Industry news
What's changing, and what it means for buyers.
Developments in procurement, supplier markets and the industries we serve — each with our take on what to do about it.
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CPO Benchmark Study Finds Savings Expectations Rising Faster Than Procurement Capacity
A new benchmark of 160 procurement leaders shows savings targets climbing while teams, data and tools lag — and poor data quality is the top barrier to scaling AI.
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Canada Imposes Retaliatory Tariffs of Up to 50% on U.S. Goods, Effective September 8
Canada matched new U.S. duties with counter-tariffs of 15%, 25% and 50% on steel, aluminum, appliances, dairy, electronics and more. What procurement teams should do now.
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Kimberly-Clark Completes Global Procurement Platform Rollout and Scales AI Agents
Kimberly-Clark finished a worldwide procurement platform rollout with most suppliers onboarded, alongside AI agents and a workforce skills academy.
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Harvard Business Review: Why Procurement May Be the Best Place to Start With Agentic AI
An HBR article argues procurement's structured, measurable work makes it one of the strongest candidates for moving agentic AI from pilots into production.
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Oracle Adds Agentic Applications for Supplier Qualification and Inventory Planning
Oracle introduced four Fusion agentic applications, including a Supplier Qualification Workspace that guides risk-based supplier onboarding and compliance.
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Federal Lab Tests AI Agents on Proposal Evaluation, With Humans Kept in the Loop
An ATARC lab pilot used three specialized AI agents to review a federal proposal against acquisition rules, flagging gaps while people made every final call.