Digital transformation is the number one enterprise priority for procurement leaders in 2026, according to a new benchmarking report from ProcureAbility.
Conducted in partnership with ProcureCon, the “State of Procurement in H2 2025” research reveals 65 percent of procurement organisations now cite digital transformation as their most important initiative going forward.
Perhaps one of the most striking findings, 100 percent of the procurement leaders surveyed report having some form of AI system within their organisation, yet only six percent say their AI maturity can be classed as “advanced”.
Almost three quarters (72 percent) place themselves in the “moderate” bracket, showing they’ve moved beyond pilots but are still working to scale AI across sourcing, supplier management, risk and operations.
“AI is now commonplace in procurement, but as the survey results suggest, most organisations are still in the early or moderate stages of maturity. That means the real differentiator for CPOs isn’t whether you’ve adopted AI, it’s how quickly and effectively you scale it,” said Conrad Snover, CEO of ProcureAbility.
“The leaders who can move beyond pilots to embed AI into the daily tasks, across sourcing, supplier management and risk mitigation, will be the ones who turn today’s promise into tomorrow’s competitive edge.”
Supply chain volatility remains a pressing challenge, with 65 percent of respondents saying their organisations have faced supply shortages in the past year, while nearly half (47 percent) identify disruption, risk and uncertainty as their most significant obstacles in the year ahead.
Many are moving away from sole-source models and investing in supplier diversification to strengthen resilience, but almost four in ten (38 percent) rank their supply chain adaptability as “not very effective”.
Sustainability is also gaining traction, with more than half of procurement leaders (51 percent) ranking ESG initiatives among their top priorities for 2026, alongside a sharper focus on supplier relationship management (45 percent) and process efficiency (43 percent).
“It’s telling that digital transformation and ESG are the two top enterprise priorities. Procurement is at the center of both, deploying technology to unlock value while advancing sustainability goals,” added Darshan Deshmukh, President of ProcureAbility.
“This dual focus shows how procurement is no longer just supporting strategy, but also actively setting the pace for enterprise transformation.”
