Procurement Applied Intelligence

Smarter Execution for the Modern Procurement Function

Procurement Applied Intelligence is a continuous, expert-led decision support program for chief procurement officers (CPOs) and procurement leaders. Our experts work alongside your team to prioritize value opportunities, pressure-test sourcing strategies, navigate supplier trade-offs and guide execution – delivering context-specific direction shaped by your operating model, spend profile and risk landscape. Powered by decades of enterprise execution experience and proprietary AI-enabled platforms, it helps procurement organizations move faster, strengthen supplier performance and deliver greater value.

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How Procurement Applied Intelligence works

Procurement Applied Intelligence is a membership program providing expert-led support to procurement leaders – from strategy and ideation through execution – aligned to your priorities and pace at every stage of your transformation journey.

Applied Intelligence begins by helping leaders clarify what matters most. Using diagnostics, benchmarks and guided decision support, leaders gain a fact-based view of current performance, readiness and opportunities, enabling structured ideation and clearly defined priorities and direction.

Applied Intelligence experts work closely with leadership teams to evaluate strategic options, prioritize high-impact initiatives, and align operating models, governance, technology, and capabilities. Executive briefings and structured discussions focus on key trade-offs and critical decisions grounded in Digital World Class® performance measurement and real-world experience.  

Once priorities and decisions are defined, we remain actively engaged to support disciplined execution, change adoption, and capability development. Through decision support, on-demand learning, and AI-enabled intelligence, we help procurement teams implement effectively and integrate Gen AI where it delivers measurable value.

As business conditions and priorities evolve, Applied Intelligence adapts to stay aligned with changing needs. Ongoing performance insight, refreshed diagnostics, and expert-led check-ins help leaders monitor outcomes, adjust course, and sustain performance improvement in a dynamic business environment.

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Build a future-ready procurement organization with our Agentic Enterprise Operating Framework

The Hackett Group’s Agentic Enterprise Operating Framework outlines how strategy, governance, data, technology and agentic workflows work together to modernize procurement. It provides a structured blueprint for responsibly scaling artificial intelligence (AI) across source-to-pay, strengthening spend discipline, supplier performance, risk management and enterprise value creation.

Procurement domains we cover

The Hackett Group® Procurement Applied Intelligence program supports the full procurement lifecycle – from transactional execution to strategic sourcing and supplier performance. Our experts help procurement leaders strengthen operational discipline, unlock greater value from enterprise spend and elevate procurement’s role as a strategic partner to the business. The program covers:

Procure-to-pay

  • Procurement data management
  • Intake management and requisition processing
  • Purchase order processing
  • Supplier scheduling
  • Receipt processing
  • Accounts payable

Source-to-contract

  • Sourcing requirements definition and supplier bidding
  • Sourcing negotiation and supplier contract creation

Supply base planning and strategy

  • Internal stakeholder management
  • Category management
  • Analytics, reporting and intelligence
  • Supplier management

Management and administration

  • Function strategy and management
  • Function performance measurement and improvement

What’s included in the Procurement Applied Intelligence program

Your Procurement Applied Intelligence membership is designed to function as an extension of your procurement leadership team. Members gain ongoing access to experienced professionals who help identify high-impact opportunities, mobilize the organization and sustain change.

Executive briefings

Participate in focused, expert-led sessions addressing the decisions procurement leaders are making right now – from operating model design and AI investment choices to category strategy, supplier governance, and performance targets aligned to measurable outcomes.

Always-on conversational AI support

Get instant guidance between expert touchpoints. AskHackett™ delivers cited, context-specific recommendations grounded in real-world enterprise experience – helping leaders clarify options, validate assumptions and keep decisions moving.

On-demand expert inquiries

Ask questions on procurement strategy, AI, operating model, supplier management, governance or performance topics, and get fast, practitioner-backed insights that support faster, better-informed decisions when timing matters most.

Procurement assessments and readiness models

Evaluate procurement-specific readiness across spend visibility, data quality, source-to-pay architecture, governance controls, analytics maturity and talent capability using structured assessment frameworks.

Hackett AI XPLR™ Ideation Workshop

Participate in a facilitated Hackett AI XPLR™ working session and receive client-specific Gen AI use cases – each defined with business context and rated for complexity, expected benefit, and return on investment (ROI) to support informed prioritization.

Procurement-focused learning and enablement

Engage in short, applied learning sessions covering topics such as Gen AI in procurement, category strategy modernization, sourcing optimization, contract management, supplier risk management, sustainable procurement, working capital improvement, procurement technology adoption and more.

Leadership forums and peer exchanges

Participate in invitation-only executive forums, roundtables, webcasts and confidential benchmarking discussions focused on procurement performance, Gen AI adoption, operating models, supplier risk and procurement transformation execution in action.

Procurement performance measurement

Leverage curated procurement key performance indicators (KPIs) and participate in topical performance studies to quantify gaps in cost savings, cycle time, productivity, supplier performance, compliance, planning effectiveness, analytics capability and AI adoption maturity – translating targets into clear, actionable priorities.

Proprietary procurement thought leadership

Access exclusive, data-driven procurement research, case studies, perspectives, podcasts and analysis on leading practices in planning, reporting, controls, compliance, digital enablement, and emerging trends shaping world-class procurement performance.

How Procurement Applied Intelligence drives transformation

Procurement Applied Intelligence embeds experts into your transformation agenda, guiding strategy and ideation, design, and execution from within. We stay engaged through implementation, governance and performance measurement to turn strategy into operational capability.

