Our new weekly series brings industry insights around Ardent Partners’ AI Rising 2026: The State of Procurement AI report, sponsored by ORO Labs and Fairmarkit, examining how CPOs and senior procurement leaders are navigating the AI transformation, and revealing where AI adoption is accelerating, the challenges that remain, and the strategies separating today’s leaders from tomorrow’s laggards.
In Part Two this week, we explore the procurement AI maturity curve.
The Procurement AI Maturity Curve
One of the most striking revelations in this year’s research is the end of a very short “wait and see” era. The fear of missing out (“FOMO”) has pushed a majority of procurement organizations to shatter their glass ceiling of skepticism, and dive in headfirst. An impressive 58% of the market are now actively using or piloting AI. This is not a minor uptick in interest, but a technology adoption by procurement at an unprecedented rate. By the end of this year, Ardent Partners estimates that more procurement teams will be actively using AI than have an eProcurement system in place. This speaks to a new and powerful dynamic in the ProcureTech industry.
The key technologies that empowered the CPO and elevated them to an executive level, will probably be secondary to AI in propelling them to the next level. Two years ago, AI was an interesting but still somewhat speculative technology. Today, it is a frontline strategy. In two years, it could be the foundational strategy; in five years, it could simply be the procurement strategy. Take a breath, because that is daunting to write. It must be daunting to read.
With 22% of organizations already deploying AI across multiple areas and another 35% engaged in structured pilots, procurement’s new “systems of action” are coming online at meaningful scale. At the same time, only a small fraction have elevated AI to a deeply embedded, enterprise-level capability. The largest share of organizations sits in the middle, actively experimenting, learning, and refining. Those with AI in production today are applying it to defined use cases, such as spend analysis, intake automation, supplier discovery, and contract insights, while working to integrate these capabilities into existing workflows and decision-making processes. Their focus is as much on performance and reliability as it is on expanding use.
Just behind them, pilot-stage organizations are testing a narrower set of use cases in controlled environments, often within a single category or process, to validate results, assess data readiness, and build internal alignment. These efforts are intentionally scoped, designed to prove value without overextending resources or introducing unnecessary risk. Meanwhile, the 32% in the exploratory phase are evaluating vendors, identifying high-impact opportunities, and aligning stakeholders on where AI can deliver practical benefits. This group is laying the groundwork by defining business cases, assessing data quality, and determining how AI fits within broader transformation efforts. Only a small minority (10%) remain on the sidelines entirely.
What emerges is not a market divided between leaders and laggards, but one moving in a relatively tight formation. They are progressing at different speeds, but along the same path. In many cases, the difference between deploying and piloting is less about capability and more about timing and comfort with execution. This reflects a familiar pattern from prior waves of enterprise technology adoption: initial experimentation, followed by controlled deployment, and eventually broader scale. Only now, the cycle is moving faster and under greater scrutiny.
In that sense, procurement is still learning to drive AI. Most organizations are operating cautiously, keeping initiatives contained, both hands firmly on the wheel, and eyes on outcomes rather than speed or volume. The focus is not just on getting AI into motion, but on understanding how to steer it, and how to ensure data integrity, establish governance, and translate early results into repeatable outcomes. This is deliberate progress, not hesitation.
The real inflection point will come later, and maybe soon, when these capabilities move beyond controlled environments and into broader, faster-moving operations. For now, the priority is getting it right. And while approaches may vary, the direction is consistent … and irreversible, there’s no going back.
Download your complimentary copy of AI Rising 2026: The State of Procurement AI to explore the latest research, benchmark your organization’s AI readiness, and prepare for the future of intelligent procurement.
