Art of Procurement

"It has to start with the business outcomes that we want. This becomes an operating model decision. Technology has to support the operating model that we're designing." - Christopher Sawchuk, Principal and Global Procurement Advisory Practice Leader at The Hackett Group
AI adoption is quickly becoming commonplace in procurement, but the biggest performance gap is in how some organizations are using it to rethink the entire way procurement work gets done. For procurement leaders, the next stage of AI maturity may have less to do with finding another use case and more to do with reconsidering how the function should operate when AI is embedded into the work itself.
In this episode, Philip Ideson is joined by Christopher Sawchuk, Principal and Global Procurement Advisory Practice Leader at The Hackett Group, to discuss findings from The Hackett Group's AI World Class Procurement research and what they reveal about the next stage of procurement's AI journey.
Chris explains why many organizations remain focused on incremental productivity improvements while leading teams are beginning to redesign workflows, operating models, staffing approaches, and performance measures around AI. They also explore what happens to the capacity AI creates, why pilots don't necessarily translate into transformation, and how procurement leaders can prepare their organizations for a future that remains difficult to predict.
In this episode, Chris discusses how to:
-Move beyond AI experimentation toward work redesign
-Turn AI-created capacity into higher-value procurement work
-Design an operating model where technology supports the desired way of working
-Identify where AI can have the greatest impact across procurement processes
 
Links:
Christopher Sawchuk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-sawchuk/ 
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Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtofProcurement

Dear Diary…
"I use AI a lot to help scout out things or pose challenges and see where solutions are being marketed along those lines."
Jeffrey Ostrander runs a nearly $5 billion business in one of the most dynamic supply markets on the planet. His team has left the starting block on agentic AI. What they are still deciding is how far into the race they want to run.
That distinction runs through this whole conversation. Jeffrey talks about pilots that stumble, business cases that change daily, and a supply base of machine parts makers who are not sitting in front of a computer.
Jeffrey is Head of North America Basin Supply Chain for SLB, the 100 year old company formerly known as Schlumberger. He returned to the same organization he started with 15 years ago, after time in global business services and other functions around the world.
In this episode of The Agentic Procurement Diaries podcast, Philip Ideson and Jeffrey discuss:
- Why sourcing and supplier performance sit in mirrored category structures, and how that builds a talent pipeline
- The use cases already in play, from tail procurement to freight pay assurance and contract scouring
- The "work-work balance" and why AI discovery has to be carved into paid time
- Where he will not yet take the human out of the loop, and who is legally responsible when an agent makes the call
Links:
Jeff Ostrander on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-ostrander/
Zycus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zycus/ 
AOP Provider Directory | Zycus: https://artofprocurement.com/provider-directory/zycusinc 
Subscribe to the AOP Newsletter: https://resources.artofprocurement.com/art-of-procurement-podcast-subscribe 
Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtofProcurement

"Do we have a supply chain that we are building that is going to allow us to navigate and be agile enough, no matter what the world continues to throw at us?" - Frank Mckay, Chief Supply Chain & Procurement Officer, Jabil
Procurement and supply chain have traditionally operated as distinct functions, but growing complexity, new technology, and rising expectations around resilience are making that separation increasingly difficult to maintain.
In this episode, Philip Ideson welcomes back Frank Mckay, Chief Supply Chain & Procurement Officer at Jabil, to discuss how closer alignment between procurement and supply chain can create a stronger foundation for growth, resilience, and innovation.
Frank shares how Jabil has brought the two functions together around technology and a common source of truth, while using AI to enrich roles, anticipate shortages, and create new capabilities. He also explains how procurement's measures of success have expanded beyond cost reduction to include balance sheet health, resilience, and revenue generation.
In this episode, Frank discusses how to:
-Apply AI to enrich roles and proactively manage risk
-Balance AI experimentation with appropriate governance
-Measure procurement value beyond cost reduction
-Build resilience into procurement and supply chain strategy
 
Links:
Frank Mckay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/frank-mckay-1297a14/ 
Subscribe to the AOP Newsletter: https://resources.artofprocurement.com/art-of-procurement-podcast-subscribe 
Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtofProcurement

"AI makes the answers cheaper, so the good questions and good judgment really become the coin of the realm." - Mason Morgan, Managing Director, Managing Director at CrossCountry Consulting focusing on AI and innovation in S2P
Procurement technology has come a long way, but simply adding new technology to existing processes doesn't guarantee better results. As AI becomes a bigger part of the procurement operating model, leaders have to think differently about where technology can create value, which processes are worth preserving and not handing over to AI, and how their teams need to evolve alongside it.
In this episode of ProcureTech Insider, Philip Ideson speaks with Mason Morgan, Managing Director at CrossCountry Consulting focusing on AI and innovation in S2P and a judge for the 2027 ProcureTech100, about what separates procurement organizations that realize value from technology from those that struggle to get there. They explore why technology investments need to be considered as part of the broader operating model, how AI is changing the skills procurement needs, and what leaders should prioritize as they plan their next wave of transformation.
In this episode, Mason covers how to:
-Treat technology investments as operating model changes rather than standalone implementations
-Focus AI initiatives on measurable business outcomes and build credibility through early wins
-Recognize when an existing process should be redesigned instead of automated
-Develop the business acumen and judgment procurement professionals will need in an AI-enabled environment
-Create better buying experiences that make the right path the easiest path for stakeholders
-Use technology to extend procurement's influence without requiring procurement to own every step of the process
Links:
Mason Morgan on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mason-morgan-94055a7/ 
Subscribe to the AOP Newsletter: https://resources.artofprocurement.com/art-of-procurement-podcast-subscribe 
Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtofProcurement

"You don't need an advanced platform to begin. You just need consistent definitions, discipline, to look at the data, and a willingness to move beyond the on-time delivery average to make really good decisions going forward."
Traditional supplier scorecards can tell procurement whether a supplier delivered on time, but they may not reveal whether that supplier's commitments are becoming less reliable over time.
In this episode, Philip Ideson is joined by Shayan Farshid, a procurement and operations professional, to discuss the Supplier Stability Index, an open-source framework Shayan developed to help procurement teams get a more complete view of supplier performance.
Shayan explains how looking beyond traditional on-time delivery metrics can reveal things like commitment drift, unresolved delivery exposure, quality issues, and other signals that may put production schedules at risk. He also shares why he made the framework open source, particularly for small and midsize manufacturers that may not have access to sophisticated supplier risk technology.

In this episode, Shayan discusses how to:
-Identify supplier risks that traditional scorecards may miss
-Measure supplier stability using data teams already have
-Prioritize supplier issues based on exposure and criticality
-Turn supplier data into more proactive supplier conversations
-Build stronger data foundations before applying AI
-Start measuring supplier stability without an advanced technology platform
 
Links:
Shayan Farshid on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfarshid/ 
Subscribe to the AOP Newsletter: https://resources.artofprocurement.com/art-of-procurement-podcast-subscribe 
Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ArtofProcurement