Study 2026
AI in Procurement
AI Readiness Study
How ready are procurement teams really for AI? The Insave study "AI in Procurement" examines the AI maturity of procurement organisations using a standardised assessment with 15 questions across 5 dimensions: from process landscape and data quality to concrete investment readiness. Participants are procurement leaders and CPOs from industry, construction, pharma, automotive and other sectors. Results are updated continuously as new participants complete the assessment.
Participant profile (as of 11/07/2026)
41
Procurement leaders
1306
Buyers represented
14.7 Mrd.
CHF procurement volume
407 Mio.
CHF avg. volume
Participating industries
Key finding
What procurement leaders want as #1 win from AI in procurement
Insave, “AI im Einkauf”, 2026, n=41
AI Readiness distribution
Each participant receives a score from 0 to 100, calculated across five dimensions. The score determines the maturity level.
Ready for advanced AI applications like agent-based sourcing and autonomous negotiation support.
Solid procurement processes and strategy, but concrete AI implementation and data integration are still missing.
First digital structures in place, but clear gaps in data, processes and automation.
Predominantly manual processes, barely any digitalisation in procurement.
The five dimensions
The assessment measures AI readiness across five dimensions. The bars show the average score of all participants.
Prozesslandschaft
8.1/12 (67%)How automated and standardised are core procurement processes, from purchase requisitions to invoice processing?
Daten & Transparenz
9.2/12 (77%)How transparent and accessible are spend data, supplier information and documented procurement knowledge?
Team & Ressourcen
5.1/8 (63%)How is the procurement team set up and how much capacity is left for strategic work beyond day-to-day operations?
Schmerzpunkte & Investitionen
6/8 (75%)How complex is procurement and how far along is the organisation in making concrete investments in digitalisation and AI?
Zukunft & Readiness
5.2/8 (65%)How high is AI priority at management level and how concrete are the plans to invest in the coming months?
The pattern: Procurement organisations are professionally mature, but systematically fail at data quality, technology integration and concrete AI implementation. This is exactly where the biggest leverage lies.
What procurement leaders struggle with most
Recurring themes from in-depth interviews with study participants.
Operational overload
The majority of working time goes into operational routine tasks. There is barely any capacity left for strategic procurement, category strategies or supplier development. Price increases from suppliers go unchallenged because nobody has the time.
Manual invoice processing
Single-digit OCR rates, invoice checks via email and Excel, manual 3-way matching. In one case, a company employs 12 people solely for manual invoice data entry across 60,000 invoices per year.
Lack of spend transparency
No consolidated spend overview, tail spend not trackable, monthly Excel reports instead of real-time dashboards. Procurement leaders enter supplier negotiations without a reliable data basis.
Knowledge in heads and silos
Procurement knowledge sits in individual people's heads, in OneNote or in Dropbox folders. No institutional memory, no single point of truth. When someone leaves, the knowledge leaves with them.
Outdated ERP systems as blockers
ERP systems that haven't been updated in 15 years, with no APIs and no live data. They prevent automation and make AI integration practically impossible.
Based on in-depth interviews with study participants (n=30). Percentage indicates how many conversations mentioned this challenge.
LinkedInWant to contribute to the study and get your own Readiness Score?
Book a 30-minute call with me. We'll go through your procurement setup together and you'll receive your individual AI Readiness Score with concrete recommendations.
Book 30 min study callMethodology
The Insave study "AI in Procurement" has been measuring the AI readiness of procurement teams since April 2026. Participants are procurement leaders and CPOs from companies with 3 to 140 buyers and a procurement volume of CHF 8M to CHF 1.3bn. The assessment covers 15 questions across 5 dimensions: Process Landscape, Data & Transparency, Team & Resources, Investments & Volume, and Future & Readiness. Results are updated continuously as new participants complete the assessment.
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