Hackett: procurement workloads up 8%

The Hackett Group said its 2026 Procurement Key Issues Study projects procurement workloads will rise 8% in 2026, even as headcount falls 0.9% and operating budgets decline 0.4%. The firm released the findings on March 17 in a research note and news release focused on procurement’s AI agenda. Supply Chain 24/7, citing the same study, said the mismatch leaves procurement teams facing a productivity and efficiency gap. Hackett said that pressure is pushing AI-enabled technology into the top tier of procurement priorities for 2026. ### Where does the 8% figure come from? The Hackett Group tied the 8% figure to its 2026 Procurement Key Issues Study, which it presented as part of its annual research on procurement priorities. The company said the study examines how procurement leaders are responding to higher activity levels at a time when traditional efficiency levers are no longer enough to offset demand. (thehackettgroup.com) Supply Chain 24/7 reported that Hackett’s forecast was for procurement activity “next year,” and paired it with the projected declines in staffing and operating budgets. That trade publication described the resulting imbalance as a significant productivity and efficiency gap. ### Why are procurement leaders turning to AI now? (thehackettgroup.com) Hackett said AI-enabled technology has become a top-three procurement priority for 2026. In its March 17 release, the company said 43% of organizations are actively pursuing AI deployment in procurement, nearly double the level reported a year earlier, though only 12% said implementation was at large scale. (supplychain247.com) Hackett also said 76% of organizations report AI-driven improvements of 25% or more in key performance metrics as adoption scales. The company pointed to applications in contract management, solution intelligence, price comparisons and spend analytics as areas where AI is already producing results. ### What does Hackett say is changing inside procurement teams? (thehackettgroup.com) Hackett said the focus is shifting from incremental efficiency to redesigning processes, roles and decision-making so AI can deliver measurable value. That language came from the firm’s March 17 release on procurement’s AI agenda. (thehackettgroup.com) The company’s procurement materials also point to supplier management, third-party risk management, source-to-contract tools and contract lifecycle management as core parts of the function’s operating model. Taken together, the materials indicate that routine work is increasingly being targeted for automation while human effort is concentrated on supplier oversight, sourcing decisions and exception handling. (thehackettgroup.com) That is an inference from Hackett’s published priorities and solution categories, not a direct quote from the study. ### How far along is procurement AI adoption? Hackett said most organizations are still in pilots or single-use-case deployments rather than enterprise-wide rollouts. The firm’s webcast page for March 18 described AI’s “real progress” in procurement, but also framed 2026 as a period when organizations are still moving from experimentation toward broader deployment. (thehackettgroup.com) The company’s broader 2026 research pages show a similar pattern across business functions: organizations are reporting measurable gains from AI, but many are still redesigning workflows to scale those gains. That places procurement’s 2026 agenda in a wider corporate push to use AI to absorb workload growth without matching increases in labor or budget. (thehackettgroup.com) ### What should readers watch next? March 18 was the date of Hackett’s webcast on the 2026 Procurement Key Issues Study, where the firm said it would detail top findings on AI deployment and procurement priorities. The study download page and Hackett’s featured-insights section remain the primary places where the company is publishing follow-up material on the 2026 procurement agenda. (insights.thehackettgroup.com) (thehackettgroup.com)