What’s now and next for Finance and Procurement

Automation, digitisation and the future of global trade

Add bookmark

This 2019 report, carried out by The Economist Intelligent Unit, surveyed over 400 senior contacts within Finance and Procurement to find out what they thought were the key and current trends happening in their industry that they should prepare for. 

Key findings include:

  • Expectation that automation would be the driver to free up time required to adapt and play a role more focused on strategic initiatives​
  • Automation of payments, procurement processes and supply chain management will supersede AI as having the greatest impact on an organization. ​
  • Just over 60% of respondents believe that their finance and procurement functions are prepared for the impacts of digitisation within the next 18 months​
  • Almost 25% of respondents cited post-Brexit trade negotiations and US/China relations as the trend expected to have the greatest impact within the next two years.​

Download the report here.


Latest Webinars

Germany’s 1 January 2027 E-Invoicing Deadline: Timely Guidance for Time-Crunched Leaders

2026-07-30

03:00 PM - 03:45 PM CET

Germany's phased e-invoicing rollout has now entered the final stretch. The 1 January 2027 move to...

How AI-Native Accounts Payable Is Changing the Finance Function

2026-07-21

11:00 AM - 11:45 AM EDT

AI-native AP is transforming finance – preventing exceptions, improving supplier relationships, and...

Why Shared Services and GBS Transformation Stalls and How to Overcome Change Fatigue

2026-07-20

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM EDT

Explore why shared services transformations stall and how to overcome change fatigue, align teams an...

Recommended