Everything From Ivalua NOW 2026’s Opening Keynotes

The executive team from Ivalua took to the stage on Day Two of Ivalua NOW to explore the next evolution of the function: a world where humans and AI agents work seamlessly together.

Leadership perspectives on digital evolution

The session started with Alex Saric, Ivalua’s Chief Marketing Officer, who set the stage for the day’s discussions. Alex reflected on a world in rapid flux, with the fast and continuous development of technologies. 

Central to his message was the rise of agentic AI, which he described as the "key disruptive technology today". For Alex, the promise of the human-agent operating model is its ability to free professionals from mundane tasks. He noted that this shift "is going to allow us to focus on what we as humans do best, relationships, people, strategy".

However, he issued a firm warning to those hesitant to adopt these tools: "Not embracing it doesn't mean you're standing still. It means you're falling behind, as everyone else does."

Procurement's impact has never been larger

Following on from Alex was the CEO keynote with Franck Lheureux, who detailed the strategic direction of the company in an increasingly fragmented global market. Franck moved beyond technical specifications, framing procurement as a pivotal moral function in a world defined by "disorder".

Amidst global supply chain challenges and cyber threats, he posited that procurement's impact has never been larger.

Franck addressed the "elephant in the room", the high failure rate of AI projects globally, such as MIT’s report of a 95% failure rate for enterprise AI projects. Franck highlighted Ivalua’s focus on data integrity. "I think AI is revealing the motto, garbage in equals garbage out. If your data are not available, qualified, accessible securely, there’s no AI transformation," he explained. 

He concluded with a passionate defence of human talent, stating he would not join other tech CEOs in pretending AI will replace the next generation, as he promised that his company would keep employing those at an entry level, rather than replacing them with AI tools: "You have to fight for that. We’re fighting for it. We’re standing up."

Driving innovation 

Next up was Ivalua Founder and Chief AI Officer, David Khuat-Duy, whose AI keynote looked at the agentic AI revolution and its capacity for transforming procurement workflows. David identified a fundamental transition from "co-pilot" models that merely generate content to "autonomous agents" that take action.

He noted that AI models have moved from "junior intern level" to "PhD level" in less than a year, with significant improvements in "tool coordination". This allows the system to move beyond simple chat interactions.

David envisions a future where complex user interfaces are replaced by natural language, allowing a user to simply say: "Launch this RFP about 200 laptops with that budget and these selection criteria."

To facilitate this, he announced the release of IVA Studio, an agentic framework launching in Q2 2026. This platform allows non-technical users to build "skills", the building blocks that define how tasks are performed according to company policy. 

He emphasised that "AI will not replace the buyers, it will just replace the cumbersome tasks that they have to do now," provided there is a "human in the loop" for critical approvals.

Agents with reusable and modular skills

To round off the opening keynotes was Pascal Bensoussan, Ivalua’s Chief Product Officer; he explored Ivalua innovations, current industry trends and the long-term product vision. Alongside Vishal Patel, SVP of Product & Customer Marketing, Pascal detailed how the platform is becoming an "Enterprise AI Platform for Procurement".

A primary focus is the "supplier core", ensuring data hygiene is automated so agents have a reliable foundation. Pascal shared plans for agents to autonomously run "quick buy" sourcing events and mentioned a new Microsoft Word add-in for legal teams, supported by a compliance agent. He also introduced the "Global Invoice Gateway" to drive touchless AP processing.

Pascal clarified that Ivalua’s strength lies in its unified approach. Rather than disconnected bots, the platform uses one agent, IVA, equipped with modular skills. "It’s not about having disconnected agentic flows. It’s about having one agent equipped with reusable and modular skills that can do a lot of things," he explained.

As the session closed, the message was clear: the agentic era is not a distant prospect but a current reality. With the release of IVA Studio on version 182, Ivalua is ensuring that the majority of its customers can immediately begin shaping their own new horizons.