Autor: Jan-Henner Theißen

🤖No, it’s not an AI-Agent in Procurement. It’s just a patient chatbot. I’ve had plenty of conversations about AI in Procurement, AI-agents, and such, and many said, „We built an AI agent for procurement.“ Question: Does it wait for you to type something before it does anything? YES? Well, then it is not an agent. And, like everywhere else, it’s important to be precise in our wording and in how we execute things. Otherwise, it creates false expectations, and digital solution providers will sell you garbage at gold prices. Guaranteed. Technology has changed over the past 25 years. But not the way marketing cheats you. Let me give you two scenarios Here is a concrete example: You get an email at 2am: a key supplier just suspended shipments. ➡️ Chatbot scenario: You wake up, see the email, open the tool, type „summarize this situation,“ read the output, type „what are my alternatives,“ copy the text somewhere, and start making calls. You saved maybe 20 minutes. Nice. ➡️ Real agent scenario: The agent already read the email. It checked your supplier database, ran a risk assessment, identified three alternative sources with existing contracts, drafted a brief for your team, and flagged the situation as critical. You wake up to a decision, not a problem. You saved four to six hours, maybe more. That is not a productivity improvement. That is a fundamentally different way of working. A real AI agent receives information, analyzes it, and takes action on its own. Without you prompting it. Without you babysitting it. That is the difference between saving you five minutes and taking an entire task off your plate. Before you buy, ask one question: what does this system do when I am not looking? If the answer is „nothing,“ now you know what you have. The gap between these two modes is not about which tool you use. It is about whether your organization is actually ready to let AI close the loop autonomously. That is the harder conversation nobody is having.

STAMMDATENBEREINIGUNG MIT EXPERTEN & AUTOMATISIERUNG Die meisten Unternehmen kennen ihre Stammdatenprobleme und haben wenig Zeit für eine effektive Bereinigung ihrer Stammdaten. In Gesprächen hören wir immer wieder dieselben Aussagen: ➡️ „Wir haben Dubletten.“ ➡️ „Unsere Lieferantenstandorte stimmen nicht.“ ➡️ „Unsere Datenqualität bremst Automatisierung und KI-Initiativen aus.“ 👉Genau hier setzt unser bewährter Match & Clean an: ✅Dubletten erkennen ✅Adressen standardisieren ✅Standorte korrekt zuordnen ✅Adressen geokodieren ✅Lokationsdaten intelligent anreichern 👉Was kann Match & Clean-Highlights: ✅Automatisierte Adressbereinigung, Duplikaterkennung, Anreicherung und Geofencing, betrieben durch KI und verifizierte Datenquellen ✅Datenweitergabe, Rollen- und Rechteverwaltung, SSO und Whitelabeling ✅Geofences, Point-of-Interests und Layouts zur Optimierung von ETA-, IoT- und Automatisierungs-Workflows 👉Ihr Mehrwert ✔️ Einkaufs- und Logistikprofis mit langjähriger Praxiserfahrung und einem leistungsfähigen System unterstützen Sie ✔️ Lieferkettenstammdaten sind planungssicher ✔️ Supply Chain Risiken lassen sich identifizieren ✔️ Entscheidungen werden auf einer verlässlichen Datenbasis getroffen ✔️Praxiserprobt: Match & Clean wird bereits erfolgreich im komplexen Umfeld genau dafür eingesetzt und lässt sich nahtlos in bestehende Systemlandschaften integrieren. 👉Wie starten wir gemeinsam? 1️⃣ Erstgespräch zu Ihren Herausforderungen und Anwendungsfällen 2️⃣ Testlauf mit einem Auszug Ihrer Stammdaten 3️⃣ Analyse und Ergebnispräsentation 4️⃣ Kein Druck, kein Powerselling. Sie entscheiden über die nächsten Schritte Mit LogBook und targetP evolving procurement bündeln wir Einkaufs-, Daten-, Supply-Chain- und Logistik-Know-how, um aus Stammdaten eine belastbare Grundlage für Entscheidungen und operative Prozesse zu schaffen. Praktiker mit 30+ Systemintegrationen und langjähriger Einkaufserfahrung. 👉Sprechen Sie uns an und wir zeigen Ihnen wie Sie transparente und resiliente Lieferketten schaffen, Lieferkettenrisiken minimieren und Sie ihre Logistikkosten optimieren.

