About this episode

James Meads interviews Jeff Gerber about the transition from traditional spend analytics to AI-powered spend intelligence in procurement.

In this episode of The Procurement Software Podcast, James Meads speaks with Jeff Gerber, CEO of Suplari, about the evolution from traditional spend analytics to AI-powered spend intelligence. The conversation explores how procurement teams can move beyond static dashboards and begin leveraging predictive insights and autonomous agents to drive better decision-making. Can AI-Powered Spend Intelligence Transform Procurement? Jeff shares the story behind Suplari’s journey—from startup to Microsoft acquisition and back to independence—highlighting how an AI-native foundation has enabled faster innovation. The discussion focuses on how modern platforms are shifting from reporting on past spend to actively identifying opportunities and recommending actions in real time. A key theme is the growing role of AI agents in automating complex procurement tasks, from managing tail spend to improving data quality and accelerating category strategy development. The episode also tackles common challenges such as poor data and limited internal resources, showing how AI can unlock value even without perfect inputs. There is also a strong emphasis on usability, with conversational interfaces and…

People in this episode

Host: James Meads

Guest: Jeff Gerber

Topics covered

• predictive intelligence
• spend analytics
• AI in procurement
• data quality
• automation
• decision-making

Keywords

• AI-powered spend intelligence
• predictive insights
• autonomous agents
• tail spend
• data quality
• category strategy
• usability
• conversational interfaces

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Suplari, Microsoft

More episodes of The Procurement Software Podcast

• Tracking POs, amendments & deliveries for SMEs - Andrew Stroup from Leverage · May 28, 2026 · 40 min
• Can Free Software Outperform Existing Tools? - Tom Ruello from SpendHound · February 26, 2026 · 34 min
• The Pulse of the Mid-Market - Mike Cargiulo from MJC Sourcing · January 28, 2026 · 32 min
• AI, People, Change, and Mindset - Gregory Vider and Markus Sinz from apadua · December 19, 2025 · 42 min
• Revolutionising Supplier Performance Data - Matthew Spencer from FlockScore · November 20, 2025 · 36 min
• Is Procuretech Overpriced and Overhyped? - Gaurav Sharma from Supernegotiate · August 28, 2025 · 38 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Procurement Software Podcast podcast page.