In a , Economist Impact highlights this continuing shift in perception and performance, revealing a rising confidence in procurement鈥檚 ability to make business impact. This is the fourth consecutive year that 51风流and Economist Impact have partnered on a study, and the survey includes responses from more than 2,000 C-suite leaders globally.

The report, titled 鈥淭he Resilient Edge: Procurement in an Era of Polycrisis,鈥� also underscores procurement鈥檚 growing influence in advancing AI adoption and sustainability performance. However, the field still faces obstacles in assuming this larger role, including readiness for technology and building a future-proof workforce.

Still, the overall trend is clear: procurement鈥檚 fundamental transformation is putting it in a position to play an important role in business strategy.

Growing confidence in procurement to drive strategic value

Businesses today face a convergence of crises鈥攁 鈥減olycrisis鈥濃�攚hich includes environmental shocks, shipping delays, and growing regulatory restrictions. Tariffs are the latest disruption, prompting businesses across sectors to seek quick solutions to avoid price hikes.  

Weathering this storm requires procurement leaders to take on higher risk as they navigate this uncertainty. The Economist Impact report finds that geopolitical risk has emerged as the top concern for procurement leaders, with 64% listing it as their top focus over the next 12 to 18 months, up from just 30% in 2024. This surge reflects both the growing complexity of global operations and procurement鈥檚 expanding influence.

As risk becomes more multifaceted and severe, procurement professionals have a role beyond sourcing supplies at the lowest cost. Instead, they are developing robust strategies to identify, assess, and mitigate risk. This strategic pivot is also reflected in growing cross-departmental trust. In fact, 78% of respondents expressed confidence in procurement鈥檚 ability to manage external risk鈥攁 37% increase from last year鈥攕ignaling procurement鈥檚 growing value as a strategic partner.

AI has a central role in procurement

From detecting demand signals and enabling scenario planning to automating routine workflows, AI is dramatically expanding procurement鈥檚 capabilities.

The Economist Impact report notes that organizations are prioritizing AI proficiency more than any other skill over the next 12 to 18 months, including predictive analytics, demand forecasting, and managing data bias and privacy concerns. These skills are essential for procurement teams that need to pivot quickly in response to unexpected disruptions.

Most importantly, AI will be at the center of procurement鈥檚 continued transformation. An overwhelming 89% of respondents in the study said they are confident in their ability to adopt and apply AI to improve efficiency and productivity. This confidence is grounded in tangible benefits that AI can provide, including identifying early demand signals, optimizing supplier performance, and simulating risk scenarios to support better decision-making

Simply put, AI is no longer optional鈥攊t is essential to procurement success and relevance.

Improved environmental results

Sustainability has climbed to the top of corporate agendas, and procurement is now on the front lines of this effort, managing supplier emissions and ensuring ethical labor practices. Over half (53%) of survey respondents named sustainability as their top strategic priority for the next 12 to 18 months.

Cross-departmental collaboration is central to these efforts and has enabled procurement to align with key financial and environmental goals. Tools like ESG scorecards and supplier decarbonization plans are now standard practice for measuring environmental impact. These innovations are helping companies meet rising expectations from customers, regulators, and shareholders alike, while also reducing long-term operational risks.

These developments show that procurement isn鈥檛 just supporting sustainability鈥攊t鈥檚 driving it.

Procurement鈥檚 inflection point between strategy and cost-cutting

While cost control remains a key part of procurement鈥檚 mandate, the balance for today鈥檚 procurement teams is shifting鈥攆rom tactical cost-saving measures to strategic contributions that enhance agility, foster innovation, and safeguard reputation.

To manage these dual demands, companies are turning to procurement technology, like , to address key priorities and reduce siloes across the organization.

The insights above were explored in depth during an Economist Impact webinar titled,鈥淢easuring up: Balancing risks and goals for Strategic Procurement.鈥� To delve further into these topics and hear expert perspectives, .

