CFOs can build a Procurement Agent with ChatGPT
AI can negotiate with vendors and save you $$$
For most companies, on an average day, that precious collective focus is chaotically bouncing between:
Thoughts about supply chain disruptions, margin pressures, and past budget misses.
An internal cry to break out of conditioned, inefficient processes.
An endless list of mixed-priority tasks, from processing invoices to chasing approvals.
The modern enterprise has its attention split in a thousand different directions. The result is a slow, grinding machine that leaks value at every turn.
Now, let me overload your brain for a minute.
Last year, a report from McKinsey stated that AI could reduce procurement operational costs by up to 20% and cut cycle times in half.
I was on a panel at a Tropic AI event yesterday, and this exact issue came up. My take is simple:
I think there are too many co-pilots built today. We need captains, someone who can actually steer the jet, not just sit next to the pilot. Adding a chatbot to a SaaS product where you can ask questions about your data is a nice feature. It demos well. It puts you on the map. But buyers won’t pay anything more for it, because it’s not real automation. It doesn’t give you any real insight.
This is the core of the issue.
A co-pilot that answers questions is a feature.
An AI captain who executes an entire workflow is a revolution.
And while I can’t go over everything in this letter alone. But I’ll share:
A few thoughts that should equip you for what’s coming.
How to build your own Procurement Agent using ChatGPT.
Your new job is to automate your department out of its current job.
The bottom line.
This is one of the most exciting and dangerous times to be a leader.
By the end of this, I’m confident you will see the opportunity.
Become AI-First, Or Become a Dinosaur
There are 2 types of companies right now:
The Legacy Company: Sees AI as a simple tool for summaries or basic tasks. They layer it on top of their broken, inefficient human processes.
The AI-First Company: Sees AI as a new operating system for the entire business. They are re-architecting how work gets done from the ground up.
What most leaders don’t understand is that the output of AI is up to your skill and imagination. It’s the difference between asking AI to "help with procurement" and giving it a precise, multi-step set of commands to execute an entire workflow autonomously.
This is the shift from basic AI to Agentic AI. It’s no longer about scaling humans; it’s about scaling decisions, creativity, and action with machines.
Let's get practical. Here’s what this looks like for a core business function like procurement.
For Sourcing & Supplier Vetting:
Non-AI-first: Manual Google searches. Endless internal debates based on opinion. Slow, outdated risk checks.
AI-first: An AI Agent autonomously scans global markets in real-time. It vets suppliers against hundreds of data points, financial health, ESG scores, compliance records, and generates a ranked shortlist in minutes.
For Contract Negotiation:
Non-AI-first: Weeks of back-and-forth emails. Legal teams manually redlining every clause, buried in low-value work.
AI-first: An AI Agent analyzes a proposed contract against your company’s legal playbook. It instantly flags risky clauses, suggests alternative language, and handles initial negotiation rounds on standard terms.
Now imagine this for every single operational workflow.
The companies that have spent time building these systems will run laps around you.
The common objection is, AI isn’t there yet.
That’s the entire point. It will be.
So how do you start now?
Read on.
How to build a Procurement Agent with ChatGPT
Keep in mind, this is an agent you can build in 5 minutes. The real power comes when you extend its functionality.
Imagine this agent automatically writing approvals back to a Google Sheet using a plugin, or feeding its data into a real-time risk dashboard built with Netlify. The agent becomes the central nervous system for the entire function.