Commodity trading is changing fast, but many talent strategies are still built for yesterday’s market. As digital trading, the energy transition and carbon markets reshape the sector, organisations need professionals with a hybrid mix of technical expertise, commercial insight and digital capability. Finding that talent, and retaining it, is a key competitive advantage.

The World Bank reports that carbon markets continue to expand rapidly, with carbon pricing mechanisms now covering almost a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, governments are increasing investment through carbon pricing revenues, while growing demand for high-quality carbon credits is reshaping trading opportunities despite broader price fluctuations. For commodity traders, these developments are creating complex portfolios that extend way beyond oil, gas and metals. Success, and business resilience depend on a deep understanding of environmental markets, evolving regulation, sustainability and geopolitical risk alongside trading fundamentals.

AI is significantly improving forecasting, making it easier and quicker to identify market signals and manage risk. Advanced analytics provide greater visibility into supply and demand, while cloud-based trading platforms enable faster execution and collaboration across global markets. This might seem like tech is going to replace traders, but this doesn’t appear to be the case. Recent Deloitte research shows that organisations are increasingly using AI to augment decision-making rather than automate it altogether. Human judgement and intervention remain absolutely essential when navigating volatile markets, interpreting geopolitical developments and managing commercial relationships. However, while tech isn’t running the show, tomorrow’s commodity traders will need to possess both digital skills and strong commercial instincts.

Read: How AI is redefining commodity trading. 

The rise of the hybrid specialist

Traditional commodity trading careers used to follow predictable pathways built around deep, specialist expertise in a single commodity class. Today’s market increasingly rewards professionals with broader, hybrid capabilities.

Leading employers are looking for individuals who can bring a combination of:

• Commodity market expertise
• Quantitative analysis
• Data analytics and AI literacy
• Carbon market knowledge
• Regulatory understanding
• Commercial negotiation
• Stakeholder management
• Sustainability awareness.

This is particularly evident in energy trading, where electricity markets, renewable assets, battery storage and carbon trading are becoming increasingly interconnected. So, rather than recruiting for technical expertise alone, organisations need professionals who are capable of operating across multiple disciplines.

Read: UK Procurement & Supply Chain in 2026: What’s Ahead and How to Prepare

Why the talent shortage is becoming a strategic risk

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2025 identifies analytical thinking, AI literacy, technological capability and resilience among the fastest-growing workforce requirements across industries over the next five years. It’s no surprise that commodity trading is experiencing this wider trend.

Experienced traders with digital expertise remain scarce, while professionals with carbon market experience or energy transition knowledge are urgently needed across energy companies, financial institutions, consultancies and technology firms. The result is longer recruitment cycles, increased salary pressure and greater competition for specialist talent. For many organisations, hiring has become one of the biggest – and most problematic – barriers to growth.

Why traditional recruitment approaches are falling short

Many organisations continue to recruit based on previous job titles or sector experience, which is becoming increasingly restrictive. Some of the strongest procurement and supply chain candidates may come from adjacent markets including power trading, quantitative finance, emissions trading, risk management or digital transformation. Likewise, professionals with transferable commercial and analytical skills can often outperform candidates with longer sector experience but narrower capability.

Organisations that continue to hire only like-for-like replacements risk reinforcing existing capability gaps rather than preparing for future markets. Forward-looking commodity trading businesses are now taking a capability-led approach to recruitment. So, rather than asking whether candidates have held an identical role before, they are asking whether individuals have the skills needed to succeed in a rapidly changing (and often volatile) market. That means assessing digital capability, adaptability, commercial judgement and learning agility alongside technical expertise. It also means broadening talent pools beyond traditional networks.

We’ve written a great deal in this blog about how diverse teams consistently outperform homogeneous ones when solving complex problems, managing uncertainty and driving innovation. These qualities are now essential in modern commodity trading.

