The growth of chat bots in procurement technology

As procurement tech companies race to implement the latest AI technology into their solutions, the advancement of chatbot solutions are offering a range of advantages to automated systems.

The use of natural language processing, AI and smart learning capabilities is offering a revolution in user-experience, as smaller queries can be solved for users, and information is more readily available for in-house teams.

The Smart Cube Amplifi Pro release 

It is leading to offerings like  The Smart Cube (a WNS company), who have released the latest version of Amplifi PRO, its on-demand digital procurement intelligence platform, with new artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) functionality.

“The procurement landscape is undergoing a seismic shift, and we are committed to proactively designing innovative solutions and cutting-edge platforms that enable our clients to become more insights-led,” said Gautam Singh, chief executive officer, The Smart Cube.

Users can post questions directly on Amplifi PRO and receive a summarised response. The enhanced search combines The Smart Cube’s custom Natural Language Query (NLQ) framework, and the capabilities of GPT3.5 models.

“Amplifi PRO‘s enhanced user experience – powered by generative AI – alongside expanded category coverage and better ecosystem integration, gives category managers tailored and hyper-relevant content at their fingertips,” said Keshav R. Murugesh, Group CEO, WNS.

The AI/ML models respond in the context of typical use cases for procurement professionals, based on content that has been curated by The Smart Cube’s category and commodity specialists. It also guarantees traceability of information so users can return to the source data within Amplifi PRO.

Chatbot developments across the procurement tech industry

Globality recently demonstrated an update to their bot that they described as a ‘landmark moment’ in the role of generative AI in the procurement function.

GLO is powered by generative AI technology and can handle an average company's spending of $4 billion per customer. It is designed to help employees make informed decisions when purchasing products and services, addressing the needs of reducing costs and improving productivity.

Joel Hyatt, Co-founder, Chairman, and CEO of Globality, said, "Companies can't meaningfully reduce costs while sticking to outdated buying processes. How a company spends money is crucial for staying competitive, driving growth, and fostering innovation. None of this is possible if the old-fashioned purchasing process drains everyone's energy without making a significant impact. GLO not only captures the attention of its users but also plays a strategic role in enabling intelligent buying decisions, reducing costs, and ensuring optimal use of funds to drive growth and innovation."

AI powered supplier intelligence 

AI-powered supplier intelligence platform Scoutbee has announced the introduction of generative AI feature updates to their Scoutbee Intelligence Platform.

The latest features allow procurement operations to thoroughly analyse and gain new insights into their existing supply base. Using Scoutbee's conversational AI, procurement professionals can pose intelligent and strategic questions such as "Where do I have single-source suppliers for a product?" or "Is there an alternative supplier for this product?" to unveil and address vulnerabilities within their base. A company aiming to provide more business opportunities to its top-performing suppliers can ask, "What capabilities do my preferred suppliers offer that I am not utilising?" and receive immediate responses.

"The speed at which teams acquire comprehensive insights into their supply base directly impacts their ability to advance strategic priorities,” said Gregor Stühler, CEO of Scoutbee.  “The primary obstacle today is that companies' data sources are highly fragmented, difficult to access, and often require the assistance of data scientists to make the data actionable. Our chat features are built upon Scoutbee's foundational data framework, which consolidates and organises companies' supplier information in a meaningful manner. Procurement teams utilising the chat feature obtain precise and timely information to make confident decisions while simultaneously maximising their existing data investments."

Find out more about the role of AI in procurement and how AI can be used to ease price pressure in procurement contracts.

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