Back from the 3rd Annual Supply Chain Risk & Resilience Forum in Amsterdam. It was a pleasure to reconnect with a truly international community of supply chain, procurement, risk, and resilience professionals who are all working on one of the most critical challenges of our time: Building supply chains that can withstand disruption while remaining competitive and sustainable. One of my key takeaways from the forum is that while digital technologies, AI, predictive analytics, and risk intelligence platforms continue to evolve rapidly, the real differentiator remains people and culture. Unexpectedly, many risk practitioners, including me, talked about it. ⚡In my presentation, I shared insights from 15 SCRM implementations and focused on three themes that consistently separate successful programs from those that struggle: ✅ Risk leadership, risk culture, and trust are not soft topics. They are THE foundation of effective SCRM operations. ✅ Digital & AI-driven capabilities can significantly improve risk visibility, proactive mitigation, and cost optimization. However, technology only creates value when it is embedded in decision-making processes and supported by strong governance. AI will not deliver results. Period! ✅ The predictive advantage comes ONLY from combining digital intelligence with human expertise. AI risk identification & assessment must seamlessly integrate with human judgment, experience, and collaboration to enable better and faster decisions. The conference also featured many thought-provoking presentations and discussions. I particularly enjoyed the perspectives shared by leaders from SAP, A.P. Moller – Maersk, FMC, Stryker, Amcor, Bekaert, Moody’s, Tesco, KION, etc. on all aspects of supply chain resilience, who shared practical insights and different perspectives on how they increase robustness and integrity of supply chains. The discussions around trust, transparency, multi-tier visibility, and data sharing were especially relevant for the challenges organizations face today. What became clear throughout the event is that resilience is no longer a capability that sits alongside operations. It is becoming part of an organization’s DNA. Building that resilience requires trust between partners, transparency across supply networks, and the right balance between human insight and technological innovation. 👉A big thank you to Leadvent Group for organizing such a valuable event and to Greg Schlegel and Jim de Vries for the invitation and the excellent moderation and discussions throughout the forum. Looking forward to continuing the conversation on how we can move from managing risks to building truly resilient supply chains. 👉RECOMMENDATION to my network: Attend the 4th Forum in 2027. It’s worth your time. There are not many other comparable platforms in the EU

🚀 Teil 2 unserer Serie: KI und Stammdaten Wir denken: Die KI-Modelle funktionieren. Wir müssen feststellen: Die Realität und die Ergebnisse dahinter nicht. Aber warum liefern viele KI-Projekte nicht den erwarteten Mehrwert? Erfahrungsgemäß fließen bis zu 2/3 der KI-Projektzeit in die Datenaufbereitung. Und trotzdem wird genau dieser Punkt oft unterschätzt. Denn KI trifft Entscheidungen auf Basis verarbeitungsfähiger Daten, prüft diese jedoch ohne konkrete Anweisung nicht. Der altbekannte Satz „shit in, shit out“, gilt hier im Besonderen. KI und Stammdaten eine untrennbare Allianz Eine der wichtigsten Dimensionen dabei: 📍 Standort- und Lokationsdaten bzw. Adressdaten. Denn der Standort: ✅ bestimmt das Design der Lieferkette ✅ bestimmt Lieferzeiten und Produktionsfähigkeit ✅ bestimmt die Kosten und ungeplanter Folgekosten ✅ bestimmt mögliche Risiken in der Lieferkette ✅ legt fest, wie eine Risikovorsorge aussieht   📍 Die entscheidenden Fragen sind: 1. Wo befindet sich der Lieferant wirklich? 2. Von welchem Werk wird tatsächlich geliefert?   Wenn diese Informationen nicht sauber sind: ⚡werden ggf. falsche Lieferantenentscheidungen getroffen ⚡entstehen unrealistische Liefertermine ⚡werden Logistiknetzwerke falsch geplant und optimiert ⚡weichen Planungsszenarien und Forecasts ab ⚡entstehen Verzüge und Mehrkosten, die eigene Produktions- und Lieferfähigkeit wird beeinträchtigt ⚡ein automatisiertes, digitales Risikomanagement wird ineffektiv ⚡regulatorische Anforderungen werden unzureichend erfüllt Die Liste der selbstgeschaffenen Risiken ist lang. Und dennoch sehen wir häufig: Unternehmen investieren zuerst in KI-Use-Cases – und erst danach in Datenqualität. Dabei ist die Reihenfolge gerade bei Automatisierungsprojekten und KI-gestützten Netzwerk- und Materialplanungen entscheidend: 1️⃣Erst qualitativ hochwertige, verifizierte Daten. 2️⃣Dann Aufbau und Nutzung der Intelligenz.   👉 Stay tuned. Im nächsten Beitrag zeigen wir, warum fehlende Standort- und Adresstransparenz auch strategische Einkaufsentscheidungen massiv beeinflusst. Interessiert daran, wie man diese Datenqualität mit Unterstützung innovativer und bewährter digitaler Supply Chain Technologie in kurzer Zeit massiv verbessert? Dann dranbleiben.  