Key takeaways: how to build a talent strategy for the next generation of commodity trading

To remain competitive, businesses should:

• Recruit for future capability, not just previous experience, prioritising learning agility alongside technical expertise.
• Look beyond traditional trading backgrounds to identify professionals with transferable analytical, digital and commercial skills.
• Develop hybrid teams that combine market knowledge, technology, sustainability and regulatory expertise.
• Invest in continuous learning, ensuring existing teams build the skills required for AI, carbon markets and the energy transition.
• Partner with a specialist commodity trading and procurement recruitment consultancy. The right recruitment partner understands how trading roles are changing and has access to talent that extends beyond traditional candidate pools. By combining deep market knowledge with an inclusive, capability-led approach to search, specialist recruiters can identify professionals with the technical expertise, commercial judgement and adaptability needed to succeed in rapidly evolving markets.

We’d love to help you find the top commodity trading talent to help take your business forward. Contact our team today to find out more. 

Neurodiversity has become a familiar word in workplace conversations, but familiarity hasn’t translated into action. 

Only 36% of UK employers currently have a neurodiversity policy, and fewer than four in ten reference it in their DEI strategy at all. Meanwhile, an estimated one in five people in the UK is neurodivergent, meaning most teams already include colleagues who think, process and work differently, whether or not that’s ever been discussed.

The gap isn’t really about awareness anymore. It’s about follow-through. Deloitte’s 2025/26 research found that neuroinclusive organisations are 75% more likely to see ideas progress from concept to product,  a clear business case for getting this right. Yet 51% of neurodivergent employees have taken time off work because of their condition, often a sign adjustments weren’t in place. And while 78–80% of senior leaders feel confident supporting neurodivergent staff, only around a third of employees feel safe disclosing, or trust adjustments will actually happen. That confidence gap is where good intentions quietly fail.

The employment figures make the stakes clearer still. Only 34% of autistic adults in the UK are in work, versus 82% of non-disabled people, despite 77% of unemployed autistic people saying they want to work. Employees with ADHD are twice as likely to lose their job as those without it. These aren’t ability gaps. They’re environment gaps.

To understand what genuinely helpful support looks like, we spoke to Charlotte Wales, an experienced Head of Procurement who is also neurodivergent (ADHD and autistic). Here are some of the highlights from that conversation.

In Conversation with Charlotte Wales

What is it about procurement that makes neurodivergent thinking such an asset?

“Neurodivergency is a different way of perceiving things. We’ll come at the same problem with a different lens and ask, ‘why aren’t we doing this?’ without the embarrassment of breaking a social norm. That generates real conversations about improvement. There’s also a lot of pattern recognition, spotting a thread, predicting an outcome, seeing a problem coming down the path, which is hugely valuable in procurement.”

Can you share a time you felt unsupported at work because of how your brain works?

“I remember a time in a previous job when we moved to an open-plan office built around a social breakout area. Even with headphones on, the visual distraction pulled me straight out of focus and I had 74-page contracts to read and challenge. I asked for a small quiet corner, nothing elaborate, just some partition screens. The response was, ‘You shouldn’t need that.’ It wasn’t malicious at all; it was purely a lack of awareness but it meant I ended up working from home far more, which then raised its own questions.”

What’s the one thing a manager could have done differently?

“The most beneficial thing I’ve experienced is a manager disclosing that they’re also neurodivergent. It cuts through the constant pressure to justify or explain myself. My current manager told me early on: assume I’m not angry with you unless I say so. That single sentence removed so much anxiety from every interaction.”

Are there frameworks or resources you’d point managers toward?

“Honestly, I’d steer away from generic HR checklists — they fall into the same trap that boxed neurodivergent people out in the first place: standardisation. Start with a real conversation. Ask what someone finds easy and what they find hard. I once wrote my manager a short deck on my ADHD, my key strengths and weaknesses, and how each shows up day to day. That did more than any policy document could.”

What’s a small, practical thing that makes a big difference?

“Never put a meeting in my diary without saying what it’s about — that’s genuinely stressful, even for colleagues with no diagnosis at all. I now always message people first with the topic and framing. Then they can prepare, instead of walking in wondering what they’ve done wrong.”