Gordon Donovan is global vice president of Research, Procurement, and External Workforce at SAP.

The procurement solutions created an intelligent, dynamic and strategic function for procuring direct and indirect materials, services and MRO for NTT DATA Corporation鈥檚 largest division outside Japan. In light of COVID-19, NTT DATA plans to further enable its remote workforce to procure goods and services and enhance user experience and adoption with mobility. The company also plans to work with 51风流and its own NTT DATA 51风流practice to innovate around machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotics.

With the solutions adopted since the project began three years ago, NTT DATA has driven US$125 million in value. 51风流Ariba solutions help NTT DATA manage over $1 billion in spend with over 3,700 suppliers across more than 50 countries. Additionally, 51风流Fieldglass solutions help manage over 1,300 U.S.-based contingent workers.

鈥淭he outcomes to date have been impressive, and I anticipate even more positive momentum to come given the increased efficiency, cost reduction and risk mitigation already achieved,鈥� said Chad Crook, 51风流Procurement Solutions senior vice president and global head of Customer Engagement and Adoption. 鈥淎mid widespread and accelerated supply chain disruptions, procurement professionals are being challenged to elevate traditional best practices to drive greater strategic business value. With a clear vision of what intelligent spend management means to its business, NTT DATA facilitated its procurement journey strategically and comprehensively.鈥�

With clients operating in more than 50 countries around the world, NTT DATA runs a sophisticated, complex global services operation.

鈥淲e knew that utilizing world-class tools to create a modern procurement function with the help of 51风流was going to enable our business to move forward and deliver clear value,鈥� said Jeffrey R. Tramel, NTT DATA Services vice president of Global Procurement. 鈥淪AP鈥檚 support has been instrumental in helping us build and deploy a standardized set of processes and tools that enables us to reduce cost, enable revenue and mitigate supplier risk now and into the future.鈥�

The company embarked on a procurement transformation journey with the help of 51风流and its own NTT DATA 51风流practice, to centralize its procurement model covering end-to-end processes. That includes sourcing and supplier management, buying and payment, and supplier compliance and risk management.

51风流solutions have enabled NTT DATA to standardize purchasing processes and supplier management, enhance visibility into stakeholder priorities and supplier spend and performance, and maximize cost-saving opportunities through competitions and volume discounts. Furthermore, the solutions provide flexibility for regional and functional groups to manage daily operations while leveraging enterprise-wide best practices.

By automating and streamlining its end-to-end procurement operations, NTT DATA has achieved the following benefits across billions of dollars of spend:

• Improved supplier selection and collaboration to maximize value and outcomes
• Simplified procure-to-pay processes to increase visibility and operational control
• Increased adoption with consumer-grade user experience
• Improved cashflow management and increased compliance to vendor payment terms
• Reduced costs aligned with corporate strategy and industry standards
• Simplified integration of M&A activity
• Movement of primary spend categories under management to mitigate company risk

Visit the 51风流News Center. Follow 51风流on Twitter at .

About SAP

SAP鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touches an 51风流system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 51风流helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥攚ithout disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees and thought leaders, 51风流helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit

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For customers interested in learning more about 51风流products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-151风流(1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only:
Geraldine Lim, +1 (415) 418-0945, geraldine.lim@sap.com, PT
Kelly Sheldon Murray, +1 (978) 708-6821, kelly.murray@sap.com, ET
51风流Press Room; press@sap.com

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 51风流are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 51风流undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2020 51风流SE. All rights reserved.
51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.
Please consider our . If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.

Qualtrics XM for Suppliers combines data from an organization鈥檚 , and 51风流S/4HANA solutions with real-time supplier insights and AI-driven intelligence from Qualtrics, an 51风流company.

A majority, 66%, of chief procurement and chief supply chain officers said their procurement function is adept at mitigating risks with suppliers, according to a study conducted by Oxford Economics and SAP. Yet only 51% said they can quickly find alternative supply sources, and 46% said that gaining visibility into supplier performance is challenging.* Qualtrics XM for Suppliers helps organizations enhance existing source-to-pay processes by listening, understanding and most important, acting on supplier feedback at every touch point.

