Procurement teams are under increasing pressure to deliver more than cost savings.
Today’s leading organisations are investing in technology that improves efficiency, enhances supplier management, strengthens governance, and allows procurement professionals to spend less time on administration and more time on strategic activities. As a result, procurement is evolving from a transactional function into a business-critical value driver.
Recent examples from across the industry demonstrate how technology is reshaping procurement. At Deliveroo, Chief Procurement Officer Rob Turner has championed digital transformation through source-to-pay platforms such as Coupa, helping procurement become more closely aligned with business profitability and operational efficiency. Similarly, Santander UK’s Jarrod Glover has highlighted the growing importance of sustainability, governance, and supplier risk management alongside traditional cost management.
The rise of AI-native procurement platforms is accelerating this transformation. Companies such as Zip are gaining attention for using artificial intelligence to improve procurement adoption, automate workflows, increase spend visibility, and deliver faster purchasing cycles. According to Zip, organisations using AI-powered procurement orchestration have achieved faster purchasing processes, improved compliance, and measurable annual spend savings.
From Cost Reduction to Intelligent Procurement
Traditional procurement technology often focused on processing transactions and enforcing compliance. Modern solutions, however, are increasingly designed to provide actionable insights, automate repetitive tasks, and enable better decision-making.
For example, AI-enabled sourcing platforms can rapidly analyse supplier proposals, benchmark pricing, identify sourcing opportunities, and highlight procurement risks. These tools reduce the administrative burden on procurement teams while helping organisations negotiate more effectively and prioritise the suppliers that deliver the greatest value.
The result is twofold:
- Greater efficiency through workflow automation.
- Increased time for procurement teams to focus on supplier engagement, innovation, and stakeholder support.
- Improved visibility of spend and supplier performance.
- Enhanced ability to drive sustainable savings rather than one-off cost reductions.
How EBIT Uses Technology to Deliver Procurement Value
At EBIT Intelligent Procurement, technology plays a central role in helping clients achieve sustainable savings and stronger procurement performance. Two key platforms that support this approach are OneMarket Portfolio® and OneMarket Sourcing®, developed by LogicSource.
OneMarket Portfolio®: Prioritising Projects and Resources
OneMarket Portfolio® provides a central source of truth for procurement teams, enabling them to manage sourcing initiatives, supplier information, savings forecasts, project timelines, and resource allocation in a single platform.
Key benefits include:
- Real-time visibility of procurement projects and savings pipelines.
- Improved prioritisation of sourcing activities based on business value.
- Better allocation of procurement resources across competing initiatives.
- Forecasting capabilities that help manage stakeholder expectations.
- Enhanced reporting that demonstrates procurement’s contribution beyond simple cost savings.
By consolidating procurement activities into one environment, businesses can reduce reporting complexity and make faster, more informed decisions regarding suppliers and sourcing priorities.
OneMarket Sourcing®: Accelerating Strategic Sourcing
OneMarket Sourcing® is designed to simplify and centralise sourcing activity, helping procurement teams execute more sourcing events with less administrative effort.
Key benefits include:
- Pre-built sourcing templates and RFx tools that accelerate event creation.
- Centralised supplier communication and bid management.
- Access to supplier benchmarking and market intelligence.
- Improved transparency through digital audit trails.
- Faster sourcing cycles and reduced manual workload.
Importantly, the platform enables procurement professionals to focus their time on supplier negotiations and value creation rather than managing spreadsheets, emails, and manual processes.
Contract Management: An Often-Overlooked Opportunity
One area where technology investment can generate significant returns is contract management.
As highlighted in EBIT’s recent article, CMS: A Nuisance to Neglect, A Relief to Perfect, poorly managed contracts can lead to unwanted auto-renewals, hidden supplier relationships, missed savings opportunities, and unnecessary expenditure.
At EBIT, we utilise the Contract Management System (CMS) functionality within the Anvil Analytical platform, a solution that we worked collaboratively to design and build specifically to address the challenges organisations face when managing complex contract portfolios.
The CMS provides a centralised repository for supplier contracts and critical contract data, enabling organisations to move away from disconnected spreadsheets, shared drives, and manual diary reminders. Through automated notifications, stakeholders can receive advance warning of renewal dates, notice periods, and key contractual milestones, allowing sufficient time to review supplier performance, negotiate more favourable terms, or explore alternative sourcing options.
Key benefits of the EBIT-Anvil CMS solution include:
- A single source of truth for all supplier contracts and commercial agreements.
- Automated alerts for renewals, expiries, and contractual obligations.
- Improved visibility of organisational spend commitments.
- Reduced compliance and governance risks.
- Enhanced supplier relationship management through better contract oversight.
- Increased opportunities to identify savings and prevent unwanted expenditure.
- Greater collaboration between Procurement, Finance, Legal, and operational stakeholders.
EBIT has uncovered examples where organisations continued paying for unused software licences for years or unknowingly allowed contracts to auto-renew because contract information was not centrally managed. By introducing a robust CMS, organisations can protect negotiated value, improve governance, and ensure supplier relationships remain aligned with business objectives.
Rather than being viewed as an administrative necessity, effective contract management is increasingly becoming a strategic tool that supports cost optimisation, risk management, and long-term supplier performance.
The Future of Procurement Technology
The most innovative procurement organisations are no longer investing in technology simply to process transactions faster. They are investing in platforms that create visibility, improve supplier decision-making, strengthen governance, and enable procurement teams to focus on strategic priorities.
Whether through AI-driven procurement orchestration, advanced sourcing tools, portfolio management platforms, or contract management systems, the objective remains the same: maximise value while freeing skilled procurement professionals to spend more time driving business outcomes.
For organisations seeking to improve efficiency, consolidate supplier relationships, prioritise the right sourcing opportunities, and achieve sustainable savings, intelligent procurement technology is rapidly becoming a necessity rather than a competitive advantage. Through solutions such as OneMarket Portfolio®, OneMarket Sourcing® and EBIT’s enhanced Contract Management System powered by Anvil Analytical, businesses can transform procurement from an operational function into a strategic enabler of growth, resilience and long-term value creation.
Bibliography
Anvil Analytical (2026) Our Platform – Contract Management. Available at: https://anvilanalytical.com/our-platform/#contract-segment
Coupa (2026) Source-to-Pay Solutions. Available at: https://www.coupa.com/resources/coupa-source-to-pay/
EBIT Intelligent Procurement (2026) CMS: A Nuisance to Neglect, A Relief to Perfect. Available at: https://ebitip.com/2026/06/04/cms-a-nuisance-to-neglect-a-relief-to-perfect/
LogicSource (2026a) OneMarket Portfolio. Available at: https://logicsource.com/onemarket-portfolio/
LogicSource (2026b) OneMarket Sourcing. Available at: https://logicsource.com/onemarket-sourcing/
LogicSource (2026c) OneMarket Procurement Technology Platform. Available at: https://logicsource.com/onemarket/
Procurement AI Agents (2026) New Procurement AI Agents to Watch. Available at: https://procurementaiagents.com/blog/new-procurement-ai-agents-watch-2026
Zip (2026) AI Procurement Orchestration Platform. Available at: https://zip.com/
Zip (2026) AI for Procurement. Available at: https://zip.com/ai-for-procurement
Cflow (2026) Procurement Technology Trends and Innovations. Available at: https://www.cflowapps.com/procurement-technology/