Practical Tips for Managers

Drawing on Charlotte’s experience, a few starting points for any manager who wants to move from good intentions to genuine support:

• Have the conversation, not the checklist. Ask each person what they find easy and hard. Generic policies rarely fit the individual in front of you.
• Be transparent about meetings. Always share context when booking time — what it’s about and why. Ambiguity creates unnecessary anxiety.
• Protect focus time. Quiet space, flexible location, or headphone-friendly norms can be the difference between a productive day and a wasted one.
• Say the quiet part out loud. If comfortable, share your own working style or neurodivergence — it builds trust and gives others permission to be open too.
• Match the format to the person. Some thrive with varied, gamified tasks; others need fewer, longer sessions. Ask, don’t assume.

None of this requires a big budget, but it does require managers willing to ask, listen, and adjust, treating neurodivergent colleagues not as a compliance issue, but as individuals whose different way of thinking is often exactly what the team needs.

Further Reading for Managers and HR

Free, credible guidance for employers:

• Acas – Neurodiversity at work – reasonable adjustments and inclusive management.
• CIPD – Neuroinclusion at work – research-backed guides on recruitment and HR practice.
• National Autistic Society – For Employers – training and resources for supporting autistic staff.
• ADHD Foundation – training for building ADHD-friendly workplaces.
• Access to Work (gov.uk) – government grants that fund workplace adjustments.

Inclusion Matters at Bramwith

At Bramwith, we believe the best procurement teams are built on different ways of thinking, not despite them. Supporting neurodiversity isn’t a box-ticking exercise for us, it shapes how we run candidate conversations and the advice we give clients on building genuinely inclusive teams. If you’re an employer wanting to attract and retain neurodivergent talent, or a candidate looking for a workplace that gets it, we’d love to talk.

With thanks to Charlotte Wales for sharing her experience and insight.

Conversations about diversity in procurement often focus on supplier programmes and external commitments. Fewer people discuss what diversity looks like inside the function itself: who organisations hire, promote, and sponsor into senior roles.

We spoke to Saffron Demel Espeute, a senior procurement professional and founder of Black in Procurement. She explains what’s driving the representation gap at senior levels and what organisations can practically do to close it.

Founding Black in Procurement

I started my procurement career in 2019. There were Black professionals and senior figures in the profession, but I couldn’t find a space to connect with them easily beyond LinkedIn — nowhere to build a mentoring relationship or seek guidance.

When I speak to other Black professionals in procurement, I hear the same thing. It’s not an absence of people — it’s an absence of connection. That’s what led me to found Black in Procurement in 2021. I wanted a space where Black professionals could find each other, learn from each other, and see themselves reflected in the profession at every level. Alongside my day job, I run it as a community focused on connection, education, and inspiration.

What Black in Procurement Stands For

Black in Procurement is a UK-based professional network for Black professionals in procurement and supply chain. We exist to connect, educate, and inspire. Our goal is to make the profession more accessible and visible, whether someone is just starting out or progressing into senior roles. We do that through community building, a mentoring programme pairing professionals across experience levels, and spaces where people can share openly.

BIP is different: the community built it, for the community. It isn’t a corporate initiative or a diversity programme, it’s procurement professionals choosing to support each other.

Barriers to Senior Procurement Roles

Visibility and access. If you can’t see people who look like you at senior levels, it’s harder to believe those roles are within reach. It’s also harder to find the mentors and sponsors who can help you get there. That reflects a real structural gap in who has access to the informal networks that drive career progression.

Sponsorship goes further than mentoring. It’s someone putting their name behind yours in a room you’re not in. Black professionals are often over-mentored and under-sponsored — given advice, but not actively advocated for when opportunities arise.

These barriers are structural, not personal. It isn’t the responsibility of individuals to dismantle them. The work needs to happen in organisations and in wider society.

The Diversity Say-Do Gap in Procurement

Organisations often cite their supplier diversity programmes or D&I commitments externally. Internally, though, the procurement function often remains largely homogeneous, especially at senior levels.

There’s a tendency to manage diversity externally, through supply chain decisions, rather than live it internally — through who gets hired, promoted, and developed. The two aren’t mutually exclusive, but focusing on one while neglecting the other means organisations overlook internal talent.

