From The Sourcing Paradox series · Week 3: The human barriers · First shared on LinkedIn, October 19, 2026
Every procurement team has one. The supplier contact list someone won't put in the system. The pricing history that lives on one laptop. The negotiation notes that never make it into the contract system.
When an AI rollout starts, those files often get more private, not less.
In my view, that isn't a discipline problem. It's a signal. People protect what makes them valuable, and if they think AI is coming for their role, what they know is the last leverage they have. These behaviors are more documented now and show up in the research findings of the report.
The cost is real. AI tools can only work with the expertise you give them. Hoarded knowledge starves the rollout of the context it needs, and the pilot stalls for reasons no one writes down.
You won't fix it with a policy memo. You fix it by making it safe to share: say what the AI is for, what your roadmap is, what your people message is, and what you'll reward. The change ahead will be iterative, and you need human skill, and experts all the way.
So what's behind the offline spreadsheet on your team: habit, workload, or fear?
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This post draws on The Sourcing Paradox, a free Procademai™ report for procurement leaders and professionals (section 3.5).
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