoid any unwanted risk.

For Instance, XtractEdge Guided Buying lets procurement officers surf through an online marketplace, catalogues, compare prices and more to select the most apt option.