SAP NOW AI London: How AI Is Rewiring Spend Management
At ExCeL London, the SAP NOW AI Tour gathered executives across procurement, finance and IT with a clear message: AI is no longer a side project. It's becoming the operating system for spend, risk and speed.
Sessions focused on real application, not hype. Leaders exchanged what's working in intake, supplier risk, services procurement and contract intelligence-and where AI still depends on clean data, tight processes and sharp change management.
What leaders agreed
- Expectations on procurement have surged. A recent Economist Impact study with SAP Ariba shows AI skills are now a top priority for 68% of executives; 78% say procurement is increasingly trusted to manage external risk; and geopolitical disruption is the top concern for 64% of leaders. AI is how teams keep pace without burning out.
- We're moving from process-heavy to intelligence-driven procurement. Embedded co-pilots, genAI and agents are reducing approvals, risk checks and category guidance to insight-led flows-coordinated in-suite and across the enterprise.
- Use cases first, not tech first. Teams that tie AI to P&L outcomes (cost down, revenue up, working capital) gain faster adoption and clearer ROI.
The questions practitioners asked
- How do we remove noise from the intake process so stakeholders don't default to email?
- How do we use predictive signals to surface supplier issues before they hit?
- How do we guide users through compliant flows without slowing them down?
Data first: the non-glamorous requirement
Rob Hall (SAP) underlined the obvious truth many skip: messy data ruins AI outcomes. The advantage comes from integrated business apps feeding a single, well-structured data layer-and AI sitting directly on top to provide consistent, accurate insights across processes.
From apps to outcomes
Stephan de Barse (SAP) stressed that value isn't just in the app layer. It comes from connecting data sources and embedding AI back into core workflows, backed by strong adoption tooling (Signavio, LeanIX, WalkMe). Clear use cases tied to finance metrics beat "AI for AI's sake."
Procurement's new posture
Mo Ahmad (SAP) captured the shift: procurement is pivoting from firefighting to outcomes-resilience, speed, sustainability and commercial impact. AI isn't replacing fundamentals; it's amplifying them and giving leaders room to redesign how the function operates end-to-end.
Risk, tariffs and agility
Mo Ahmad (SAP) also pointed to agility. Data plus applications-then AI-let teams react quickly to macro events (tariffs today, something else tomorrow). Without the data, AI is guesswork.
Skills and change management
Joseph Harrison (The AA) called out AI literacy as table stakes. He favors champions embedded in teams, ongoing upskilling and a constant drumbeat on how AI changes roles. Mindset and momentum matter as much as tooling.
Contracts as guardrails for AI
John McLaren and Scott Bowler (Icertis) highlighted contract intelligence as both value engine and safety net. Contracts become a digital twin of commercial relationships-guardrails for AI agents-and a source of savings and cycle-time reduction. Examples included multi-million-dollar savings from supplier consolidation and an 80% cut in contract cycle time at scale.
Orchestration and agents across S2P
Lance Younger (ORO Labs) described how orchestration, automation and agents sit above existing S2P stacks like SAP Ariba and tools like Fairmarkit. Clients are deploying agents across sourcing, PR-to-PO and intake to streamline work and improve compliance without ripping out core systems.
Start small, prove value, expand
David Santiago (Fairmarkit) advised teams to avoid over-planning. Pick one use case, deliver value in weeks, then scale. Short, focused implementations build confidence and unlock faster returns.
On stage and in the room
The day opened with Leila Romane (SAP UKI) and featured Stephan de Barse alongside customer viewpoints from GSK, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, The AA, Renewable Power Capital, Sainsbury's and Vodafone Group Services. Strategy talks reinforced end-to-end procurement, resilient services procurement and the link between apps, data and AI.
A practical playbook for managers
- Pick three use cases with clear business impact (e.g., intake triage, supplier risk signals, tail-spend sourcing). Set targets for cost, cycle time and risk reduction.
- Clean the data. Standardize categories, suppliers and contracts. Establish ownership for master data and enrichment.
- Pilot inside existing workflows. Embed AI in the tools people already use, then remove steps-not just add alerts.
- Build AI literacy. Train champions, set usage norms, and create space for teams to reallocate time to strategic work.
- Set guardrails. Define what agents can do, the approvals they need and how contracts constrain decisions.
- Measure and iterate. Track adoption, accuracy and outcomes; retire what doesn't move the needle.
Bottom line
AI is moving procurement from busywork to business impact. The organizations that win will tie AI to P&L outcomes, fix their data, and upskill their people. The tech is ready; execution is the differentiator.
Build AI-ready procurement and finance teams
Your membership also unlocks:
