On May 8th, 2025, procurement leaders gathered in central Copenhagen for a fully booked EBG | Xperience day. The theme? AI-Powered Procurement Transformation. The aim? To explore how AI and GenAI might help turn complexity into clarity—while acknowledging that most companies are still at the very beginning of their journey.
From the very start of the day, the pre-survey data told a revealing story: While nearly every participant agrees that AI will significantly impact procurement in the near future, almost all stated some version of: “We are not there yet.” And that very paradox—the mix of anticipation and hesitation—is what made this day so important.
Vicky Kavan from The Hackett Group opened EBG | Xperience Copenhagen with a data-rich overview of the current state of procurement. Drawing from Hackett’s latest research, she helped frame the day around where procurement focus truly is today—and where it’s heading next.
Procurement’s strategic priorities for 2025 are clear:
#1: Improve spend reduction
#2: Ensure supply continuity
#3: Transform the operating model
#4: Combat inflationary price increases
#5: Transform digitally and modernize the landscape
While GenAI and AI are hot topics, Hackett’s data shows that most procurement organizations are still building foundational capabilities before scaling new technologies. In fact, digital transformation, data analytics, and deeper expertise remain central to advancing maturity and performance—not just automation.
The GenAI Horizon
When it comes to GenAI, Hackett’s research reveals a mix of interest and caution. By 2025, only a few areas are expected to see moderate or high deployment across organizations. Procurement processes deployment levels in 2025 in order of appearance:
- Purchase order processing
- Spend analytics
- E-procurement
- Intake management and/or guided buying
- Supplier onboarding/portals
In contrast, most areas remain in early exploration, signaling that the journey is still ahead for many.
“The data tells us: GenAI has enormous potential—but for most procurement functions, scaling starts with prioritization, not full automation.”
The session provided a reality check that resonated with participants—validating the shared sentiment that “we are not there yet” is not a sign of failure, but a natural step in the transformation path.
From Confusion to Clarity: AI That Already Works
Jochen Werner from Zycus followed, bringing the conversation down to earth by showing how AI is already working today inside many procurement tools—often unnoticed.
He reminded the group that we don’t need to “wait” for AI:
“AI is already in your life—and in your systems. Guided buying, supplier suggestions, contract parsing… these aren’t future ideas. They’re now.”
He challenged the notion that AI readiness is a prerequisite, arguing instead that organizations should start where their process gaps and pain points are most visible. His examples resonated deeply, particularly for those still unsure what real adoption could look like.
AI Agents: From Theory to Tangible Value
One of the day’s most eye-opening presentations came from Lars J. Andersson of Carve, who introduced the audience to the practical power of Agentic AI—not in a perfect data landscape, but within today’s fragmented and messy procurement environments.
Lars explained how Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) can help procurement teams tackle real problems now, not later. He showcased four specific agents (related ar5ticles linked – in Danish but papers in English):
– Purchase Order Creation Agent – generates validated POs based on system data and external documents, reducing manual rework.
– Dispute Management Agent – detects early signals of pricing or contract issues and guides resolution.
– Compliance Agent – monitors document and contract compliance across platforms.
– Supplier Performance Agent – provides continuous insights by aggregating and analyzing live KPIs from diverse sources.
“This isn’t a vision of AI replacing people—it’s about augmenting their capacity and finally making sense of what’s been out of reach for too long.”
The examples were concrete, timely, and grounded in hands-on work done with clients.
Danish Experiences: Starting Small, Thinking Big
In a joint session, Søren Hvalsøe Sondrup, Head of Procurement Technology, Sustainability & Operations at DFDS and Peter Højgaard, Head of Supply Chain and Procurement, Europe at ISS shared short but impactful reflections from their early AI journeys.
While they aren’t yet running full-scale AI initiatives, both highlighted the importance of internal alignment, governance, and starting with manageable pilots. Their reflections confirmed what the pre-survey also showed: that even among highly capable organizations, the first steps require more internal discussion and alignment than many expect.
