PSC LIVE: Understanding how AI is Reshaping Procurement

AI is reshaping how procurement professionals and supply chain managers approach environmental performance across their organisations.

For procurement teams navigating increasingly complex supplier networks and sustainability mandates, AI-powered tools are emerging as essential capabilities for enhancing visibility, optimising logistics and driving measurable emissions reductions throughout the value chain.

At Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE: The Net Zero Summit, the AI in Sustainability panel discussion featured specialists exploring how intelligent systems could improve accuracy, efficiency and speed across procurement and supply chain sustainability initiatives.

The conversation centred on practical applications that procurement professionals can leverage to transform sustainability from a compliance function into a strategic advantage.

Cloud-based platforms are enabling procurement teams to capture, standardise and analyse sustainability data alongside traditional financial and operational metrics. This integration allows for advanced decision-making, costed use cases and investment prioritisation that were previously difficult to achieve.

For supply chain managers, the technology is particularly valuable for addressing Scope 3 emissions, which require end-to-end visibility, data sharing and cross-organisational collaboration with suppliers and partners.

Transforming procurement with cloud infrastructure

Hilary Tam, Sustainability Leader for AWS in EMEA, helps customers build resilient, future-fit businesses. With more than a decade of experience driving cross-industry sustainability transformation, she was previously the Global Sustainability Strategy Director at Arm.

"Hopefully we can really help flip the script a little bit, help empower and inspire you to really kind of leverage the tools that we have to move sustainability, procurement, supply chain from an operational cost centre to front and centre," Hilary said.

According to Hilary, the opportunity extends beyond decarbonisation.

"It's not just how we decarbonise our organisations, but how we create growth, how we set our organisations on that trajectory where we are future fit, more resilient, inclusive and circular," says Hilary.

Cloud and AI technologies enable procurement professionals to unlock insights that support optimisation in logistics, supplier management and overall supply chain operations. Advanced tools like agentic AI could further amplify team capabilities by automating routine procurement tasks, freeing leaders to focus on strategy, innovation and shaping supplier relationships.

Data-driven supplier engagement strategies

Josh Parker leads Corporate Sustainability at NVIDIA. An engineer and a lawyer, he believes following the data wherever it leads is critical for an effective sustainability programme.

"I would say data becomes just tremendously more powerful when you apply AI on top of it, and that can lead to very pro-sustainability outcomes," Josh explained.

For procurement teams working with suppliers on emissions reduction, access to accurate environmental data can transform supplier selection and performance monitoring. Josh highlighted NVIDIA's Earth II model, a digital twin of the Earth to assist with weather and climate modelling, as an example of how AI converts observational data into intelligence.

This capability could support procurement professionals in assessing climate-related supply chain risks, evaluating supplier resilience to extreme weather events and building more robust sourcing strategies that account for environmental volatility.

Achieving net zero through supply chain visibility

Heidi Barnard serves as Head of Sustainability at NHS Supply Chain. As a dedicated sustainability professional, she helps organisations understand their sustainability impact, drive strategic initiatives and empower teams to deliver on the NHS Net Zero and Social Value agenda.

"I am able to look at that data and able to understand where their current emissions are, what their targets are, how they're deploying those targets and actually project that against where our targets are around 2030, 2040, 2045," Heidi added.

The NHS is integrating AI across clinical pathways, procurement and operations, with AI central to predictive staffing, digital supply chain management and value-based procurement. Sustainability is embedded across the organisation, with net zero targets for direct emissions by 2040 and supply chain emissions by 2045, supported by AI-driven initiatives that optimise deliveries, reduce plastic and vehicle waste and streamline logistics.