Founder and CEO of PLANERGY, with decades of international experience in Procurement, Spend Management and Technology. As companies move to center procurement as a major source of strategic insights, continuous improvement and value creation, the technologies that are redefining core procurement functions such as supply chain management are increasing in both disruptive power and importance. The technologies that initially defined digital transformation -- artificial intelligence, process automation and deep analytics powered by machine learning -- are continuing to evolve, even as new technologies rise to augment and complement their capabilities. Looking ahead, it's clear that companies who want to compete effectively in the digital marketplace of tomorrow will need to give serious consideration to -- and make significant investments in -- these new technologies today. Operating both efficiently and effectively requires a flexible and resilient supply chain.

CPO Rising's Technology Round-Up returns today with an assortment of supply management technology news and updates from the past month to share with our community. If you are a sourcing, procurement, or spend management solution provider and you are continually innovating the way that procurement and supply chain leaders and practitioners drive value, we'd love to hear from you. Please drop us a note at editor at cporising dot com. Late last month, at the WeAreDevelopers Congress in Vienna, JAGGAER unveiled its neural network-based Automatic Spend Classification tool. It leverages elements of artificial intelligence (AI), namely natural language processing (NLP) and neural networks, to analyze text descriptions, product names, and product numbers within invoices and other documents.

European spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is estimated to reach more than $7bn in 2019 and to almost triple over the next four years, according to market intelligence firm IDC. The latest IDC Worldwide Semiannual Artificial Intelligence Spending Guide forecasts AI spending to grow at 32% per year, topping $21bn in Europe in 2023. Industries with the highest AI spend will be banking, retail, and discrete manufacturing, accounting for 39% of total spending. The report found that healthcare remains an attractive market for AI. Many hospitals are piloting projects and are increasing investments in AI-enabled diagnosis and treatment systems which will support a 38% increase in spending across the health sector over the next five years.

The sales operations team could be making hundreds of decisions every day. OpsVeda's machine learning capabilities enables the system to correlate the business situations and decisions for future prescription, thereby boosting productivity. Business processes are dynamic and new exception types could become a requirement any time. OpsVeda provides a user-friendly interface where business users can define rules and exceptions – no more dependence on IT for rule changes.

The public sector should use targeted procurement to boost the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in the UK, according to Lords. In a report, the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence said the UK was "in a strong position to be among the world leaders in the development of artificial intelligence" and the technology, if "handled carefully", could solve complex problems and improve productivity. In evidence, the committee was told the use of AI across government departments and the public sector could save an estimated £4bn a year and "enable more informed policy decisions". The report said the government's annual spend of £45bn on goods and services gave it "immense power in encouraging the adoption of new behaviours and practices in its supply chains". The report said Brexit provided an opportunity to alter EU public procurement rules "to ensure that these rules and thresholds benefit businesses in the UK, in particular when it comes to public sector procurement and the stimulation of a fertile AI development sector, as long as it is still a competitive process".

The public sector should use targeted procurement to boost the development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in the UK, according to Lords. In a report, the House of Lords Select Committee on Artificial Intelligence said the UK was "in a strong position to be among the world leaders in the development of artificial intelligence" and the technology, if "handled carefully", could solve complex problems and improve productivity. In evidence, the committee was told the use of AI across government departments and the public sector could save an estimated £4bn a year and "enable more informed policy decisions". The report said the government's annual spend of £45bn on goods and services gave it "immense power in encouraging the adoption of new behaviours and practices in its supply chains". The report said Brexit provided an opportunity to alter EU public procurement rules "to ensure that these rules and thresholds benefit businesses in the UK, in particular when it comes to public sector procurement and the stimulation of a fertile AI development sector, as long as it is still a competitive process".

As 2018 begins Supply Management rounds up some predictions for the year ahead. Brexit's questions will start to be answered: While 2017 was the year of Brexit uncertainty, 2018 will be the year where things start to change. Procurement teams will need to start proactively helping their businesses deal with that change and minimise exposure to contract and legal risk, says Sam De Silva, partner at law firm CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang. Procurement can no longer be a discrete and siloed function, says Shivani Govil, VP solutions management at SAP Ariba. "In the year ahead, companies will move away from niche offerings that address pieces of the procurement puzzle towards integrated platforms." Automation, machine learning and artificial intelligence will continue to be buzzwords for the year ahead.