“It’s not about tech alone—it’s about change readiness across your procurement function and beyond.”
AI Strategy and Organizational Design: What Matters Most?
To round out the speaker sessions, Christian Overgaard Lund brought the discussion back to business fundamentals. His message was clear:
AI implementation must align with business strategy.
If your challenge is margin pressure, AI should reduce cost per process. If it’s growth, it should reduce time per process.
Christian also advocated for pragmatic steps based on real pain:
- Focus where the pain is big enough to motivate change.
- Consider whether a Center of Excellence, a champion model, or embedded team ownership fits your culture best.
- Don’t aim to automate everything—enhance where it counts most.
EBG asked Christian to elaborate on his mindset and timely presentation, below quoted responses.
How will AI impact procurement?
AI enables automation of complex tasks. With AI we can automate tasks that are beyond reach for legacy automation technologies. But automation is not the only arena for value generation in procurement. With the right mindset the CPO can harvest significant value by making employees use imperfect AI tools in their everyday work. If employees follow the principle that they fully own the output, they can save non-trivial amounts of time by letting imperfect AI tools assist them with editing, proof-reading, draft generation, summarizing etc.
How hard is it to build and deploy AI systems?
It all depends on the upstream data and your processes. The more structure you can offer, the easier it will be to hand over a task to an AI system.
Data has always been a challenge for Procurement. This is in part because procurement has a lot of human generated data. This means that you need to make the people that generating your data part of the journey, so they both understand and feel why it matters that they select the right cost center or the right purchase type, fix the PIM number, update the supplier information, migrate old PO data to the new system etc.
Round Tables: Moving from Insight to Action
Three rounds of interactive discussion helped bring the day’s themes to life. Using visual mapping exercises, participants explored:
1. Readiness vs. Urgency – Are we structurally and culturally ready to respond to rising business expectations?
2. Perceived Value vs. Complexity – Which AI agents make the most sense to prioritize—and why?
3. Impact vs. Feasibility – What processes could realistically be tackled now, and which are longer-term ambitions?
Despite the diversity of backgrounds, one common reflection emerged: we are not alone in feeling unprepared—but together we’re discovering how to move forward.
What the Pre-Survey Showed Us
Before the event, EBG collected detailed pre-survey responses from every attending company. Here’s what stood out:
Top Learning Desires:
– How other companies apply AI in procurement
– Real use cases, practical steps, and common mistakes
– Tools and strategies to enable decentralized teams
– Inspiration from peers
Top AI “Wishes”:
– Automate low-value admin
– Consolidate cost breakdown and spend data
– Simplify procurement systems
– Speed up reporting and category insights
– Improve supplier due diligence and contract analysis
Final Reflections: Building Toward What’s Next
In the end, EBG | Xperience Copenhagen confirmed that procurement doesn’t need another hype cycle—it needs smart prioritization, open peer discussions, and the courage to start where you are.
But how we choose to apply evolving technology—in practical, value-creating ways—will determine the role procurement plays in the years to come.
This day was just one step on that journey. A good one.
What’s Next? Join the Conversation at CPO Outlook 2025
EBG | Xperience Copenhagen was never meant to be a standalone event—it’s part of a broader dialogue across the Nordics about how procurement can evolve in the face of new pressures and emerging opportunities.
This October, CPO Outlook 2025 will bring these discussions to the next level.
📍 What to expect:
- Hands-on roundtable exchanges with over 150 senior procurement professionals
- Deep dives into how AI, GenAI, and agentic technologies are being embedded in procurement strategies—at scale
- New research and benchmark data from leading analysts and peer companies
- Unfiltered insights into organizational design, capability building, and cross-functional alignment
If EBG | Xperience focused on reflection and direction, CPO Outlook will focus on transformation and action.
Whether you’re still finding your AI starting point or exploring how to scale what you’ve already begun—this is where those shaping the future of procurement come together.
Let’s continue this conversation—smarter, bolder, and more prepared for what’s next.