For procurement tech companies, the bells are tolling – can you hear them?
I share with you today confidential conversations with individuals whose names have been changed to protect those smart enough to embrace the inevitability of this generation’s version of the procuretech bubble burst.
The question is not if but who will survive this latest example of the repeating insanity definition.
Person #1
Just a heads up—it is starting to get ugly out there. In the past couple of weeks, three top CMOs and a Senior Sales VP were dumped—and I am talking about ones with tenure.
The reason is that their AI solutions aren’t selling, and in the instances where they are, they are not working as expected. What is starting to happen has all the earmarks of the beginning of the March 2000 dot-com collapse.
The gap between the earlier AI hype and the promised results is widening. Add to the equation the bit of a shake-up you told me about at (provider name withheld)—by the way, I just saw their demo or PowerPoint because there wasn’t any tech to demo. Now is the time to look for a soft landing.
2025 will likely be a rough year for AI-driven high-tech companies in our industry.
Person #2
ProcureTech solutions, in general, aren’t selling.
Too much tech. Companies don’t want one-off solutions. Don’t have budget or bandwidth.
Crazy that (provider name withheld) still can’t provide a demo.
(Provider name withheld) must have paid a pretty penny to get (top exec).
(Notable professional) has left (provider name withheld) after only about 3 months. I had heard (3rd handed) that they were clashing with some of the other leaders.
Person #3
After making significant investments in our AI offering, we realized that we could not sell it. We had to pull back from it and switch back to being just a procurement-tech company—which is not going to pay the bills.
Summation
Procurement practitioners, stop looking to solution providers and AI tech for answers and ultimate success because your success is UP TO YOU. After 40-plus years in high-tech and almost as long in procurement, there are and never have been any silver bullet solutions!
Solution providers, enough with the BS solution maps, look at how great we are posts that are usually only liked by employees, family, and friends, and flashy press releases about new clients and partnerships. You have one job, and one job only – and it isn’t selling technology – SOLVE PRACTITIONER PROBLEMS. Remember, 10 to 15 years from now, we will look back at today’s tech with the same dismissive attitude we now have towards floppy drives, 28bpms modems, and dot matrix printers.
Acceptance
Is the crash or AI bubble burst in 2025 inevitable?
Agent-Based Versus Equation-Based
The Solution: Problem solve using an agent-based “people-process-technology” implementation model versus an equation-based “technology-process-people” model. The tech should be an afterthought versus a forethought!
Here is how – Are you chasing solutions or solving problems?
30
Procurement Insights
Up The AI @#*& Creek Without A Paddle?
Posted on July 27, 2024
0
For procurement tech companies, the bells are tolling – can you hear them?
I share with you today confidential conversations with individuals whose names have been changed to protect those smart enough to embrace the inevitability of this generation’s version of the procuretech bubble burst.
The question is not if but who will survive this latest example of the repeating insanity definition.
Person #1
Just a heads up—it is starting to get ugly out there. In the past couple of weeks, three top CMOs and a Senior Sales VP were dumped—and I am talking about ones with tenure.
The reason is that their AI solutions aren’t selling, and in the instances where they are, they are not working as expected. What is starting to happen has all the earmarks of the beginning of the March 2000 dot-com collapse.
The gap between the earlier AI hype and the promised results is widening. Add to the equation the bit of a shake-up you told me about at (provider name withheld)—by the way, I just saw their demo or PowerPoint because there wasn’t any tech to demo. Now is the time to look for a soft landing.
2025 will likely be a rough year for AI-driven high-tech companies in our industry.
Person #2
ProcureTech solutions, in general, aren’t selling.
Too much tech. Companies don’t want one-off solutions. Don’t have budget or bandwidth.
Crazy that (provider name withheld) still can’t provide a demo.
(Provider name withheld) must have paid a pretty penny to get (top exec).
(Notable professional) has left (provider name withheld) after only about 3 months. I had heard (3rd handed) that they were clashing with some of the other leaders.
Person #3
After making significant investments in our AI offering, we realized that we could not sell it. We had to pull back from it and switch back to being just a procurement-tech company—which is not going to pay the bills.
Summation
Procurement practitioners, stop looking to solution providers and AI tech for answers and ultimate success because your success is UP TO YOU. After 40-plus years in high-tech and almost as long in procurement, there are and never have been any silver bullet solutions!
Solution providers, enough with the BS solution maps, look at how great we are posts that are usually only liked by employees, family, and friends, and flashy press releases about new clients and partnerships. You have one job, and one job only – and it isn’t selling technology – SOLVE PRACTITIONER PROBLEMS. Remember, 10 to 15 years from now, we will look back at today’s tech with the same dismissive attitude we now have towards floppy drives, 28bpms modems, and dot matrix printers.
Acceptance
Is the crash or AI bubble burst in 2025 inevitable?
Agent-Based Versus Equation-Based
The Solution: Problem solve using an agent-based “people-process-technology” implementation model versus an equation-based “technology-process-people” model. The tech should be an afterthought versus a forethought!
Here is how – Are you chasing solutions or solving problems?
30
Share this:
Related