found that high-performing procurement organisations are eighteen times more likely to have deployed AI capabilities than their lower-performing peers.

For Chief Procurement Officers facing the combined challenges of an uncertain operating environment, supply chain pressures, inflation, a complex risk landscape and the growing need for more sustainable business practices, AI provides an invaluable edge.

highlighted how Chief Procurement Officers are leveraging AI for better spend visibility, improved compliance, and better resource optimisation. According to the report, procurement teams are often shorthanded in expertise and capacity, driving the need for greater adoption of technologies such as AI to augment internal capabilities.

AI enhancing procure-to-pay processes

For procurement leaders, AI can make a profound impact on the source-to-pay process. By leveraging the rich data inherent in procurement networks, organisations can streamline a broad spectrum of processes, ranging from contract management and compliance to identifying key suppliers and helping deliver an enhanced buying experience.

For example, the AI embedded in 51风流Ariba Sourcing extracts hidden insights from past data to optimise supplier lists. This can help organisations circumvent potential skills shortages by automating best-practices around RFQs and RFPs, ensuring the organisation maintains optimal procurement performance.

For companies that lack internal capacity or skills to successfully adopt AI across their procure-to-pay processes, this embedded AI capability can help them reap the rewards of procurement modernisation more quickly. revealed that a third of African organisations view AI and machine learning as in-demand skills within their business, while the placed AI and machine learning as the fastest-growing skills category globally.

Mitigating procurement risks

Procurement specialists are also beset by an expanding portfolio of risks, with the ability to detect, measure and manage risk a top challenge. , 70% of Chief Procurement Officers felt they had good visibility over risks to their Tier 1 suppliers, but only 26% were able to confidently detect such risks within their supply bases.

Innovation within procurement networks can play a valuable supporting role in assisting CPOs with improving their risk strategies and capabilities.

51风流partner organisation , for example, developed a prototype Digital Fraud Review Panel which aims to prevent payment fraud within procurement and payment systems.聽Merlynn’s聽Decisioning Digital Twin Technology enables organisations to deploy a digital team of fraud experts within their 51风流payment system to enhance existing controls.

The Digital Fraud Review Panel acts as a second set of eyes that monitors payment activity in real-time, identifies potential fraud and stops the payment before money flows out of the organisation, all integrated into 51风流via API.聽Merlynn鈥檚聽Digital Fraud review panel solution is now listed on the 51风流Store.

Sustainability imperative

Chief Procurement Officers are under growing pressure to develop more sustainable procurement strategies and embed sustainability in the entire procure-to-pay value chain.

Sustainability continues to be a top global business imperative for organisations, with revenue from sustainable products growing at six times the rate of other products, and 90% of global investors revising their investments if companies do not at least consider ESG criteria within their business models.

Chief Procurement Officers have a guiding role to play in enhancing an organisation’s sustainability efforts by ensuring sustainability is embedded within the organisation’s procurement processes. This can help companies reduce their carbon footprint by prioritising suppliers that have fully integrated sustainability in their own business models.

found that more than half of global businesses already have a sustainable procurement policy in place, which provides the additional benefit of also building greater resilience within their value chains.

As AI tools become increasingly embedded in day-to-day procure-to-pay processes, organisations stand to unlock immense benefits through greater automation and ease of use, improved sustainability, increased visibility over risks and better user experiences. For companies weathering the storm of an unpredictable supply chain and global business environment, AI tools may be the key to keeping the business running optimally, no matter the emerging challenges.

The post Why Top-performing Companies use AI to Boost Procurement appeared first on 51风流Africa News Center.

The 51风流Africa CFO reveals why women shouldn鈥檛 leave their jobs anytime soon.

The Great Resignation at workplaces all over the world is led by women. In addition, a report released by Deloitte in May 2022 shows that a large number of professional women plan to leave their jobs over the next two years. If this is you 鈥� you may want to think again.

Professional women polled in many surveys across the globe say they are tired, unhappy, overworked and not motivated to stay in their jobs. In South Africa, a country with high unemployment figures, the situation looks a little different, but there are significant similarities.

Here, it is the higher-skilled and better-paid professionals that are leaving 鈥� some to seek better opportunities abroad, to go freelance, or to work as consultants. But the grass may only look greener on the other side: reality can be something completely different.

As professional women at the top, we face a lot of pressure, there鈥檚 no doubt about that. But sometimes, in our search for personal fulfilment and a release from insane deadlines, we overlook the opportunities these situations present to us in terms of personal development. To any woman thinking of quitting her job, I want to say, consider three things first.

Could your mindset do with a change?

This may not be easy to hear, but sometimes you have to stick it out. I started working at 51风流17 years ago, and looking back, I can say that while I enjoyed many of the roles I had over the years, I definitely did not love my first year at the company. I had to be patient and prove myself and eventually, my job expanded and I learned to function within my role and make the most of it. Then I went on to other positions within the company. This year, I was appointed Chief Financial Officer for the Africa Cluster 鈥� a career highlight.

But it would not have been possible without a change of mindset. This means changing your thoughts, which may focus on the negative, like 鈥淚 can鈥檛 take this anymore,鈥� to a more positive: 鈥淗ow can I change this situation in my favour?鈥�

Stanford University psychiatrist Dr Jacob Towery in one article explains how people often cling to mindsets that helped them at one point in their life 鈥� not realising it is holding them back later. If you, for instance, were betrayed by parents or caregivers in your youth, you may have developed coping mechanisms that later stop you from trusting others. A rigid mindset is more likely to focus on seeing failures and mistakes, instead of growth opportunities and lessons for success.

Improve your job options

One study that gives a lot of insight into the situation South African women face, is from a survey by infoQuest, a South African online research company. It found women鈥檚 top priorities were having enough money for groceries, savings and providing for children鈥檚 education. Most interesting is that half of those surveyed wanted to upskill themselves to have better job options in the future.

Doing my MBA in 2021 at Henley Business School Africa was definitely a career-changing move for me. While it took a great deal of commitment and sacrifice, the qualification was instrumental in getting me up the career ladder and into my current executive position.

For those women looking for the perfect time to undertake such an endeavour, let me assure you 鈥� there isn鈥檛 one! Many of my fellow students were working full-time or were women with babies, even single mothers. The best time is right now.

My advice is look for an institution that is family-friendly and flexible and part-time. And be prepared for the truth that success often does not look pretty in the home. The kitchen may not be tidy and your laundry washed, but your assignment is done. Score!

Challenge yourself

A big part of my life is travel and new adventures. Before taking on a major professional move from finance to sales, I went on an Everest Base Camp trek. Moving from the relative safety of a back office finance role to the cut-throat world of sales, where your salary depends on commissions, was scary. But being able to finish the Everest Base Camp trek 鈥� a two-week hike at over 5,000m elevation, surrounded by the highest mountains in the world 鈥� showed me that if I could do this, I could do anything.

You need to find your mountain, whatever that looks like for you. People need to be challenged, inspired and motivated. Dr Mark Orpen-Lyall, an organisational psychologist who runs a course on resilience at Henley Africa, believes stress in itself is not a bad thing. 鈥淥ften, the magic happens in the boundaries, when we are pushing ourselves 鈥� running a half marathon, raising children, studying for a degree,鈥� he says.

US psychiatrist and author Dr Georgia Witkin puts it this way, “The truth is that stress goes up because women add all their new roles to their old roles without crossing anything off their list.鈥� My advice to overwhelmed professional women? Cross laundry from the list before you think about quitting your job. You can always wear another pair of socks, but the opportunity to make something of your life may only come around once.

This article first appeared on .

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