Launching an RFP may create the illusion of progress. It may also lock unresolved decisions into supplier assumptions, different bid prices, and a long series of change requests. This is the sort of case the checklist is designed to examine before the tender begins.

Before accepting a promise of truthful AI, I would want to know who tests it, what evidence it is tested against, and whose decision applies if the results are disputed.

I see procurement capacity planning as one component of a wider Procurement Control Tower. It connects incoming tasks and existing commitments with the resources needed to deliver them. We can start developing that component even before reliable operational data is available.

If both parties invest, who should own the resulting assets?

Including TCE analysis at the sourcing readiness stage matters because specifications and sourcing scenarios follow from the key category management decision - Make vs Buy.

An annual procurement plan becomes useful when it tells the team when to start each sourcing event, who owns the next action, and whether a need-by date is at risk. A spreadsheet exchanged by email can hold the original demand, but it is a weak system of record for continuing updates.

Procurement creates the greatest value before delivery becomes urgent. Once the program is late, operationally disruptive, and integrator-dependent, most contractual provisions become reactive channels for documenting problems rather than preventing them.

If expertise could be created through prompting, organizations using the same models and similar prompts should produce broadly similar recommendations.

A corpus answers the question: “What do I know?” A persona answers the question: “How do I think and judge?” The combination is significantly more powerful than either component individually.

What makes sourcing analysis difficult in real life is rarely a lack of information. Usually, the difficult part is interpretation.

SaaS renewals should not be treated as an administrative activity. They are leverage events. In many companies, the renewal cycle becomes the only realistic opportunity to reassess platform strategy, challenge pricing structures, eliminate inactive subscriptions (shelfware,) review duplicated functionality, negotiate scale-down rights, benchmark commercial conditions, reconsider sourcing strategy, or reassess vendor dependency.

Ultimately, one of the most important procurement questions is not “Which supplier is cheapest?” but rather “What does the supplier know that we do not?”

The Kraljic Matrix was never intended to become a yearly PowerPoint ritual. It was supposed to support procurement decision-making. The more repeatable, transparent, and automated the process becomes, the more useful the model actually appears.

Transforming procurement isn’t a walk in the park. It takes planning, patience, and a bit of grit.

Most supplier surveys don’t fail because of bad questions. They fail because of how they are performed.

Most organisational inefficiency comes from undefined states, unclear ownership, and uncontrolled transitions — not from a lack of intelligence. Those problems are solved with basic RPA and workflow design, not machine learning.

Payment terms are only an “asset” if it produces financial benefits or savings.

Many leading organisations are now shifting toward a hybrid model that combines strong ethical principles with leaner controls, enabling agility, innovation, and supplier collaboration.

And that’s the paradox: you’re buying intelligence, but unless you govern it smartly, it makes your cost model dumber.

RPA is a practical starting point for AI automation because it establishes repeatable workflows, structured inputs, exception handling, and clear controls. AI can then support tasks such as extracting information or reviewing documents within that workflow. My Power Automate examples show how this sequence works in procurement. "He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying." Friedrich Nietzsche We