2026 Handelsblatt CPO Summit Once again, attending the 3rd Handelsblatt CPO Summit was time well spent. 75+ top procurement leaders from multinationals & SMEs came together to exchange and learn. Especially the workshop sessions stood out, with open, honest discussions on real challenges beyond polished slides. And, as expected, AI dominated the discussions. Not a big surprise, but one thing became very clear this time: 👉The conversation around AI has fundamentally shifted from talking about AI as an advisor, a source of data, intelligence, and decision support to AI as an OPERATOR. 👉It’s no longer just about prompting. It’s about agents that execute. And I have talked to plenty of CPOs who have moved from the experimental stage. They OPERATE AI agents as part of their teams. Another indication that AI may not be the future (we often talk about Procurement 2030 or 2035, or something happens in that magic future). It’s here today, and this rapid evolution raises some important questions. In a workshop with Mattea Herzberg (CPO Tesa), we explored some of these questions further under the idea of “AI shoring“ and how AI impacts our organizational design. Additionally, Mattea shared practical insights on Tesa’s impressive AI journey. ❓Do we still need to offshore operational tasks to low-cost countries, or can AI agents take over these activities? ❓How do we design organizations where humans and AI agents work side by side as coworkers? ❓What does accountability look like when decisions are made -or executed- by machines? ❓How do we build trust in this hybrid setup? ❓The governance challenge: Do we need guardrails to prevent uncontrolled behavior and ensure alignment without avoiding overregulation that stifles innovation? We had an intense exchange about adoption, leadership, and accountability, and it became clear: This isn’t just a cost or technology discussion! ☝️It’s about courage and adoption, rethinking operating models, speed, control, and value creation. AI is no longer just enhancing how we work. It’s already reshaping our organizational design, (shared) roles & responsibilities, development plans (humans and agents), and who or what does the work. Thanks to the entire Handelsblatt team for another excellent event and to all participants. It was great seeing many of you again.

Speaker at the 3rd Annual Supply Chain Risk & Resilience Forum! 📅 Date: 10th – 11th June, 2026, Amsterdam. The 3rd Annual Supply Chain Risk & Resilience Forum brings together global supply chain leaders, risk managers, policymakers, and innovators to address the challenges and opportunities shaping resilient, agile, and future-proof supply chains. Be part of the conversation shaping the future of resilient and sustainable supply chains and join thought and business leaders (Vestas, SAP, A.P. Moeller Maersk, Marsh, The SCRM Consortium, targetP evolving procurement, and many more) to discuss opportunities and strategies and get practical advice. 2025 was a blast, and I am happy to meet again a truly international and diverse team of Supply Chain Risk practitioners and to share some insights from 15+ SCRM implementation projects: ✅Risk Leadership, Risk Culture and Trust: Long-neglected critical success factors ✅How can digital, AI-driven value levers help proactively manage risks and optimize costs ✅The Predictive Advantage: Combining digital intelligence and human insights 📍 Save the date and join us in Amsterdam, 10th – 11th June 2026, 📍 Venue: Steigenberger Airport Hotel Amsterdam, Amsterdam, Netherlands.