Centralize vs. Delegate
AI Agents solve the dilemma of Centralizing vs. Delegating small purchases
Leaders of large companies are always stuck with the same question: should we centralize or delegate small purchases?
But this "Sophie’s Choice" is no longer a problem in the world of AI.
Before, everyone had to choose the "lesser of two evils":
- Centralize: Create a bloated team, deal with slow SLAs, and face constant complaints from business units.
- Delegate: Lose the guarantee that areas are buying from a central catalog, risk higher prices, and accept the risk of fraud, among other issues.
However, there is a solution that better optimizes the whole process if we know how to leverage two agents in parallel.
The first is a Requisition Agent. It identifies if an item is in the catalog and, more importantly, solves the nightmare of material master data registration in seconds.
The second is a Spot Buy Agent. When an item is not in the catalog, it handles the purchase, taking the burden off the procurement team and slashing the SLA. The focus here is NOT savings—these are low-value, low-frequency items. If their frequency increases, they should then be moved into a catalog.
