Levelpath participated in last week’s Consero Procurement & Strategic Sourcing Forum and hosted a dynamic session on AI in procurement, featuring a conversation with Joe Havekost, Chief Procurement Officer from Western Union, and Gabe Gabaldon, Global Head of Information Technology and Cybersecurity from Nikola. Stan Garber, Co-founder and President of Levelpath, led the discussion, diving into how teams across industries are putting AI to work by moving from early experimentation to meaningful impact.

A Realistic Snapshot of AI Adoption

To kick off the session, Consero conducted a live audience poll that confirmed what many are experiencing: AI adoption in procurement is still in the early stages. While some attendees were experimenting with tools like ChatGPT or enterprise agents, others had barely begun, and that is okay. The key takeaway? AI in procurement is not one-size-fits-all, but teams are starting to explore what is possible.

Crawl, Walk, Run: The Framework for AI Maturity

To help illustrate how teams are progressing with AI, the session centered on a simple but effective framework: crawl, walk, run.

  • Crawl: Think of simple work tasks like drafting job descriptions. Joe from Western Union shared how this use case has already saved him time and stress, letting him focus on higher-value tasks.
  • Walk: Gabe from Nikola shared how his team tackled a common bottleneck in manufacturing by creating an internal AI chatbot. Team members can now ask simple questions like “What are the serial numbers for the seats in VIN 123?” and get answers instantly. A task that once took hours of manual work is now completed in seconds.
  • Run: Joe explained how he can now answer executive questions on the fly, like spend history, contract terms, or vendor alternatives, without needing to ping his team or dig through spreadsheets. By using Levelpath’s AI-powered platform, he can surface answers instantly, even during live calls with leadership.

AI in Action: Real Use Cases with Real Results

The conversation focused on tangible ways AI is creating efficiency and value across procurement. Joe’s team at Western Union uses AI to analyze vendor relationships, identify competitors, and pull contract terms without opening a document. This not only saves time but also enhances accuracy and builds trust with executives by enabling real-time answers.

In another example, Joe’s team faced a massive data cleanup challenge with 53,000 outdated vendor records. By leveraging AI and Microsoft tools, they were able to programmatically delete and clean up their VMS, completing in hours what would have otherwise taken weeks of manual effort, without any disruption.

On the manufacturing side, Gabe explained how Nikola streamlined its application ecosystem, reducing the number of tools from 440 to 107 and saving $2 million in the first year. With AI-backed tools in place, departments across the company can now self-serve critical data, easing the burden on IT and enabling faster, more informed procurement decisions.

Building Governance that Enables, Not Blocks

While AI creates efficiency, it also raises important questions about governance. Joe discussed the challenges of navigating privacy and compliance in a highly regulated fintech environment. His team worked closely with internal committees to create a safe, “walled garden” approach that still allowed innovation to thrive.

Gabe, who oversees both IT and cybersecurity at Nikola, emphasized the importance of structured governance without stifling creativity. His team does not treat AI as a separate initiative, instead, they embed it into the enterprise architecture review process, ensuring responsible deployment that drives value.

What Is Next: Prompts, Playbooks, and People

Both panelists stressed the importance of education and collaboration. Gabe’s team created a shared prompt repository to help employees get started and build confidence. They also host “brown bag” sessions to encourage experimentation and prompt sharing in a safe, peer-led environment.

Joe highlighted how AI is helping procurement earn trust across the business. With real-time answers and actionable insights, the procurement team is no longer just a cost-control function but a strategic partner.

Final Thoughts

The session wrapped with a powerful message: AI in procurement is not just about tools, it is about mindset. By starting small, sharing what works, and embedding AI into everyday workflows, procurement teams can eliminate friction, increase transparency, and deliver faster, smarter business outcomes.

We are so grateful to Consero for hosting such an engaging panel and to Joe and Gabe for sharing their stories. The journey to AI-powered procurement doesn’t require a leap, it starts with a single delightful step.

–Stan

Building on insights from our recent panel discussion at Consero, join me on Thursday, April 24th at 8:30 am PT/11:30 am ET for our 30-minute demo, “Know Before You Owe: Uncover Tariff & Inflation Risk in Contracts.” We will demonstrate how Levelpath’s AI-powered platform can help your organization proactively manage tariff, inflation, and CPI-related risks, simplify contract management, and maintain budget resilience.