A candid panel on how instincts, intake, and intelligent automation are changing procurementโs role inside the enterprise.
In this PLAN panel, two respected industry voicesโArmijn Verweij from EY and Jim Fleming from ISMโcome together to discuss the human side of procurement transformation and the rising importance of AI-driven intake and decision-making.
The conversation begins with an honest look at where procurement leaders spend their time today: managing complexity, validating details, resolving ambiguity, and acting as interpreters across business needs. Both panelists argue that this cannot scaleโand that procurementโs real value lies in judgment, influence, and stakeholder partnership, not administrative burden.
The session explores how AI is changing this balance. Intelligent intake systems reduce back-and-forth inquiries. Document-reading agents eliminate manual interpretation. Autonomous orchestration executes routine steps consistently. As automation grows, human instincts shift toward shaping business strategy rather than triaging operational noise.
The panel also challenges several misconceptions about AI adoption. Itโs not about replacing talentโitโs about giving teams leverage. Itโs not about futuristic automationโitโs about removing friction today. And itโs not about workflowsโitโs about clarity, context, and outcomes.
For leaders responsible for organizational change, talent strategies, or digital procurement roadmaps, this session offers practical guidance: how to prepare teams, how to design processes that complement AI, and how to evolve procurement into a function that operates with greater speed, influence, and business intimacy.
