Hackett finds procurement workloads up 8%

The Hackett Group said on March 17 that procurement teams are being asked to handle more work with fewer resources in 2026, as workloads are projected to rise 8% while headcount and operating budgets decline. The company’s 2026 Procurement Key Issues Study said that pressure is pushing procurement leaders to move artificial intelligence from pilot programs into day-to-day operations. The study said AI-enabled technology has entered procurement’s top three priorities for the first time. Amy Hillcox, senior research director for procurement applied intelligence at The Hackett Group, said the shift is changing “how work gets done.” ### Why is an 8% workload increase getting attention? The Hackett Group’s 2026 study pairs the 8% workload increase with declining headcount and operating budgets, making the finding more than a simple growth statistic. The company said procurement leaders are under pressure to ensure supply continuity, manage risk and deliver savings at the same time resources are shrinking. (thehackettgroup.com) The March 17 release said those conditions are intensifying pressure to move beyond traditional efficiency measures. Hackett framed the issue as an operating-model problem as much as a staffing problem, saying teams are being pushed to redesign processes, roles and decision-making around AI. ### Where are procurement teams actually using AI now? (thehackettgroup.com) Hackett said current AI use is concentrated in contract management, market intelligence and spend analytics. The company said those are areas where AI is being used to augment decision-making and improve speed and visibility, rather than simply automate a single transaction. (thehackettgroup.com) The study summary also said AI is delivering results in contract management, solution intelligence, price comparisons and spend analytics. Hackett’s procurement materials describe embedded and point-solution tools across source-to-pay, source-to-contract, supplier management and third-party management processes. ### How far along is adoption? Hackett said 43% of organizations are actively pursuing AI deployment in procurement, nearly double the level reported a year earlier. (thehackettgroup.com) The same release said only 12% report large-scale implementation, indicating that most companies are still in pilots or limited single-use deployments. Eighty percent of procurement executives now identify AI-enabled technology as the most transformational trend affecting the function over the next five years, according to the study. (thehackettgroup.com) Hillcox said the focus is shifting from isolated digital improvements to redesigning processes so AI can produce measurable value. ### Why does vendor governance matter more when teams are smaller? (thehackettgroup.com) Sixty-nine percent of organizations access AI through capabilities embedded in existing procurement platforms, Hackett said, especially for transactional work. That means many procurement teams are relying on software vendors’ built-in tools rather than only custom systems or standalone applications. (thehackettgroup.com) Hackett said simply switching on vendor-provided AI features can be a missed opportunity if teams do not first decide where the tools can create measurable value. In practice, that raises the importance of vendor governance, output checking and contract discipline because procurement teams remain accountable for sourcing decisions, supplier terms and risk management even when more of the workflow is machine-assisted. That conclusion is an inference drawn from Hackett’s findings on embedded AI use, contract-management deployment and shrinking resources. (thehackettgroup.com) ### What are companies trying to get from these tools first? Hackett said early gains from procurement AI are showing up in cycle-time reduction, productivity and effectiveness. The study summary added that 76% of organizations report AI-driven improvements of 25% or more in key performance metrics as adoption scales. The company’s broader procurement AI materials say leaders are piloting or investigating generative AI in contract life cycle management, advanced analytics, e-sourcing and purchase order processing. (thehackettgroup.com) Those use cases point to a near-term focus on handling more sourcing and contracting activity without matching increases in staff. ### What comes next from Hackett? The Hackett Group said the 2026 Procurement Key Issues Study is available through its website, and the company also promoted a webcast on the findings. (thehackettgroup.com) The March 17 release presented the research as a guide to moving procurement from AI pilots to what Hackett called “sustained, agentic performance.” (thehackettgroup.com 1) (thehackettgroup.com 2)