Some organisations invest heavily in unconscious bias training and listening sessions. But they don’t follow through with the structural changes that actually shift outcomes: diverse interview panels, transparent promotion criteria, sponsorship programmes, and leadership accountability for representation data.

Practical Steps to Close the Procurement Diversity Gap

Start with the data. An exec I once worked with said “what gets measured gets done,” and that holds true more often than not. Look at your function by level, ethnicity, promotion rate, and attrition. Then look at your progression pipeline, not just your intake — diverse hiring at entry level means nothing if the pathways upward stay closed.

One of the most underestimated steps is diverse interview panels. I experienced this firsthand interviewing for a central government role. Panels there had to be diverse unless there was a specific, documented reason otherwise. Seeing a panel that looked representative of the workforce I was about to join changed the entire experience. When I got the job, I made it my mission to sit on as many panels as I could. I wanted every candidate to feel they were walking into a workforce that was genuinely inclusive, not just on paper.

Finally, invest in and promote your people networks. People with a genuine, lived interest build these communities to reach, support, and develop the people they represent. Organisations can learn an enormous amount from them. But they need to give these networks the resources, platform, and autonomy to do what HR departments don’t always have the bandwidth for. Feature them in recruitment materials, onboarding, and external communications — make them visible before someone even accepts the offer.

Bramwith’s Commitment to DEI in Procurement

Bramwith Consulting is proud to support the conversation Saffron and Black in Procurement are driving. Representation in procurement doesn’t change through external commitments alone — it changes through who organisations hire, promote, and sponsor. This interview is part of our ongoing Leadership Series spotlighting the people shaping the future of procurement and supply chain.

For pharmaceutical companies, retaining experienced supply chain employees is much more valuable than avoiding another recruitment process. A planner who understands the company’s specific inventory requirements, a procurement specialist who has strong relationships with key suppliers, or a supply chain lead who’s spent years managing quality, compliance and production requirements has knowledge that’s hard to replace.

The US pharmaceutical manufacturing workforce is projected to grow. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects employment in pharmaceutical and medicine manufacturing to rise from 350,500 jobs in 2024 to 369,500 in 2034, an increase of 19,000 jobs and a 5% growth rate. Across production occupations, nearly 1 million openings are expected each year, largely due to workers retiring.

When you’re competing for experienced talent, this makes the overall employment proposition increasingly important. And offering 401(k) benefits is an excellent way to improve the package you offer.

A 401(k) is far more than a standard benefit

401(k) plans are a common part of US employment packages, but the value they offer can vary considerably. Employer matching is also common, meaning two otherwise similar roles might offer quite different retirement benefits. For an experienced procurement and supply chain professional comparing two similar roles, that difference could be a deciding factor. Offering a 401(k) is not enough. The plan needs to be competitive with packages available elsewhere in the market.

Two roles might offer similar salaries, but a stronger retirement contribution can increase the overall value of a package over time. That makes the match worth discussing alongside salary when recruiting experienced professionals, and making sure the benefit is clear to current employees. If your contribution is buried in benefits-related documentation, its value may be missed or forgotten about. 

Plan design matters 

Providing a 401(k) does not automatically mean employees will make the most of it. Features such as automatic enrolment can remove the need for employees to take the first administrative step themselves, a move which is associated with higher participation rates. Plan design matters just as much as plan availability. A well-structured benefit can make it easier for employees to participate and build retirement savings.

Retirement benefits should be complemented by pay and progression

A competitive 401(k) can be a great employee benefit, but it’s not a substitute for competitive pay, manageable workloads or meaningful progression opportunities. Retention is ultimately about the whole employment proposition. That could mean combining competitive pay and retirement benefits with career development, technical training and clear routes into more senior supply chain, procurement and operations roles. The aim is not to use a 401(k) to keep someone in a role they no longer want. It’s to build a package that gives experienced employees compelling reasons to stay.

Discover: Building Procurement Teams That Last: Retention Strategies for a Competitive Market.

