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Tricia notes that risk in the procurement space is incredibly complicated and not always dictated by procurement alone. It involves a web of stakeholders from legal to information security, and when these pieces are siloed, the business suffers.“ Risk in the procurement space is incredibly complicated,” Tricia explains.“ Unfortunately, it’ s not always dictated by procurement. In many cases, procurement is responsible for supporting the third-party risk, the financial risk and data privacy and countless other factors. When we think about the risk and the way it historically has worked, you’ re finding it down the road. You’ re maybe already contracted; you brought the supplier in, or someone brought the supplier in the business. They’ ve already contracted with them, and the team is very far in the process at that point and then a risk is identified. It’ s very difficult to mitigate.”
To combat this, the industry is moving toward a model of“ intelligent intake.” This process involves capturing demand upfront through a simplified user
“ I don’ t need you to write me a 10-page white paper on what you want to buy. You need to tell me what you want to buy”
Tricia Miller SVP Product Marketing and Chief Evangelist Coupa experience that does not require the internal customer to produce extensive documentation. By understanding what is being bought at the point of origin, the system can determine risk and orchestrate the request through the correct channels.
Tricia emphasises that this is about capturing demand in a very simple way:“ I don’ t need you to write me a 10-page white paper on what you want to buy. You need to tell me what you want to buy.” From that simple request, procurement, in partnership with other functions, can ensure the request is processed intelligently and orchestrated to address specific risks.
Navigating the permanent age of volatility The urgency for this transition is driven by a world where change is the only constant. Tricia highlights that the pace of change is accelerating, meaning procurement must respond to real-life problems like supply chain failures or dropping supplier risk scores with unprecedented speed – an approach that has rapidly become a new baseline for operations.
“ I think the age of volatility we’ re in right now will continue,” Tricia says.“ Change is more constant today than it was yesterday, and yesterday than it was the day before. That’ s just going to speed up.”
This volatility means that traditional timelines, often stretching into months for risk checks and supplier onboarding, are no longer fit for purpose. Business units require solutions in days or weeks to respond to shifting market conditions.
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