Background
Coming from a background that heavily emphasized best practices in supply chain, discussing procurement with clients in the construction industry at times had me, let’s say, “clutching my pearls.” To be fair, our clients focus heavily on ensuring their field operations see little disruption, and taking a moment to put in a requisition and wait for a purchase order approval is not a task that qualifies as efficient. The solutions that have presented themselves in our industry thus far are not effective in convincing them otherwise.
I received an invitation to attend the GEP INNOVATE 2025 (Nov 3‑5 in New Orleans). GEP is a global procurement and supply chain solution provider with progressive technology and an equally progressive company culture. This provided an opportunity to gain insight into how we can work out many of the roadblocks that are encountered when discussing Procure to Pay in the construction industry. What I saw emerge was not just another procurement conference with a heavy sales pitch, but the intent to educate attendees on all things associated with supply chain. I witnessed procurement functionality and business processes moving from incremental improvements to entire transformations.
A Change of Era, Not Just Change Management
The event’s tagline, “We’re not in an era of change. We’re in a change of era,” sets a clear tone. It emphasizes deep structural shifts: global trade and value‑chain disruption, agentic AI that can act and not just support, and the elevation of procurement’s role from a cost center to a strategic value enabler.
Why this speaks to us: In our world of construction tech, contract management, invoice routing, inventory management, and vendor assessments, requirements and compliance are shifting. It’s not enough to streamline; procurement and vendor ecosystems must align with enterprise strategy, resilience, and innovation.
For construction and operations firms, procurement transformation means integrating vendor master control, data governance, AI‑enabled sourcing of specialty trades, and invoice routing automation to drive efficiency and reduce risk. Procurement can evolve from a transaction‑driven model to a partnership‑driven model, emphasizing innovation and joint risk management.
Key Themes & Why They Matter
- AI that can proactively source, interact with suppliers, and trigger workflows, rather than simply assist human decision‑makers.
- Quantification of value beyond cost savings, including time‑to‑market, supplier innovation, and risk avoidance.
- Vendor master, catalogs, and data governance strategies for complex vendor bases.
- AI and automation maturity and integration with ERP, BI, and contract systems.
- Supplier innovation and co‑creation in MEP and heavy‑industrial contexts.
Notable Speakers & Industry Voices
I would be amiss if I didn’t take a minute to mention the speaker roster. GEP INNOVATE 2025 brought together an impressive lineup of thought leaders and practitioners. Keynote speakers included renowned journalist and geopolitical analyst Fareed Zakaria, theoretical physicist and futurist Michio Kaku, and former United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz. Their combined perspectives bridged global economics, technological innovation, and human leadership, highlighting how procurement and supply chain decisions influence everything from market stability to corporate culture.
In addition to GEP’s internal experts, attendees also heard from leading organizations such as Gartner and Caterpillar, to name just a few. These industry voices provide valuable real‑world context, ranging from economic trends and digital strategy to operational resilience and the adoption of technology in complex environments.
Conclusion
What became clear throughout GEP INNOVATE 2025 is that the construction industry’s long-standing “good enough” approach to procurement and payables is no longer sustainable in today’s landscape of volatility, shortages, and digital acceleration. The organizations that will thrive are those that treat their Procure-to-Pay function not as a back-office necessity, but as a strategic platform for visibility, control, and innovation.
By modernizing the P2P process through integrating intelligent requisitioning, AI-enabled supplier engagement, and automated invoice routing, construction firms can close the gap between field operations and finance, reduce leakage, and improve supplier relationships. The tools and models demonstrated at the GEP conference showed that efficiency no longer comes at the expense of agility; it is now the foundation of it.
Now is the moment to re-evaluate existing workflows and ask: Is our procurement process helping us compete, or holding us back? Firms that act early will gain not only operational savings but also strategic resilience, positioning procurement as a driver of value creation rather than a cost of doing business.