Procurement workloads up 8%
Procurement teams are carrying about 8% more work in 2026 while headcounts and budgets tighten, increasing reliance on AI tools to close gaps. That figure comes from a summary of The Hackett Group cited on social media, which highlights rising task volumes alongside constrained resourcing in procurement functions. The post frames AI as a growing stopgap as teams try to maintain service levels with fewer people. (x.com)
Procurement teams are expected to handle 8% more work in 2026 even as staffing and operating budgets edge down. (thehackettgroup.com) The Hackett Group said headcount is projected to fall 0.9% and operating budgets 0.4%, widening what it called a productivity gap inside procurement functions. The firm said organizations plan to raise technology spending 6.1% to offset the squeeze. (supplychain247.com) Artificial intelligence moved into the top three procurement priorities for 2026, and 43% of organizations are now pursuing deployment, nearly double the prior year’s level, according to Hackett’s study. The same research said only 12% have scaled artificial intelligence deployments across the function. (thehackettgroup.com) Procurement is the corporate team that buys goods and services, negotiates contracts, and manages suppliers. When workloads rise faster than budgets and hiring, routine work like supplier outreach, contract review, and purchase analysis gets pushed toward software. (thehackettgroup.com) Hackett said supply continuity and cost reduction remain mission-critical in 2026, but operating model changes and artificial intelligence tools have climbed into the top tier of priorities. That puts automation in the middle of a basic staffing problem, not just a technology experiment. (jaggaer.com) The pressure has been building for more than a year. Hackett’s 2025 procurement study said workloads were set to rise 10% in 2025 while budgets grew 1%, and 64% of procurement leaders said artificial intelligence would transform their jobs within five years. (thehackettgroup.com) Hackett has also argued that the payoff could be large if deployments move beyond pilots. In 2024 research, the firm said top-performing procurement organizations could lift staff productivity 54% and cut process costs 47% with generative artificial intelligence. (thehackettgroup.com) For 2026, the immediate picture is narrower: more requisitions, supplier risk checks, and contract work are landing on teams with slightly fewer people and less money. That is why procurement leaders are spending more on tools even before most have rolled artificial intelligence out at scale. (thehackettgroup.com)