Define and align procurement strategy

We work with CPOs and their leadership teams to clarify organizational priorities, ideate, align procurement strategy to business objectives and establish measurable performance targets grounded in Digital World Class® standards.

Design the operating model for execution

We help redesign procurement operating models to integrate automation, AI, governance and talent – ensuring structure, controls and accountability are aligned before implementation begins.

Build, deploy and sustain process improvements

We guide the transition from design to execution using a disciplined design-build-run approach that streamlines processes, embeds controls and operationalizes best practices across procurement.

Improve spend management and working capital

We apply proven procurement methods to increase savings, expand spend under management, optimize supplier payment terms to strengthen working capital, improve supplier performance and increase sourcing productivity – with performance metrics tied to measurable value realization.

Operationalize data and analytics

We help procurement teams build and embed advanced data and analytics capabilities – designing a robust insight-generation process that spans data sourcing, analysis, insight translation, storytelling and governance so information consistently drives better business outcomes. 

Strengthen governance and risk management

We align governance models, internal controls, and risk frameworks to support scalable AI adoption and sustainable performance improvement.

Develop talent for modern procurement

We support procurement leaders in building digital proficiency, strengthening change leadership and equipping teams to sustain transformation over time.

The Applied Intelligence advantage

Make better and faster decisions

Applied Intelligence integrates a hands-on team of seasoned experts directly into your decision flow, bringing practical judgment, enterprise execution experience and AI-driven insight to every high-stakes choice. Traditional analysts observe from the outside, but we help you pressure-test your assumptions, weigh trade-offs and create realistic business cases.

Drive measurable impact, not just insight

Applied Intelligence turns analysis into action. Our experts help your teams prioritize the initiatives that deliver the highest ROI, stay aligned during execution, and close the gap between strategy and results. This ensures decisions translate into measurable business impact rather than remaining as recommendations.

Stay ahead as conditions change

As your business priorities and operating environment change, our support adapts with you. Expert-led guidance evolves in real time to reflect shifts in strategy, operating models and AI maturity, helping executives anticipate change, course-correct early, and stay aligned with enterprise objectives today and over time.

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FAQs

Who is the Procurement Applied Intelligence program designed for?

The program is built for procurement leaders, including chief procurement officers, procurement transformation leaders, category leaders, sourcing leaders and shared services leaders. It is ideal for organizations aiming to drive procurement modernization, improve process excellence and gain expert guidance through a structured engagement model.

What does a typical Procurement Applied Intelligence program include?

Our procurement program includes access to The Hackett Group’s proprietary procurement benchmarks, strategy discussions, performance assessments, curated research and tools, and participation in peer learning events. Program participants also receive access to the Hackett Connect® platform.

Do participants get access to Hackett AI XPLR™ through the program?

No. Program participants do not receive a direct license to Hackett AI XPLR™. Instead, our experts use the platform on your behalf, using your information to identify, evaluate, and prioritize procurement-specific AI opportunities and deliver structured outputs tailored to your operating environment.

How does our use of Hackett AI XPLR™ benefit program participants?

Hackett AI XPLR™ helps ideate and identify client-specific AI opportunities across procurement processes and workflows, prioritizing initiatives based on impact potential, complexity, feasibility, and strategic fit. For selected initiatives, we translate findings into practical, environment-specific inputs that accelerate solution design and implementation decisions.

What do we need from clients to deliver relevant insights through Hackett AI XPLR™?

Hackett AI XPLR™ draws on a robust library of procurement processes and best practices, enabling meaningful insights even with limited input. However, the more detail you provide on your technology landscape, current workflows, performance metrics, and pain points, the more precise and client-specific the outputs become.

Does Procurement Applied Intelligence help clients design and implement solutions identified through Hackett AI XPLR™?

Through the program, experts support clients as they design and implement Hackett AI XPLR™solutions, answering questions and providing recommendations to guide successful execution. If hands-on design and deployment support is needed, program participants can engage The Hackett Group’s transformation teams for direct delivery assistance.

Why do we conduct a readiness assessment for the Agentic Enterprise Operating Framework?

Adopting AI is not enough – sustainable advantage requires reimagining how work is structured and governed. The readiness assessment evaluates preparedness across the framework’s core dimensions and strengthens your ability to scale AI-driven performance.

Can the program be customized based on our procurement function’s maturity or strategic priorities?

Yes. The program adapts to your current state – whether optimizing core processes, deploying new technologies or elevating procurement’s enterprise value – with expert support aligned to your priorities and transformation goals.

Is procurement benchmarking included in the Procurement Applied Intelligence program?

Yes. Program participants receive access to a curated set of approximately 25 procurement benchmark metrics, enabling comparison against peers and Digital World Class® organizations to support targeted improvement and informed decision-making.

How do we help program participants establish and mature their AI centers of excellence?

We draw on real-world transformation experience to guide the structure, staffing, governance, and design of AI centers of excellence (COEs), sharing examples and practices to ensure COEs are executed effectively.

Can multiple stakeholders from our organization participate?

Absolutely. Participation supports multiple roles:

  • A primary contact to coordinate engagement
  • Additional team members with approved corporate access who may participate in executive briefings, diagnostics and learning events

How can we get started or learn more about the program?

To understand how the Procurement Applied Intelligence program can support your goals, contact us for a personalized overview or consultation. Join other procurement organizations achieving transformation and excellence through The Hackett Group’s unique engagement model.

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