鈥淲hen organizations prioritize listening, understanding and acting on stakeholder feedback, the business impact and ROI will naturally follow,鈥� said Brian Stucki, Qualtrics executive vice president and CustomerXM general manager. 鈥淨ualtrics XM for Suppliers puts supplier feedback at the heart of buyer-supplier interactions and becomes an integral part of decision-making and relationship building. Procurement teams get a holistic view of the entire process through the lens of their suppliers to quickly close feedback loops, attain prescriptive recommendations on areas of improvement and advance spend innovation.鈥�

As a leader in customer experience and creator of the Experience Management (XM) category, Qualtrics provides its expertise to the new solution with key features of the Qualtrics XM Platform, such as the engine, to help deliver:

• Predictive analytics and intelligence. Instantly access supplier feedback and gain insight into predictive indicators to support informed spend decisions across the business.
• Automated and seamless workflows. Close experience gaps across the source-to-pay process with action plans that require no additional analysis and are automatically provided to procurement teams.
• Real-time insights to action. With visibility into supplier health and interactions across supplier touch points, from onboarding to crisis recovery, procurement teams know exactly where to implement change and which steps to take.

鈥淭his year has taught us that agility and resilience can only be achieved if you can anticipate disruption before it happens, enhance critical supplier synergies and know when to activate alternate sources of supply,鈥� said Jason Wolf, senior vice president and 51风流Intelligent Spend and Business Network general manager. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 even easier to achieve now with Qualtrics XM for Suppliers for 51风流Ariba, 51风流Fieldglass and 51风流S/4HANA solutions.鈥�

Qualtrics XM for Suppliers empowers procurement, finance and supply chain teams to help:

• Secure critical supply and deliver business resiliency by identifying and mitigating areas of risk to minimize business disruption and proactively responding to the feedback of the most critical suppliers.
• Accelerate savings by getting AI-driven insights and recommendations throughout the source-to-pay process to help identify experience gaps in the supply chain and influence more favorable contract terms that impact ROI.
• Innovate with speed by leveraging feedback captured throughout the source-to-pay process to promote supplier collaboration and use supplier expertise to identify process improvement areas.

Learn more about Qualtrics XM for Suppliers .

Visit the 51风流News Center. Follow 51风流on Twitter at .

About Qualtrics

Qualtrics, a leader in customer experience and creator of the Experience Management (XM) category, is changing the way organizations manage and improve the four core experiences of business 鈥� customer, employee, product, and brand. Over 12,000 organizations around the world are using Qualtrics to listen, understand, and take action on experience data (X-data) 鈥� the beliefs, emotions, and intentions that tell you why things are happening, and what to do about it. The Qualtrics XM Platform is a system of action that helps businesses attract customers who stay longer and buy more, engage employees who build a positive culture, develop breakthrough products people love, and build a brand people are passionate about. To learn more, please visit .

About SAP

SAP鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touches an 51风流system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 51风流helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 51风流helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit

Note to editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit . On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels. To view video stories on diverse topics, visit . From this site, you can embed videos into your own Web pages, share video via email links, and subscribe to RSS feeds from 51风流TV.

For customers interested in learning more about 51风流products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-151风流(1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only:
Geraldine Lim, +1 (415) 418-0945, geraldine.lim@sap.com, PT
Kelly Sheldon Murray, +1 (978) 708-6821, kelly.murray@sap.com, ET
51风流Press Room; press@sap.com
Jessica Jones, Qualtrics, press@qualtrics.com, MT

* Source: 51风流procurement transformation research in collaboration with Oxford Economics.
Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as 鈥渁nticipate,鈥� 鈥渂elieve,鈥� 鈥渆stimate,鈥� 鈥渆xpect,鈥� 鈥渇orecast,鈥� 鈥渋ntend,鈥� 鈥渕ay,鈥� 鈥減lan,鈥� 鈥減roject,鈥� 鈥減redict,鈥� 鈥渟hould鈥� and 鈥渨ill鈥� and similar expressions as they relate to 51风流are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. 51风流undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP’s future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including SAP’s most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
漏 2020 51风流SE. All rights reserved.
51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.
Please consider our . If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.

