Did you miss Ardent Partners’ recent webinar, State of Procurement 2025: Reinventing Procurement for the Autonomous Age? The event featured a dynamic conversation between Andrew Bartolini, founder and chief research officer of Ardent Partners, and Erin McFarlane, vice president, operations for Fairmarkit, on the current state of procurement, key performance benchmarks from the just-released CPO Rising 2025 report, and the forward-looking strategies that Best-in-Class teams are using to unlock agility, resilience, and value.
In this four-part series, we feature articles based on the webcast discussion as well as this link to the full event.
In today’s dynamic procurement environment, chief procurement officers (CPOs) are facing a complex and evolving set of challenges. Ardent’s recent State of Procurement survey sheds light on the persistent pain points and emerging pressures that define procurement today. While the industry has made strides in automation and digital transformation, core obstacles continue to hold organizations back from realizing the full value of their procurement strategies.
Budget constraints abound. According to the report, the top challenge facing CPOs this year is budget constraints. As companies navigate ongoing economic uncertainty, tight budgets have become a familiar reality. Since 2023, when many leading technology companies declared a renewed focus on efficiency — cutting costs while continuing to grow — this model has been adopted across industries. The “year of efficiency” has become a broader market directive, and procurement teams are now operating with fewer resources, higher expectations, and limited room for error.
Although market volatility, such as tariffs and trade tensions, was not fully captured in the survey due to its timing, it is reflected in broader categories like “challenging market dynamics.” These external pressures only amplify the stress placed on procurement teams already wrestling with internal inefficiencies.
Technology remains highly challenging for most enterprises. Beyond budgetary constraints, two long-standing issues remain stubbornly high on the list of CPO concerns: aligning processes and systems, and dealing with missing or incomplete technology. These challenges have appeared consistently in procurement surveys for the past two decades, and for good reason. Too often, organizations invest in advanced technology platforms with the hope that they will magically solve deep-rooted process issues. In reality, new technology tends to expose operational misalignment, revealing gaps, inconsistencies, and process breakdowns that were previously hidden or overlooked.
This dynamic creates a frustrating paradox: Companies buy cutting-edge tools but fail to realize their potential because their internal processes aren’t ready. The result is expensive technology that’s either underutilized or abandoned because it doesn’t align with how people actually work. As one expert observed, it’s not about the software itself — it’s about the change in behavior and processes that must accompany its implementation.
This misalignment isn’t unique to procurement. Similar challenges can be found in HR, sales, and other departments where technology rollouts often fall short due to a lack of cultural or procedural adaptation. However, there is reason for optimism in procurement. Since around 2015 or 2016, there has been a marked shift in how CPOs view technology investment. Earlier in the digital transformation era, many CPOs were hesitant to adopt new tools, fearing they’d have to trade headcount for budget. That mindset has shifted. Today, most procurement leaders recognize that achieving scale and performance excellence is not possible without a strong technology and data foundation.
Tech enablement is an expectation. This shift is also tied to workforce evolution. The incoming generation of procurement professionals (millennials and Gen Z) are digital natives who expect to work in modern, tech-enabled environments. These professionals are not inclined to sift through physical file cabinets or static PDFs when performing tasks like contract compliance reviews. For organizations hoping to recruit and retain top talent, providing intuitive, automated, and AI-enhanced systems is no longer optional — it’s expected.
Fortunately, procurement technology has significantly improved over the last decade. Modern platforms are better designed, more user-friendly, and increasingly integrated with AI and analytics to drive smarter decision-making. But tools alone aren’t enough. Success still hinges on aligning people, processes, and systems in a cohesive strategy that supports both immediate needs and long-term growth.
As the report makes clear, the path to procurement excellence in 2025 requires more than reacting to market pressures. It calls for a thoughtful, integrated approach that combines strong leadership, smarter investments, and a commitment to meaningful change. With technology and talent in place, the most successful procurement organizations will be those that use disruption as a catalyst to modernize, adapt, and lead.
