The Facts & Myths About Procurement in 2026

Procurement has always lived in the tension between headlines and hard work. One week it is “AI will change everything.” The next it is “supply chains are broken” or “sustainability is non-negotiable.” The noise changes fast, but the job stays the same: protect margins, keep supply moving, and help the business make better decisions.

That is exactly what comes through in Deloitte’s 2025 Global CPO Survey: the top enterprise priorities are margin improvement (72%), operational efficiency (68%), digital transformation including GenAI (67%), and risk management (63%). (Deloitte)

So let’s cut through the hype. Here are three procurement myths that still show up in meetings, and what the data and day-to-day reality say instead.

1) The state of technology in procurement

Myth: GenAI and automation will “fix procurement” in one big rollout.
It is tempting to believe that a new tool will instantly remove workload, clean data, and deliver savings on autopilot. That story sells software. It does not describe transformation.

Fact: The winners treat GenAI as a data + decision-making play, not a chatbot project.
CPOs are backing digital with real money, allocating about 20% of budget to procurement technology (nearly double the relative investment reported in 2023).

And when they talk about where GenAI creates value, the top answer is enhancing analytics and decision making (67.68%), not just personal productivity (49.43%).

Source: Deloitte CPO Survey 2025

Even better, CPOs estimate GenAI is paying back: roughly 2x ROI overall, with “Digital Masters” reporting 3.2x versus 1.6x for followers.

Source: Deloitte CPO Survey 2025

What this means in practice

• Start with use cases that connect directly to decisions: spend analytics, category strategy inputs, risk insights, contract intelligence.
• Prioritize data foundations and governance early. Data quality and governance/security are the top internal risks CPOs cite for GenAI adoption.

   

• Treat adoption like a product rollout: clear owners, measurable KPIs, and a scaling plan once it works.

Read more about AI in supplier management here.

2) The state of supply chain visibility and risk

Myth: If you have an ERP or S2P suite, you already have “visibility.”
Many organizations equate visibility with having systems. In reality, visibility means you can answer questions fast, trust the answer, and take action across tiers, categories, and regions.

Fact: Visibility is a capability built on cross-functional influence, data, and repeatable workflows.
Deloitte’s survey shows procurement’s influence has increased across functions like finance (72%) and IT (71%), signaling that procurement is increasingly expected to orchestrate decisions across the business. (Deloitte)

Source: Deloitte CPO Survey 2025

At the same time, the survey flags that collaboration with R&D declined by 13%, which is a real problem when agility depends on design choices, specs, and product changes.

Risk is also not going away. It is a top enterprise priority in 2025 (63%).

What this means in practice

• Treat supplier and supply risk as an operating rhythm, not a dashboard: monitoring, triage, mitigation, follow-up.
• Connect procurement data to stakeholder decisions (finance, IT, ops, tax, legal) so actions happen faster.
• Invest in visibility where it matters most: strategic suppliers, regulated categories, and high disruption exposure.

3) Procurement tech spend is no longer "small."

Myth: Procurement tech investment is still a minor line item.

Fact: CPOs report allocating about 24% of their budget (26% in 2026) to procurement technology - nearly 2x the relative investment reported in 2023. (Deloitte)

That shift says a lot:

• Tech is now a core lever for margin, efficiency, and risk.
• The bar is moving from "buy a tool" to "build a capability."
• Adoption and data quality matter as much as the platform choice.

If you're planning next year's roadmap: are you investing enough in the foundations (data, governance, change management) to actually realize value?