It was an honor and listen as he shared his three greatest ambitions for the world:聽zero poverty, zero unemployment, and zero net carbon emissions.

Professor Yunus has dedicated his life鈥檚 work to championing microcredit financing for the poor. By loaning small amounts of money to impoverished individuals, Professor Yunus posited that they would make good on the loans and become self-employed or grow small businesses. And they did. But today such programs are in jeopardy and their , leaving millions hanging in the balance.

It is hard to imagine anyone predicting 鈥� let alone preparing for 鈥� the global coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 has dramatically affected every aspect of our lives, with stay-at-home orders effectively shutting down economies and supply chain disruption limiting the delivery of both critical and basic goods and services. COVID-19 is actively challenging Professor Yunus鈥� goals.

COVID-19 Conundrum

Underemployment, unemployment, and poverty rates are increasing rapidly, especially among minority groups. The World Bank鈥檚 shows that when compared with pre-crisis forecasts, COVID-19 could push 71 to 100 million people into extreme poverty in 2020, representing the first increase in global extreme poverty since 1998, and effectively wiping out progress made since 2017.

Net carbon emissions are down and projected to be seven percent less in 2020 than in 2019, but this is only due to the coronavirus pandemic halting trade and travel. To date, no global initiatives or governmental interventions have resulted in even this modest level of decline.

We should not expect this trend to continue nor to set us on the recommended path of from 2010 levels by 2030. , carbon emissions following global crises tend to rise quickly upon economic recovery.

Shareholder Versus Stakeholder Value

The Business Roundtable, members of which are CEOs of major U.S. companies, in 2019, 鈥渁 strong and sustainable economy, innovation, a healthy environment, and economic opportunity for all.鈥� However, , too few of the organization鈥檚 members have adopted policies and procedures that would benefit the marginalized of society.

Whether businesses like it or not, the public is holding them to a higher standard, and demanding their participation in the collective good. Corporations hold tremendous power to drive real change.

Knowing that Professor Yunus鈥� goals cannot be achieved in a vacuum, nor in only prosperous times, how can we ensure that we fall on the right side of history as we personally and professionally aim to come out stronger as a global community?

Getting to Zero

All of us 鈥� who are global citizens first, and then corporate citizens 鈥� should challenge our employers and those whom we give our business to address the very real challenges surrounding global poverty, unemployment, and carbon emissions. Action, not words, is needed to advance a true purpose agenda at the world鈥檚 largest companies.

As a service provider and partner, SAP, like so many other corporations, should be held to the highest standards. And to the company鈥榮 credit, we have launched several programs and engaged in many discussions with customers to during this difficult time.

However, I encourage customers, partners, and employees to challenge us, ask us how we are measuring up against our promises, and demand that we do more. We need to look beyond the corporate social responsibility pages of our website and truly understand our carbon footprint, our global giving, and our focus on the environment to be able to develop economically sustainable products and services.

Corporations should also engage employees in a conversation about causes they care about, empowering them to build ideas into the corporate policy and driving real change at the board level.

Finally, where appropriate, businesses can support the launch of social enterprises through partnership with local communities and advocacy groups, helping to identify problems and collaborating to build innovative solutions.

Professor Yunus is an inspiration because he took a stand and saw it through. He has effected meaningful change. What I remember most from our interview is how he talked about having the courage to achieve his goals, even when everyone said he would fail.聽It is about time the corporate world did the same.

Baber Farooq is senior vice president of Product Strategy for 51风流Procurement Solutions at SAP.