Consumer market leader: unlocking millions in value with intelligent procurement

How do you use AI to source more competitively?

With more than 200 brands sold across 180 countries, our client is a global powerhouse in its sector. With its sights set on continued growth, the business made the decision to invest in a new, global intelligent sourcing platform – one that would make procurement quicker, smoother and more competitive. There was also a clear commercial goal – realise a rapid return on the investment by driving down third-party spend.

A complex global rollout of a leading AI platform

This was the most complex implementation to date of the market-leading platform chosen by the business – and it came with big challenges. These included standardising and simplifying procurement processes across a vast global organisation, customising the solution to meet the needs of thousands of procurement professionals across different markets and cultures, and configuring AI agents so the business could fully harness the platform’s advanced AI capabilities.

For procurement teams, the shift was close to revolutionary. AI-enabled sourcing meant they would be able to run events faster and more competitively, while freeing up valuable time to focus on strategic opportunities that create real competitive advantage.

Delivering transformation through partnership

Transforming at this scale takes trust. This was the foundation for Baringa’s work. From day one, we built strong relationships with senior stakeholders around the world, working shoulder to shoulder to manage complexity and risk. Alongside that, we brought deep procurement knowledge combined with digital and AI expertise to ensure agile and practical delivery.

We started by listening, engaging more than 2,000 procurement professionals and super-users globally. Their experiences helped uncover areas where governance could be strengthened, insights sharpened and friction removed from day-to-day processes.  

Once we had shaped the new tools and processes around real user needs, we invested heavily in embedding new ways of working – from running enterprise-wide learning sessions on digital procurement trends to creating interactive content and targeted communications to build confidence and momentum.

Rapid results – and a self-funding programme

Within just one year of enabling AI sourcing, our client was already seeing results:

• approximately $20m in anticipated annual savings globally, making the programme self-funding within its first year, with savings expected to grow
• average sourcing cycle time reduced from 11 days to four days
• an average 12% cost reduction across AI-executed sourcing events in all markets
• sourcing event creation time cut from 60 minutes to 10 minutes, giving teams time back to focus on strategic priorities.

From transformation to strategic advantage

Beyond the impressive numbers, the transformation strengthens the business's digital backbone and creates a scalable platform for the future. It also positions procurement as a strategic enabler across the enterprise – not just a transactional function.

The relationships we built over the course of this complex, global transformation are stronger than ever. That’s something we are as proud of as the lasting impact we delivered for the business and its procurement teams.