In many industrial companies, procurement is still perceived as an operational processing function. Yet, procurement holds one of the greatest levers for value creation: 40 to 70 percent of total costs are tied up in materials and suppliers. How can procurement successfully transition from a mere cost-cutting program to a strategic steering function that acts as an equal business partner within the company?

Benjamin Harbrücker (Senior Manager, Performance & Strategy at KPMG) and Mitja Michels (Manager, Performance & Strategy at KPMG), together with Arman Gall (Product Expert at Tacto), demonstrate how companies can systematically develop their procurement from an operational processor into a strategic value creation partner.

From Operational Processor to Strategic Value Creation Partner

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Procurement evolves through several maturity levels: from operational processor to commercial optimizer, value and risk manager, and finally to a strategic business partner. At the highest level, procurement acts as a cross-functional partner on equal footing with management, engineering, finance, and other departments. It is involved early in strategic decisions and delivers measurable value. According to KPMG, measurability is crucial for this transformation: those who can demonstrate procurement's value contribution to management gain recognition and strategic influence. A key advantage over previous transformation projects is the availability of modern technology, which reduces the operational transaction load and frees up capacity for strategic work.

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Success Factors on Two Levels: Enterprise and Capability

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KPMG distinguishes two perspectives for the further development of procurement. The Enterprise perspective asks: How does procurement operate within the organization? This involves control logic and KPIs, mandating procurement as a central steering function for external spend, and strategic integration into corporate decisions. While many organizations have formulated a procurement strategy, procurement often lacks the necessary decision-making and steering rights. The Capability perspective asks: What must procurement bring to the table? Roles and competencies must evolve, from Tactical Buyer to Category Manager, from Report Runner to Data Scientist, from Systems User to Digital Advisor. Simultaneously, value contribution unfolds not only through strategy but also through implementation across the entire end-to-end process.

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Transparency as a Foundation and AI Agents in Practice

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The evolution of procurement roles can only be realized on a structured data foundation. KPMG describes four stages of analysis: from descriptive analysis (What happened?), diagnostic analysis (Why?), and predictive analysis (What will happen?) to prescriptive analysis (How can we achieve goals?). Tacto's Procurement Brain connects internal ERP data with external market data for this purpose. Prices, volumes, and conditions become uniformly analyzable across all product groups and the entire time horizon, while AI continuously learns from the data context.

Tacto demonstrates specifically where AI agents already deliver operational added value. In the Procurement Radar, agents continuously scan the database for patterns in price developments, sourcing opportunities, inefficiencies in ordering behavior, and raw material price volatilities. As soon as potential is identified, buyers receive proactive alerts. In the Negotiation Cockpit, agents create automated negotiation dossiers with price and savings analytics, benchmarks, and cost factors. The Defender Agent generates counterarguments for supplier price increase demands. The results with pilot customers speak for themselves: an average of over 470,000 Euros in savings potential per year, with over 43 percent of proactive alerts leading to direct cost savings.

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Conclusion

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The webinar clarifies that the path from a cost-cutting program to a strategic steering function is not merely an organizational matter. It requires both the right embedding within the company and the appropriate skills and technologies. The combination of KPMG's consulting expertise in procurement transformation and Tacto's AI-powered platform shows a concrete path for procurement organizations to deliver measurable strategic value.

Benjamin Harbrücker and Mitja Michels from KPMG, together with Arman Gall from Tacto, analyze how procurement makes the leap from operational processor to strategic business partner. They demonstrate success factors at the Enterprise and Capability levels, explain the role of data as a basis for decision-making, and show how AI agents automate operational processes and proactively uncover savings potential.