Procurement’s influence is growing, and technology and AI are opening up new possibilities. But as expectations around risk and business resilience increase, how well do organizations really understand the suppliers they depend on?
Procurement has spent many years establishing itself as a strategic business function and there is growing evidence that its influence is being recognized. According to the 2026 CIPS Global State of Procurement & Supply report, a third of senior procurement leaders now report directly to the CEO, managing director or owner, more than double the proportion recorded in 2025.
That influence brings greater expectations. Alongside commercial performance and cost management, procurement is increasingly being asked to help manage risk, strengthen operational resilience and protect business continuity.
Yet greater influence does not automatically bring greater capacity. Research from ISM and Amazon Business illustrates the tension. While 71% of organizations say balancing cost and risk now drives procurement strategy, only 45% consider themselves prepared for supply chain disruption.
Spoiled for choice
Technology offers considerable opportunities to close that gap. The procurement technology landscape now includes established sourcing and purchasing platforms, supplier management solutions, specialist risk intelligence and an expanding range of AI-powered capabilities.
For procurement leaders, the possibilities are considerable. So are the choices.
Most organizations already have substantial technology investments, often spread across procurement, finance, IT, risk and operations. Supplier information can sit across multiple systems, each designed for a different purpose.
Deloitte’s 2025 Global CPO Survey found that 57% of respondents identified siloed ways of working as a barrier to delivering value.
AI brings new opportunities to connect information, automate routine work, identify patterns and help teams focus limited resources where they matter most. But the effectiveness of these capabilities still depends on the quality of the information available.
Gartner’s July 2026 report, Improve Supplier Risk Scoring in 5 Steps, highlights how incomplete and disconnected supplier data can undermine the reliability of risk insights.
And even reliable data doesn’t necessarily provide the whole picture.
Beyond the numbers
Consider the suppliers that keep an organization operating. IT service providers, maintenance companies, facilities services and specialist contractors may represent a relatively small share of procurement spending, yet their failure could have significant consequences for business continuity.
Understanding their importance requires more than knowing what they supply, how much the organization spends with them or whether they have completed onboarding.
External risk intelligence can reveal financial pressures, geopolitical disruption and wider economic developments that may affect suppliers. But these signals don’t necessarily establish whether an individual supplier has the capabilities, resources and controls needed to meet the organization’s requirements.
That calls for more detailed supplier knowledge, supported by credible evidence, verification and, where appropriate, independent assurance.
In the new world of procurement, that distinction increasingly matters. A supplier may have a low external risk profile but still present significant operational exposure. Equally, a supplier with strong management systems and proven capabilities may face pressures beyond its control.
Neither perspective tells the whole story.
A question of confidence
Not every supplier needs the same level of scrutiny. A risk-based approach allows procurement to maintain broad visibility while focusing deeper assessment and assurance on suppliers whose failure could have significant operational consequences.
And as supplier circumstances change, so too must the understanding of their ability to deliver.
This is where the growing range of procurement solutions, specialist intelligence and AI capabilities has an important role to play. The opportunity is to connect information, recognize emerging risks, verify what matters and make it easier for teams to act.
As procurement takes on greater responsibility for resilience and business continuity, the question is no longer simply how much information it can access. It’s whether it has the intelligence, evidence and capacity to make the decisions the business now expects of it.
How Achilles supports procurement’s expanding role
Achilles helps procurement teams source, onboard, monitor and assure suppliers and contractors, with particular expertise in the businesses supporting critical operations.
Combining supplier intelligence, continuous risk monitoring and independent assurance, Achilles complements existing procurement technology, helping organizations understand their suppliers more deeply and focus resources where risk and operational dependency matter most.
Explore Achilles’ approach to supplier intelligence and assurance
Achilles will be exhibiting at the CIPS North America Inaugural Conference in New York on November 9–10, 2026. Come and meet our team to discuss how supplier intelligence, independent assurance, and intelligent technology can help your procurement team deliver more, without adding to its workload.
