The Procurement Index: Most Innovative ProcureTech Companies

Procurement's rapid evolution has been met with the equal rise of ProcureTech, which is increasingly being leveraged to meet businesses' complex needs.

Leaders in procurement teams need not only source-to-pay (S2P) solutions they can trust, but now, those need to expand to enhanced AI and machine learning capabilities.

Procurement technology, or ProcureTech, is itself evolving in response to this rising demand. AI and machine learning are becoming increasingly important and several companies are leading the charge when it comes to innovation.

That's why Procurement Magazine is introducing the Procurement Index, which will highlight leaders in the space and is this week taking a look at the most innovative ProcureTech companies.

These companies are leaders in revolutionising the procurement technology landscape – giving procurement leaders the ability to make more data-driven decisions, automate routine tasks and obtain a deeper understanding of their supply chains. Enhanced AI and ML capabilities are no longer a want but a need for those looking to remain at the forefront of their sector.

Coupa

Coupa is known as the "margin multiplier", assisting leading businesses and organisations, including sports teams, in their digital transformations.

A leader in optimising business processes across finance and procurement, Coupa unites procurement and finance lifecycles with a unified platform for total spend management.

Coupa connects and automates processes across purchasing, supplier management, invoicing, expenses and payments. It offers complete visibility and control over all spend in a single system and improves business efficiencies – eliminating silos.

Overall, Coupa enables the complete orchestration of spend processes with a single, end-to-end platform covering purchase to payment.

SAP Ariba

SAP Ariba currently holds the number-one position for market share for Procurement Applications.

This is largely thanks to its ability to help teams automate procurement request creation and orchestrate routing and support across diverse procurement landscapes and complex workflows.

From its intelligent sourcing, SAP Ariba helps make AI-driven reports on supplier proposals, to predictive contract management – harnessing ML to forecast contract performance. SAP offers a range of tools for procurement leaders to harness for their own operations.

Elsewhere, spend analysis tools spot patterns to help spend categorisation, which allows for continuous learning and improving of the procurement processes.

GEP

GEP is a leading provider of AI-driven procurement and supply chain software, providing services to Fortune 500 and Global 2000 enterprises worldwide.

It helps businesses through its suite of solutions, which include:

• Increasing visibility into the entire S2C procurement process, providing better insights to uncover and drive new value
• Leveraging strategic sourcing tools to identify cost-saving opportunities, negotiate effectively and build strong supplier relationships
• Mitigating risk by enabling comprehensive supplier performance evaluation
• Strengthening its procurement operation by automating routine tasks and improving overall efficiency across global operations

Globality

Globality, a leader in AI-powered autonomous sourcing, was founded almost 10 years ago with a simple mission: to harness AI to make enterprise spending smarter and more efficient.

Its platform is specifically engineered to eliminate inefficiencies in procurement processes, which have historically relied on outdated, manual methods.

These companies use Globality's technology to reduce costs by 10-20%, capturing as much as 60-90% in operational efficiencies.

Ivalua

Ivalua is known as a global leader in spend management, being named a Market Leader in Ardent Partners' 2024 Strategic Sourcing Technology Advisor category.

Its assessment, it yielded a good or market leader grade in every individual capability assessed. It was praised for its 'robust functionality across all modules'.

Thanks to Ivalua's transparency and automation solutions that enable effective supplier management, businesses can navigate the complex landscape of procurement with confidence, ensuring robust performance and alignment with strategic goals.

David Khuat-Duy, Founder and CEO of Ivalua, says: "We believe technology, particularly a unified source database, can bring transparency to data and efficiency to procurement processes."

Oracle

Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications Suite includes several features designed to enhance operations.

Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Human Capital Management (HCM) and Supply Chain & Manufacturing (SCM) all play crucial roles in increasing productivity and reducing costs.

Moreover, Oracle Fusion Data Intelligence and OCI provide enhanced analytics to drive better decision-making and improve outcomes.

Oracle users benefit from more streamlined processes, improved decision-making through real-time analytics and enhanced employee experiences. By standardising and automating these critical functions, governments can focus on delivering vital services to citizens more effectively.

JAGGAER

JAGGAER has 30 years of expertise in AI-powered, industry-specific solutions.

It is regarded as a global leader in enterprise procurement and supplier collaboration, including as a catalyst for enhancing human decision-making to accelerate business outcomes.

It helps organisations to manage and automate complex processes while enabling their highly-resilient, accountable and integrated supplier base.

Zycus

Zycus, known as one of the world's leaders in generative AI (Gen AI)-powered source-to-pay (S2P) solutions, pioneered the world's first Gen AI-powered platform alongside Microsoft, helping procurement to achieve ten times the speed and efficiency.

Through its Merlin GenAI Suite, Zycus empowers procurement teams by automating tactical tasks, allowing the workforce to focus on strategic initiatives. Meanwhile, Merlin Assist is a one-of-its-kind conversational AI for business users.

Zycus' Gen AI S2P function enhances transparency and visibility, achieving more than US$28m in savings for businesses.

ProcureTech will continue to evolve alongside advancements made in AI and ML technology, allowing the procurement function to become more intelligent and mature.

This will inevitably lead to the emergence of cognitive procurement systems, which will make complex decisions and adapt to changing business landscapes.

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