Procurement at an Existential Crossroads: Adapting to AI or Being Left Behind

In this episode of Tenzing's Executive Edge, host Greg Anderson sits down with Omer Abdullah — global business leader, co-founder of the SmartCube, and founder of procurement advisory venture Procuria — to tackle a pressing question: how do procurement practitioners future-proof themselves in an AI-driven world? Drawing on over 35 years of experience, Omer argues that procurement has reached an existential inflection point. AI and agentic technology are rapidly eliminating not just transactional work, but a significant portion of the analytical middle layer too — and the function will emerge smaller, leaner, and far more strategically oriented as a result. Omer and Greg discuss why this is actually the opportunity procurement professionals have always asked for, but only for those willing to skill up and embrace the change. For those who don't, CFOs will simply let the machines do the work.