GUEST COLUMN:
Grahame Steed
Director of Public Policy and Research
BiP Solutions Ltd
I work in a data business, so I'm probably one of the last people who would argue against technology playing a bigger role in procurement.
AI is going to change how suppliers find opportunities, understand markets and prepare bids and buyers will increasingly use technology to manage information, analyse markets and make procurement processes more efficient.
That's coming, and in many respects it's already here, but the more I've thought about it, the more I've come to a slightly different conclusion.
As procurement becomes more digital, human relationships could actually become more valuable.
There is an enormous amount of information available to businesses today. AI can help you interrogate it, identify opportunities and understand what an organisation has bought previously.
What it can't necessarily tell you is what's really keeping somebody awake at night. That's why I still believe there is no substitute for sitting down with a buyer, having a conversation and understanding what they are actually trying to achieve. For suppliers, that's increasingly important.
Winning public sector work shouldn't simply be about waiting for a tender to appear, downloading the documents and responding to the specification. You need to understand the organisation behind it.
What challenges are they facing? What pressures are they under? What outcomes are they trying to deliver? And where could your business genuinely help?
You can learn an enormous amount from data, but sometimes you learn far more from a 20-minute conversation.
That's also why I think pre-market engagement is such a positive development. We're seeing more public bodies talking to suppliers before they go out to procurement, and that gives both sides an opportunity to understand each other better.
Buyers can learn what's possible in the market. Suppliers can understand the problem rather than simply being presented with a specification.
Technology should make those conversations better informed, not replace them and I think that's an important distinction as AI develops.
I've spent many years around public procurement, and for all the changes in legislation, technology and data, it remains fundamentally about people trying to achieve things.
AI will undoubtedly change procurement, but I don't think it makes the human conversation less important.
It might just make it more valuable.
