I’m back

LET’S GET INTO IT →

In Today's Issue

• The Quiet Fix - THE BLIND SPOTS

• The Tech Bit - AI AGENTS vs PROCUREMENT

• My Best Post Lately

• Free Template of the Week

The Quiet Fix

THE BLIND SPOT(S)

Let´s be frank, us Procurement folk, love a good dashboard.

The colour-coded, arrow-filled, “95% of spend under management” type of dashboards.

But the stuff that slowly destroys credibility doesn’t live on dashboards. 

It lives in the cracks, the contracts nobody’s looked at since the CFO had a BlackBerry, or the SaaS subscriptions still billing for teams that disappeared during the last re-org.

I call these procurement blind spots.

They’re boring. They’re invisible. And they’re where money leaks like a dripping tap.

In my experience…

At one client, I once found a cluster of licences for a collaboration tool the business stopped using three years earlier. Nobody cancelled them because each one was “only a couple thousand.” In total? Nearly £300k down the drain. That’s not just a “rounding-up error” but lost headcount.

At another, a catering contract had been on autopilot for eleven years. Eleven. The supplier didn’t even bother with a Christmas discount anymore. Why would they, when they were basically part of payroll?!

These personal examples aren’t dramatic failures but death-by-a-thousand-cuts, and CFOs really notice.

How to actually find the blind spots

Here’s where you can start (and yes, it’s more fun than re-baselining the category strategy deck):

• Zombie licences – Run a software spend analysis by cost centre. Any tool with fewer than 10 active users but a consistent bill? That’s your zombie: cancel it!!

• Evergreen contracts – Search your contract database (or, let’s be real, the shared drive called “Contracts_Final_FINAL”) for any agreement older than 5 years. Those, in my experience, are guaranteed to have uncompetitive terms.

• Invisible suppliers – Pull your AP spend. Highlight the suppliers with small-but-steady invoices over £2k a month that have never been competitively sourced. That “tiny” facilities or marketing vendor? They’re pocketing margin while nobody looks.

• Auto-renewal traps – Set calendar triggers at 120, 90, and 30 days before expiry dates. Triple reminders sound excessive until you’ve had to explain to Finance why the contract renewed at 18% above market.

My point of view

Procurement doesn’t usually fail in the big negotiations but rather in the dull stuff.

Lear from my mistakes: Stakeholders forget the £10m you saved last year. They remember the £200k you lost to an auto-renewal.

So yes, chase the strategic projects. But also put on the headtorch and crawl into the dusty corners of spend nobody else wants to look at.

That’s where the credibility lives.

The Tech Bit

AI AGENTS vs PROCUREMENT

If you believed LinkedIn, procurement is about to be overrun by little robot minions.

“AI agents will handle everything!” they cry.

Approvals, sourcing, supplier performance, maybe even making your morning coffee if you hook it up to the Nespresso machine.

Cute idea.

But let me tell you what actually happens when you throw AI at procurement: it nails the boring bits, and absolutely collapses at the first whiff of human nonsense.

In my experience…

In a past life, we trialed an agent to triage requests.

On paper, this “bot” was flawless.

It routed each demand to the right team in record time. No bottlenecks and no excuses.

Only that stakeholders still emailed their favourite procurement person directly (“just in case.”)

Procurement trust doesn’t live in algorithms but in the person who answers your WhatsApp at 8pm.

I recently also heard of an AI which drafted “negotiation talking points”, except the main advice was to “anchor at market average.”

Brilliant. Like showing up to poker and announcing your hand before the cards are even dealt.

What AI actually does well

• Chases approvals without fear, shame, or lunch breaks.

• Spews out policy answers instantly (goodbye, 37-email chains asking for the travel policy link).

• Saves you from the pure admin sludge that makes bright grads question all their life choices.

Where it falls flat on its face

• Politics. Machines don’t understand that “pilot project” is sometimes code for “the CIO owes their mate a favour.”

• Subtext. A supplier’s “no” can mean “no,” “not yet,” or “please bribe me with a bigger deal.” AI can’t tell the difference.

• Improvisation. Negotiations are messy, emotional, and full of bluffing. AI doesn’t do messy. It does multiple-choice.

My point of view

The scary narrative is wrong: AI isn’t here to replace procurement people. It’s here to make us less miserable.

If you’re spending half your week triaging requests, formatting spreadsheets, or answering the same five policy questions on repeat, PLEASE, let the machine have it. It’ll do it faster and won’t complain.

But when it comes to supplier poker, politics, and those moments where you have to read between the lines (or between the lies)… that’s all you.

So no, AI won’t take your job. But if you refuse to let it take the boring stuff, don’t be surprised if someone else takes your seat…

AI may not take your job… but remote work already changed how most of us do it.

And it´s not all cocktails on a beach.

It´s Wi-Fi roulette, Zoom fatigue and figuring out how to look professional while your toddler sings Baby Shark in the background

That´s why I love Remote Source, because it tells the real story. A quick weekly read for 50,000+ remote workers about the practical stuff that makes remote work actually work.

My Best Post Lately

SUPPLIER PERFORMANCE

Lately, AI has turned supplier pitches into science fiction.

Every deck is crammed with “revolutionary platforms” and “predictive everything.” Half the time you expect them to offer free teleportation too.

And then the ink dries and suddenly, all that moon-and-stars talk feels like dial-up internet.

Of course, not all suppliers are guilty, but the gap between promise and delivery is stretching wider with every shiny new buzzword.

That’s what I ranted about in my latest post. Judging by the comments, I wasn’t the only one tired of the theatre.

READ THE FULL POST →

Free Template(s) of the week 

MY BEST EVER STRATEGIC TOOLKIT

Some people bring back pumpkin spice.
I bring back procurement strategy frameworks!

Same vibe with a lot less cinnamon.

A while ago, I shared a one-page strategy template because I was tired of the usual 40-slide decks that nobody reads.

It was simple and it made sense.
But also, weirdly, it became one of the most downloaded things I’ve ever shared.

So... it’s back.

Not only because I’ve been too busy with the move (if I´m fully honest 😄), but because loads of you asked for it.

Here’s what’s in the bundle:

• A clean, clear PDF (looks good in front of leadership)

• Editable PowerPoint (portrait and landscape, for the formatting warriors)

• A “Strategic Sundial” to map out your year

• An Excel tracker, broken down by quarter

• A quick-start guide so you’re not just staring at it

It’s built for people who want to actually use their strategy, not just present it.

(If you´re working on the FY26 piece: I see you)

And yes, it’s still free. If you already grabbed it ages ago, it´s worth a revisit.

👉Download the Strategic Toolkit here.

A Final Note

That line could have been written about procurement. The big wins are nice, but it’s the overlooked details: a contract clause, a renewal date, a quiet supplier relationship… that decide whether you build something elegant or something unstable.

After a few chaotic weeks of moving (toddlers, dogs, boxes, Spanish paperwork that seems to breed overnight), I’m glad to be back. And gladder still to get back to the details that actually make this newsletter worth your time.

If there’s a template, toolkit, or framework you’ve always wished existed, just hit reply and tell me. Some of my best freebies started from exactly that kind of nudge.

See you in two weeks. So here’s to fewer missed details and more designs that hold.

Until next time,

Procurement worth reading.