Transforming Sustainable Procurement with Generative AI

The sustainability category is receiving a high volume of investment, as Procurement continues to experience a rapid upsurge in both new and more advanced sustainable procurement technologies. This category has shifted from being a nice-to-have to a critical business necessity due to increased regulatory and consumer demands. Companies are now committed to sustainable practices, striving for net-zero emissions and releasing annual sustainability reports.

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To create clear segmentation amongst solution capabilities, the following pillars are used:

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-?????? Supply chain traceability and provenance

-?????? Emissions tracking and offsetting

-?????? Enterprise sustainability management

-?????? Assessments, audits and reports

-?????? Supply chain transparency

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In general, corporates struggle with refining issues outside of the above spheres. This, alongside the financial and macro-economic pressures that have characterised 2023 and 2024 so far, has resulted in a slower adoption of sustainable solutions. This slow pace is particularly evident in regions of the world where sustainability is generally perceived as less important.?

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The most highly prioritised categories remain to be emissions tracking and offsetting, and assessments and audits. This is due to consistently high global demand, and the low adoption risk that they present. For those commoditised industries where raw material sources are being called into question, there has been a marked uptake in demand for traceability.

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GenAI Sustainability Impact

GenAI is emerging as a powerful ally in mainstreaming sustainability, offering solutions for risk management and enhancing efficiency, while ensuring transparent supply chain sourcing. Ensuring that suppliers align with sustainability goals is essential for maintaining corporate reputation, complying with regulations, and contributing to a more sustainable supply chain.

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GenAI can transform sustainability in three primary ways:

·????? Reporting & Analytics: GenAI automates emission tracking and lifecycle assessments, providing real-time insights and optimising supply chain sustainability.

·????? Strategic Sustainability Insights: As sustainability data increases, GenAI offers enhanced visibility for decision-makers, real-time competitor analysis, regulatory alignment, and easy-to-understand visualisations.

·????? Efficient Supply Mapping: GenAI identifies hidden patterns in supply chains, assessing variables like climate changes and socio-economic factors, contributing to more sustainable sourcing decisions.

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The Opportunity

Those solutions that successfully integrate with risk and governance process (and the associated tools) are finding the most success. To this aim, the action-orientated capability of risk management solutions and GenAI has coupled nicely with suppliers’ ESG data points.

The opportunity exists to prioritise sustainable procurement as a competitive advantage for organisations, leveraging GenAI innovation to make an even bigger impact, even faster! ??

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The 2023 Procuretech 100 sustainability pioneers:

Circularise : Delivering unmatched traceability and secure data exchange in complex supply chains

CO2 AI : Helping businesses thrive in their net zero journey

Daato - Part of EQS Group : The engine that powers sustainable organisations

EcoVadis : Business sustainability ratings

IntegrityNext : Supply chain sustainability

Measurabl : The world’s most widely adopted ESG data management solution for real estate

Plan A : Empowering businesses to respond to regulatory shifts using science and technology

RepRisk : ESG data science and quantitative solutions

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For an in-depth exploration of cutting-edge capabilities and the latest in sustainable solutions, delve into the ProcureTech SOURCE platform.

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