Unlocking Intelligent, Autonomous Procurement with Systems of Execution (SoE)

Procurement leaders today face multifaceted challenges marked by macroeconomic uncertainties, geopolitical turmoil, evolving regulations, cost pressures, and supply chain volatility. Amid these challenges, they are expected to optimize savings, manage supplier risks, ensure compliance, and meet sustainability goals – all while constrained by fragmented, reactive legacy systems. These legacy procurement systems fall short, often leading to reactive decisions, poor visibility, compliance lapses, and operational inefficiencies.

This Viewpoint introduces Systems of Execution (SoE) as the next evolution for procurement: an intelligent, autonomous decision-execution framework orchestrating AI agents and operating seamlessly across the Source-to-Pay (S2P) value chain. By overlaying and embedding SoE capabilities into existing systems, procurement organizations can shift from static, reactive processes to dynamic, proactive workflows, enabling an intelligent, autonomous, agile, and execution-oriented procurement ecosystem.