In 1998, during the Department of National Defence RAM implementation, a buyer complained: “A monkey could now do my job because of RAM.”
The agent-based procurement system automated requisition processing, routine approvals, and tactical execution—freeing up significant capacity.
My response: “With that freedom, you can focus on developing strategic skills that elevate your value as a procurement professional.”
The buyer’s anxiety wasn’t about the technology—it was about readiness.
The organization hadn’t:
- Defined what “strategic procurement” meant
- Provided training for that transition
- Created career paths for elevated roles
Twenty-seven years later, agentic AI is creating the exact same anxiety: “If AI does 60% of my work, what’s my value?”
The answer hasn’t changed: Strategic skills development.
But here’s what we learned from 1998: Technology can free up capacity instantly. Strategic organizational readiness to absorb that capacity is an overlooked AI-related evolutionary process.
That’s the gap. That’s the friction.
That’s why Technical Capability × Organizational Readiness matters.
The monkey comment wasn’t wrong—it was prescient. Without readiness investment, freed capacity becomes anxiety, not value.
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Procurement Insights
Saturday Sidebar: “The Monkey Could Do My Job” – A 27-Year Pattern
Posted on October 11, 2025
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In 1998, during the Department of National Defence RAM implementation, a buyer complained: “A monkey could now do my job because of RAM.”
The agent-based procurement system automated requisition processing, routine approvals, and tactical execution—freeing up significant capacity.
My response: “With that freedom, you can focus on developing strategic skills that elevate your value as a procurement professional.”
The buyer’s anxiety wasn’t about the technology—it was about readiness.
The organization hadn’t:
Twenty-seven years later, agentic AI is creating the exact same anxiety: “If AI does 60% of my work, what’s my value?”
The answer hasn’t changed: Strategic skills development.
But here’s what we learned from 1998: Technology can free up capacity instantly. Strategic organizational readiness to absorb that capacity is an overlooked AI-related evolutionary process.
That’s the gap. That’s the friction.
That’s why Technical Capability × Organizational Readiness matters.
The monkey comment wasn’t wrong—it was prescient. Without readiness investment, freed capacity becomes anxiety, not value.
30
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