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If you missed ProcureCon Australia 2025 in Sydney, I’m excited to share my insider’s lens into the conversations that aren’t just shaping—but redefining—procurement across the region.
Held on May 19–20, this year’s summit brought together procurement leaders from public sector agencies, healthcare networks, infrastructure giants, FMCG majors, and innovative tech firms. Compared to 2024, where I found conversations were still dancing around the “potential” of AI, this year felt fundamentally different to me.
Agentic AI moved from proof-of-concept to performance-critical. ESG and compliance moved from poster boards to procurement dashboards. And procurement leaders moved from back-office operators to business architects.
As someone who spent time at the Zycus booth, walked the floors, and engaged in 1:1 discussions with procurement changemakers—I can confidently say: the revolution is no longer on the horizon. It’s here.
Here’s what stood out most to me.
1. Agentic AI Is Moving from Concept to Competitive Advantage
One of the biggest shifts I observed from last year was how much more mature the conversation around AI has become.
At ProcureCon 2024, the most common question I heard was, “What can GenAI really do for procurement?” In 2025, the question evolved into: “How do we operationalize AI agents to unlock speed, efficiency, and compliance?”
In a powerful keynote, Carl Kimball, VP APAC at Zycus, shared real-world use cases of Agentic AI—autonomous systems capable of running sourcing, purchasing, and contracting tasks without constant human intervention. He illustrated how I saw AI agents are now:
- Reducing intake-to-contract cycles from weeks to hours
- Improving contract compliance via policy-aware decisioning
- Orchestrating full Source-to-Pay processes in real-time
“Agentic AI isn’t the future—it’s the new standard,” Carl told the audience. “Procurement teams in Australia who adopt early will set the regional benchmark.”
And during one of my booth chats, a procurement head from a large infrastructure firm shared this candid insight with me:
“Last year, we ran a small AI pilot. This year, we’re scaling it across 5 categories. We can’t afford not to.”
That clarity—rooted in results—is what made this year different for me. AI is no longer a side project. It’s becoming the heartbeat of modern procurement.
2. ESG and Compliance Are Now Operational—Not Optional
ESG wasn’t discussed in isolation this year—I found it was embedded into every strategic discussion.
Leaders from IAG, Superloop, and HealthShare NSW shared how supplier diversity, ethical sourcing, and modern slavery compliance are being built into core sourcing strategies—not tacked on as an afterthought. Compared to last year’s compliance-heavy tone, this year was all about proactive governance powered by real-time data, which I found to be a significant improvement.
Procurement teams are now:
- Treating ESG metrics as core KPIs
- Using digital tools to embed transparency and mitigate third-party risks
- Aligning sourcing plans with increasingly complex regulatory demands across Australia and New Zealand
As one sustainability lead told me during a coffee break:
“We’ve moved from spreadsheets to systems. Our ESG data isn’t just tracked—it’s trusted.”
3. Strategic Procurement Is Outpacing Tactical Sourcing
The tone across sessions was clear to me: procurement is no longer just about cost savings—it’s about value creation, speed, and agility.
Across industries, I saw teams shifting from tactical buying to enterprise-wide orchestration. Compared to 2024’s focus on “digital transformation readiness,” this year’s focus was on execution at scale.
Key trends I noted were:
- Moving from category management to capability-based procurement
- Elevating Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) as a strategic lever
- Integrating procurement workflows with finance, IT, and legal for end-to-end alignment
Procurement isn’t just supporting the business anymore. I believe it’s shaping how the business runs.
My Experience at the Zycus Booth: Where Agentic AI Came to Life
The Zycus booth was more than a demo station for me—it was a hands-on experience of what next-gen procurement looks like. I saw visitors get to interact with:
- Merlin Assist, Zycus’s GenAI-powered co-pilot
- Merlin Intake Management, simplifying guided buying
- Autonomous supplier discovery and contract workflows
Many attendees were amazed at how easily our AI agents could:
- Recommend suppliers based on historical performance and contract data
- Auto-route purchase requests using policy-aware logic
- Ensure compliance without slowing down speed
And yes—our live caricature artist brought a fun twist to the experience, reminding us all that even in a world driven by AI, human connection remains essential.
Final Word: From Buzzwords to Business Impact
Looking back, ProcureCon Australia 2025 wasn’t just a conference for me. It was a pivot point.
- Agentic AI is delivering real business value.
- ESG and risk compliance are now part of the operating model, which I believe is a crucial development.
- Procurement is rising to become a driver of enterprise agility, and I am excited to see this evolution.
And Zycus? We’re proud to be at the forefront—partnering with forward-thinking teams across Australia and New Zealand to make this transformation real.
If you’d like to see how Agentic AI can reshape your procurement journey, let’s talk. Request a Demo and explore how we’re unlocking deep value in procurement—one AI agent at a time.
Related Reads:
- AI Agents in Procurement: A Comprehensive Guide
- How Agentic AI is Creating Autonomous Procurement Teams?
- The Invisible Revolution: How AI Agents-Integrated Procurement Systems Became Essential
- Agentic AI Orchestration: Coordinating Multi-Agent Systems for Future-Ready Procurement
- Harnessing the Power of Multi-Agent Generative AI in Procurement Software: The Future of Intake Management Solutions
- Whitepaper: AI Agents in Source-to-Pay Orchestration: Top 8 Benefits
- Whitepaper: Autonomous Negotiation Agents: The Future of Procurement
