Visionary Voices
Supply Chain
Resilience
Supply Chain Resilience Is the New Competitive Advantage—And It Requires More Than Just Technology
Procurement Isn’t Just About Savings—It’s About Influence and Momentum
The most successful procurement functions understand that their real value comes through influence, not authority. As Jessica explained, “Procurement gets done through influence, not through authority. So that influence means you have to have the soft skills to engage with stakeholders and show them what good looks like.” It’s about building internal credibility one successful project at a time, demonstrating tangible value that creates momentum for bigger transformations.
AI and Automation Potential Is Real, but Data and Process Fundamentals Come First
While McKinsey claims 80% of procurement activities can be automated, Jessica sees organizations struggling with the basics: “For that to work, our data has to be clean, we have to have user adoption, and we really need to focus on getting more into the system.” The companies making real progress aren’t chasing the latest AI headlines—they’re investing in data quality, process standardization, and change management.
Leading Procurement Organizations Are Moving Beyond Three-Way Matching
Supply chain organizations are still stuck in outdated processes designed for a different era. The future isn’t about faster invoice processing—it’s about eliminating invoices altogether. “Just acknowledge that you received it and that should initiate a payment. You can move away from this three-way match concept,” Jessica shared. This requires clean data, connected technologies, and trusted supplier relationships.
Cross-Functional Collaboration Unlocks Exponential Value
The magic happens when different expertise areas come together. Jessica’s experience collaborating with user experience teams, risk and compliance groups, and other practices shows how combining supply chain process excellence with other lenses creates more powerful solutions than any single approach alone.
As we look ahead, three priorities are top of mind:
1
Supply Chain Governance Infrastructure: Moving beyond reactive taskforces to permanent cross-functional governance structures that can handle whatever disruption comes next—whether tariffs, climate events, or geopolitical shifts.
2
Building the Foundation for AI: Before chasing AI and advanced analytics, organizations need to get their data clean, processes standardized, and teams trained on existing systems they're already paying for but underutilizing.
3
Workforce Development: Addressing the critical middle management talent gap in supply chain, where organizations have senior experts and new graduates, but lack experienced professionals who can bridge strategy and execution.
The Bottom Line
Supply chain and procurement aren’t just supporting functions—they’re becoming sources of competitive advantage. The organizations that emerge stronger will be those that balance efficiency with resilience, leverage technology thoughtfully, and build the internal capabilities to adapt quickly to whatever comes next.
If you’re ready to move beyond crisis management and build supply chain capabilities that drive lasting value—we’d love to talk.
Visionary Voices
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