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AURORA, Colo. – Companies looking to use artificial intelligence in procurement should define the business problem the technology will solve, start with a small pilot, and expand incrementally with each successful step, sourcing executives said at the Institute for Supply Management World 2026 conference in late April.
Procurement executives who spoke on panels or with Supply Chain Dive said AI agents would mature within software for more efficient supplier management. However, they warned that procurement teams should approach the technology cautiously to avoid spending heavily on projects that fail.
At specialty materials supplier Toray Industries (America), John Eustis, SVP of U.S. group procurement, is taking an incremental approach to AI, starting with a low-risk pilot using AI agents within the procurement platform Levelpath.
“That’s more or less how we’re approaching it right now within Toray, because we don’t have a blank check,” Eustis said, adding that starting small is one way to control the cost of using AI agents.
