AI, Strategy, and the Future Procurement Skills You Need Next
Once viewed as a back-office function focused on cost containment, procurement is now a strategically shaping business performance, resilience, and innovation. As we move into a future defined by technological disruption, ESG accountability, and global volatility, future procurement skills have never been more critical, or harder to find.
From AI to predictive analytics, supplier risk management to cost optimisation, these are all the procurement trends 2025 is ushering in. But even as tools and platforms evolve, the defining factor for success remains people. People with the skills, vision, and agility to harness transformation for long-term value.
Here we explore the emerging leadership capabilities you need to build into your procurement teams, and how forward-thinking organisations can attract and retain the talent that will define the next generation of procurement.
Procurement’s New Mandate
Procurement success is no longer measured solely in discounts secured or contracts signed. As Cedar’s work with clients across sectors has shown, today’s procurement leaders are shaping innovation strategies, influencing ESG performance, and managing digital transformation agendas.
Many executives now consider procurement insights essential to organisational strategy. As a result, 55% plan to increase their investment in procurement and supply chain innovation. In response, the best CPOs are stepping up, not as functional heads, but as strategic business partners with a seat at the table. But this shift in expectations demands a parallel evolution in capability. And here lies the challenge.
Procurement Under Pressure: Data, Risk, and Demand
Fragile supply chains, inflationary volatility, ESG scrutiny, and geopolitical uncertainty are all affecting the security of sourcing and supplier management strategies, making procurement a challenging function.
But beneath these headline pressures lies a quieter, more systemic challenge: bad data. According to one study, 75% of organisations struggle with unreliable procurement data, leading to poor visibility, inefficient purchasing, and wasted resources. Problems with real operational consequences.
When procurement data is incomplete, inaccurate, or siloed, it becomes impossible to answer even basic strategic questions: What are we spending, and with whom? Where are we exposed to risk? How do our sourcing decisions align with ESG goals or cost-saving targets?
This lack of clarity cascades into broken processes, missed savings opportunities, duplicative contracts, late payments, and strained supplier relationships. The challenge is compounded by disconnected systems, manual workflows, and a lack of digital maturity. Procurement teams often operate across multiple platforms that don’t speak to each other, while category managers are forced to rely on outdated spreadsheets to make high-stakes decisions.
All of this comes at a time when the expectations placed on procurement are rising dramatically. Businesses want smarter spend strategies. Boards want real-time risk visibility. Investors want ESG impact. And suppliers want better collaboration. Many procurement functions are being stretched to the point of breaking. Not by external shocks alone, but by internal blind spots that make it impossible to respond effectively.
Solving this systemic challenge starts with the right people: professionals and leaders who can integrate systems, clean data, drive digital adoption, and rebuild procurement as a strategic, insight-led capability.
AI in Procurement
One of the most profound drivers of transformation in procurement is artificial intelligence (AI). From spend analysis and contract optimisation to supplier risk assessment and predictive forecasting, AI is redefining how procurement teams operate. The Hackett Group’s 2025 CPO Agenda reveals that 89% of executives are advancing AI initiatives to drive efficiency and cost savings across business functions, including procurement, up from just 16% in 2024 who viewed transformation through AI as a high priority.
Leading organisations are using AI to automate routine sourcing processes and reduce cycle times, improve demand forecasting accuracy, predict supply chain disruptions, and enhance supplier collaboration through sentiment and risk analysis.
But as AI usage deepens, so too does the skill requirement. Teams must now combine traditional procurement expertise with data fluency, change management, and digital agility. An increased use of AI means that the necessary future procurement skills needed aren’t just technical, they’re behavioural and strategic too.
Five Core Competencies Defining Future Procurement Skills
38% of CPO’s are prioritising workforce reskilling in response to digital transformation. Based on our research and Cedar’s work across executive procurement recruitment UK, the following five areas are where demand for talent is accelerating fastest:
- Digital and Data Fluency
Leaders must be comfortable deploying AI platforms, eProcurement tools, and spend analytics software. But more importantly, they must interpret outputs, ask the right questions, and translate insights into action.
- Risk and Resilience Strategy
With global volatility now the norm, future procurement skills must include scenario planning, supplier diversification, and risk modelling. Leaders need to understand compliance and build supply chains that adapt and recover quickly.
- Sustainability and ESG Integration
As procurement plays a central role in ESG delivery, skills around sustainable sourcing, ethical supplier auditing, and lifecycle cost analysis are becoming mandatory. Buyers are no longer cost negotiators, instead they are positioned as sustainability stewards.
- Cost Optimisation
Procurement professionals must shift from reactive cost-cutting to proactive value engineering. This means embedding cost thinking across categories and supplier ecosystems without undermining quality or resilience.
- Strategic Influence and Leadership
Modern CPOs must engage stakeholders at every level, from CFOs to operations and product teams. They must build consensus, lead transformation, and align procurement with business growth strategies.
Redesigning Procurement Recruitment
Securing these future procurement skills is not straightforward. Many organisations are competing for the same talent, and procurement professionals with experience in AI, ESG, and transformation are in high demand. To attract and retain this calibre of talent, it is important to:
- Offer board-level visibility and access for procurement leaders
- Invest in digital infrastructure and training to support transformation
- Align procurement goals to broader business outcomes
- Position procurement as a hub of innovation, not just risk mitigation
- Embed flexible hiring models, including interim leadership, to plug gaps fast
Cedar has seen a rise in demand for interim procurement talent, particularly across manufacturing, life sciences, FMCG, and the public sector. Interim CPOs, project-based transformation leads, and specialist ESG procurement advisors are helping clients fast-track outcomes while building long-term capability.
Building Future Procurement Capability with Cedar
Cedar’s Procurement and Supply Chain practice partners with CFOs, COOs, and transformation directors to deliver high-impact, agile hiring solutions, both interim and permanent. Whether it’s a global Source-to-Pay transformation or a sustainability-led procurement overhaul, our team connects you with professionals who are already operating at the cutting edge of procurement evolution.
Recent mandates have included:
- Building out digital-first procurement teams for private equity-backed scaleups
- Placing ESG-focused Heads of Procurement in FTSE 250 companies
- Delivering interim procurement leadership for post-M&A integration
- Supporting AI-led supplier risk management transformation across global operations
We bring unmatched access to a network of professionals with the future procurement skills required to lead in today’s environment. Contact us today to discuss your hiring requirements.
