Edmund Zagorin
Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Arkestro
Global trade tensions are gripping the globe. Procurement leaders are now tasked with operating amidst unprecedented challenges in managing supply chains, costs and risks.
Edmund Zagorin, Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Arkestro, shares insights on how AI and predictive procurement technologies can help organisations navigate this complex landscape while maintaining competitive advantage.
Navigating new tariff challenges
Amid geopolitical shifts and in light of sweeping new tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on so-called ‘Liberation Day’, procurement teams face significant challenges in maintaining supply chain stability and cost efficiency.
According to Edmund, these changes mean there is no longer any “safe” shore when it comes to dodging steep import taxes and duties."
The impact on manufacturers is expected to be substantial.
"In the short term, manufacturers can expect a significant increase in costs,” he warns, “especially for industries like electronics, automotive and pharmaceuticals, shortages in supplies and likely a forced reduction in labour in an effort to combat these price increases.”
Building resilient supply chains
In response to these challenges, Edmund emphasises the need for procurement leaders to focus on resilience and agility.
He emphasises: "Procurement leaders need to be thinking about resiliency: what's Plan B, C and D? Where do domestic sources exist? How can they diversify their supplier networks, reduce reliance on single regions and explore nearshore or domestic alternatives?"
This proactive approach involves several key strategies:
- Supplier diversification: Expanding networks domestically or to more tariff-friendly international partners
- Supply chain agility: Identifying secondary and tertiary suppliers for critical materials
- Strengthened logistics agreements: Establishing robust SLAs to lock in competitive shipping rates
- Structured transportation planning: Continuously evaluating shipping lanes and rate fluctuations
Edmund particularly emphasises the importance of agility in today's volatile trade environment: "The ability to move demand from one current supplier to another current supplier is key."
The role of AI in modern procurement
With 90% of industry respondents to Arkestro’s survey recognising the importance of AI and procurement technology in managing cost fluctuations and supplier risks, Edmund highlights how these tools can transform procurement operations.
He explains: "AI-driven predictive procurement tools help procurement leaders centralise processes and create record systems and databases that operate as a single source of truth for key records and metrics, and being able to compare changes against what-if benchmarks quickly on the fly.”
Emerging technologies offer several critical capabilities for navigating trade uncertainties:
- Real-time risk assessment and supplier alternatives identification
- Enhanced contract management and regulatory compliance
- Rapid scenario modelling for tariff impact analysis
"To see this new fast-moving landscape as an opportunity rather than a headwind, teams are using the one to three AI tools that can give them the fastest leverage," notes Edmund.
Balancing economic pressures with sustainability goals
Despite the economic challenges posed by fresh tariffs, Edmund believes organisations can still maintain their sustainability commitments through strategic use of technology.
"While tariffs may drive up costs, procurement leaders can still prioritise sustainability by leveraging advanced procurement technology to assess suppliers' environmental impact and ESG compliance," he says.
"Procurement teams already have a lot on their hands, so leveraging procurement platforms to enable more efficient tracking of emissions and material sourcing allows them to pinpoint opportunities."
Edmund also points to strategic rightshoring as a potential solution: "Bringing manufacturing closer to end markets while maintaining sustainable practices, can also reduce carbon footprints and lower overall costs."
Key capabilities in procurement technology
When selecting AI and procurement technologies, Edmund recommends focusing on solutions that enhance speed, efficiency and strategic decision-making.
"Traditional procurement processes are often slow and reactive, causing delays in supplier approvals and missed cost-saving opportunities,” he cautions. “Especially in this current landscape, there's no space for missed opportunities.”
The ideal procurement technology stack should:
- Automate manual processes from supplier selection to reporting
- Enable rapid analysis and action on quotes
- Provide predictive insights for optimising supplier negotiations
- Seamlessly integrate with existing enterprise systems
"AI-driven solutions can transform procurement into a proactive function by automating or eliminating manual steps in cycles ranging from supplier selection, negotiation, to benchmarking and reporting, allowing teams to act on quotes and secure optimal pricing in days rather than weeks or months," Edmund explains.
Implementing AI in procurement: Practical steps
For 77% of organisations who took part in the survey, they plan to adopt or expand their use of AI in procurement, Edmund offers actionable implementation advice.
"The first step to integrating AI and procurement technology is conducting a thorough assessment of your existing procurement infrastructure and identifying the areas where AI can deliver the most impact," he recommends. "Establishing clear goals like cost optimisation, risk management, reducing lead times, etc., will help ensure alignment with larger business priorities."
He emphasises the importance of selecting user-friendly platforms that integrate with existing systems and investing in team training. Crucially, Edmund cautions against waiting for perfect data conditions before beginning digital transformation.
He advises: "Businesses shouldn't feel blocked to get started on this journey by data quality, as AI can often be used to improve, cleanse, enrich and even validate internal datasets that are missing or incomplete. And, if you wait until your data is perfectly clean in order to begin transforming, then you may be waiting a very long time.”
The strategic value of procurement
Edmund consistently returns to a central theme: procurement must evolve from a tactical function to a strategic driver of business value.
"Ultimately, procurement technology should not just streamline processes; it should empower organisations to turn procurement into a strategic driver of profitability and growth," he concludes.
By combining AI, game theory and deep expertise in negotiation and supplier science, modern procurement teams can unlock trapped savings, reduce risk and significantly increase their influence over enterprise spend—transforming challenges into opportunities even in the most volatile global trade environment.
To read the full article in the magazine, click HERE.
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