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The heads of procurement are under increasing pressure to respond to the breakage of supply chains and stricter rules. Firms are currently investigating artificial intelligence as a way of minimizing risk and enhancing efficiency. One of the most recent developments is agentic AI, which is independent of itself. According to the experts in the industry, such systems will be able to move procurement towards proactive decision-making rather than reactive operations.
The Rising Demand for Autonomous Procurement Systems
The U.S. procurement teams are still faced with unstable supply chain pressures. Traditional manual processes are no longer adequate because of global disputes, trade, and delays in logistical processes. Executives stated that to sustain such a fast pace, it is necessary to have smarter and faster tools. Consequently, companies are investing in ways to reduce human bottlenecks.
Agentic AI proposes an even further step in automation, where decisions are not always supervised. Analysts described it as technology that identifies risks and responds to them automatically instead of waiting until input is received. This saves time in evaluating suppliers, renewing contracts, and conducting checks on compliance. For businesses that have to cover hundreds of vendors, this capability generates quantifiable efficiency benefits.
GEP’s Role in Procurement Transformation
GEP has become a significant force in the development of AI in procurement. The enterprise offers software systems and consulting to over 1,000 businesses in 30 industries. Its clients are the big brands in the United States and across the world: Kellogg, Macy, Tesco, and Costa Coffee. These organizations use GEP to modernise procurement systems and deal with risk.
GEP executives noted that procurement is no longer about purchasing. Teams have to strike a balance involving cost, sustainability, and resilience, in addition to being able to prove business value. GEP stated that agentic AI allows teams to leave routine decisions to machines and concentrate on strategic goals. According to the leaders, this balance assists companies in responding to their short-term and long-term objectives.
From Chatbots to Change Agents in Procurement
Earlier generations of procurement AI focused mainly on chatbots and task automation. These systems helped teams answer queries and process invoices but lacked true decision-making power. Experts noted that such tools could not anticipate disruptions or act without instructions. Procurement leaders therefore needed to remain heavily involved in day-to-day operations.
The use of AI as agentic is a turning point in organizational technology use. According to the GEP executives, these systems learn based on data patterns and autonomously make decisions. They eliminate the reliance on human monitoring by foreseeing issues and implementing solutions. This is possible, thereby freeing the procurement heads to focus on negotiations, strategy, and risk management.
Combining Market Intelligence with AI Development
GEP’s investment in AI builds on its market intelligence capabilities. The company collaborates with S&P Global to publish the GEP Global Supply Chain Volatility Index. This index draws on monthly surveys from 27,000 businesses across multiple regions. Data includes demand shifts, shortages, cost changes, and delivery backlogs.
The observers of the industry said that the index has already become a standard measure of the health in the global supply chain. It gives an insight on the adaptation by the firms towards changing conditions. GEP uses this knowledge to train its AI systems, which makes technology relevant to the real-life issues. Executives highlighted that this type of integration is the only way to make AI decisions, which use both past data and present market indicators.
Addressing the Pressures Facing Procurement Leaders
U.S. procurement leaders are under pressure to be more compliant and faster. Explicit geopolitical tensions and changing trade policies are hitting supply chains. Meanwhile, more rigorous sustainability regulations redefine supplier selection and monitoring in companies. According to leaders, these challenges need tools that can process complex real-time analysis.
The solution to these pressures is agentic AI, which monitors the work of suppliers and external data all the time. According to industry reports, financial outcomes, shipping times, and even weather information could be analyzed with the help of such systems. Using a variety of inputs, they produce comprehensive risk evaluations within a shorter time than human analysts. This continuous observation assists companies to predict challenges before they blow out of proportion.
Industry Events Showcasing Agentic AI Adoption
GEP plans to showcase its AI solutions at Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE London 2025. The workshop, titled From Chatbots to Change Agents: Futureproofing Procurement with Agentic AI, is scheduled for September 24. Christine Nguo, a director at GEP, will lead the discussion. She will explain how these systems evolve from query-based tools to autonomous decision-makers.
Event organizers reported that the session will focus on practical questions. Topics include how to deploy agentic AI, integrate it with existing systems, and create governance frameworks. Attendance is limited to senior executives, such as C-suite and vice presidents. By targeting decision-makers, GEP aims to reach those controlling procurement technology budgets.
Preparing Procurement for a More Resilient Future
According to industry data, business organizations have been spending a lot of money in buying AI tools during the last two years. According to executives, the objective is to handle vast quantities of supplier data in a short amount of time on a regular basis. These efforts are extended through agentic AI, which is able to work 24/7, and make decisions without being commanded to do so. It increases the resilience of the supply chains in case of unpredictability.
To procurement departments, the transition is not just another technological upgrade. Experts clarified that it reinvents the purpose of human professionals in the process. Leaders would have time to work on strategy, supplier partnership, and compliance planning instead of spending time on repetitive work. This way, an agentic AI will make procurement central when it comes to creating business value in uncertain markets.
Conclusion: A New Era for Procurement
The emergence of agentic AI is a new step in the development of procurement. Experts in the industry attested that through these systems, businesses can predict the risks, comply with rules, and enhance resilience. Intelligence coupled with autonomy will enable procurement to go beyond reactive processes and on to proactive strategy.
The work of GEP shows that technology, market information, and leadership meet and merge to transform procurement. In the case of industries in the U.S. that have to continue being disrupted, agentic AI implementation can become a necessity. The procurement future will be based on the systems that will work autonomously but enable human leaders concentrate on the bigger picture.
