Two issues stand at the top of the concern list: supply chain disruption and economic uncertainty, closely followed by supplier failure.
Meta‑Survey of Procurement Professionals · August 2026
Factbook · Chapter 2
What's on
their minds
We pooled 798 professional studies and about 704,000 respondents into one question: what does the procurement profession actually care about right now? We find that concern follows lived experience, not headlines, and that the deepest weakness is sight: one in five can see their indirect spend.
Ali Soomro · Founder and CEO, Holmes AI
Former Director at Google · Former Senior Manager at McKinsey & Company · MPhil Economics, University of Cambridge
What this chapter finds
80% experienced supply chain disruption. Only 54% feel prepared
7 in 10 are short of skilled people, on two independent pools that agree
Tariffs: one of the two most-surveyed concerns, yet it pools in the bottom two of seven
81% are funding AI, and 44% name AI itself a leading risk
19% can see their indirect spend clearly. One in five has a seat at the table
The board, the middle and the desk are not worried about the same things