In a recent "On the Margins" episode, industry leaders—including Andrea Casella, Head of Procure-to-Pay at Turo—discussed how AI is quietly reshaping procurement.
AI isn’t replacing teams—it’s removing tedious, manual work and making space for smarter decisions.
Key Shifts in Procurement
AI is now handling repetitive tasks like invoice processing and payment reconciliation. At Turo, AI manages most invoices automatically, only flagging unusual cases for human review. The result is faster approvals and fewer errors.
But AI's effectiveness hinges on data quality. “Garbage in, garbage out,” said Andrea. Teams must track KPIs like:
- Transaction volume
- Cycle times
- Cost per transaction
- Error rates
- Real-time access
Dashboards must be live, not lagging reports.
Keeping Humans in the Loop
Despite automation, human oversight remains vital. Unique cases, tricky contracts, and changing priorities still need a real person’s judgment.
Leaders should:
- Train teams to trust but verify AI results
- Watch for bias in data interpretation
- Use AI to augment, not replace
Leading the Change
Successful digital transformation is mostly about people, not just tools. Leaders must:
- Embrace risk to drive automation
- Shift teams toward value-added tasks
- Benchmark against industry standards
- Ensure tech adoption—not just purchase
Andrea summed it up: “If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it.” AI helps fix the boring stuff—but people make the strategy work.
Bottom Line
AI is making procurement faster, smarter, and more scalable. While it’s not magic, it’s a major step toward letting teams focus on what really matters.
If your desk is still drowning in paper, now’s a good time to rethink the process.