Make the 401(k) part of the retention strategy

When you’re competing for pharmaceutical expertise, retirement benefits deserve more attention than a tick box on a standard benefits list. Benchmarking the employer contribution, plan design and wider benefits against competing employers helps identify where the employment proposition is strong, and where it may be making it harder to attract or retain experienced procurement and supply chain talent.

A 401(k) won’t solve a talent shortage on its own, and it cannot compensate for uncompetitive pay or limited career opportunities. But when it forms part of a strong employment proposition, it can add real long-term value for employees and strengthen the overall retention proposition, not to mention your brand.

Read: From Transferable Skills to Tick Boxes: The Hidden Cost of Narrow Procurement Hiring.

Why specialist recruiters still matter

As well as offering a compelling and competitive employment package, you need to find the right procurement and supply chain talent in the first place. This is where specialist recruitment partners like Bramwith add value. In a nutshell, our team can: 

• Understand the specialist skills required: Pharmaceutical supply chain roles can span regulated manufacturing, quality, supplier management, procurement, demand planning and logistics. We know how to distinguish relevant industry experience from more generic transferable skills.
• Benchmark the full employment package: We can provide expert insight into market expectations around base salary, bonuses, 401(k) contributions, flexibility, career progression and other benefits that can influence an experienced candidate’s decision.
• Use market intelligence to strengthen retention: Recruitment should do more than simply fill vacancies. Understanding what competitors offer helps employers build an employment proposition that attracts the right expertise and gives experienced employees more reasons to stay (and recommend you to peers).
• Support both recruitment and retention: The right recruitment partner can help pharmaceutical companies identify scarce supply chain talent while providing the market insight needed to compete for and retain it.

If this sounds like what you and your business need, get in touch today. We’d love to help. 

Today’s supply chains require much more than cost optimisation. Resilience, geopolitical alignment and speed-to-market are completely reshaping how businesses design networks, globally. As a result, nearshoring, friendshoring and regional diversification strategies are now part of operational reality. Beyond trade flows and footprint redesign, the supply chain talent map is changing rapidly, so how do recruitment approaches need to change to secure and retain the top talent and stay competitive? 

Prioritising resilience over profits

Over the past decade, global supply chains have been optimised for efficiency and cost. That model is now being actively unwound and reimagined. Recent analysis shows that organisations are increasingly prioritising resilience over short-term profitability, with supply chains reconfigured to reduce exposure to geopolitical risk and external shocks.

Nearshoring and friendshoring are central to this repositioning. Companies are moving production and sourcing closer to end markets, or into politically aligned regions to improve supply continuity, shorten lead times, mitigate risk and strengthen supplier network oversight.

Nearshoring, defined as relocating production or services to nearby countries within the same region, is gaining popularity because it offers shorter transport routes, improved collaboration and greater regulatory alignment. Friendshoring extends this logic further by prioritising trade with politically and economically aligned countries.

Evidence suggests these strategies are not simply reversing globalisation; they’re creating denser and more complex networks of interdependent supply chains across trusted regions. One 2026 structural analysis of global supply chain policy found that friendshoring can actually increase network connectivity between aligned countries, rather than reduce overall global complexity. In other words, supply chains are not becoming simpler, they’re becoming complex in a different way, and this change has direct consequences for procurement and supply chain capability.

Procurement teams are reconfiguring 

As supply chains regionalise, procurement teams need to evolve in structure, skills and geographic footprint. These teams now deliver strategic resilience, supplier diversification and cross-border risk management as core competencies, rather than secondary skills. We’ve noticed that this shift is already driving three changes in talent demand:

1. Regional procurement capability is becoming essential. Organisations are building local or semi-local procurement hubs in nearshore markets to manage supplier relationships more effectively and respond faster to risk and disruption.
2. Category expertise is becoming more geographically distributed. Rather than centralised global teams managing all sourcing decisions, organisations are embedding category specialists within regional operating models.
3. Risk and compliance capability is moving to the core of procurement roles. This is particularly the case where friendshoring introduces new regulatory frameworks, trade requirements and supplier governance expectations.

AI, analytics and supply chain intelligence

According to Gartner’s recent research, demand for supply chain positions requiring AI capabilities increased by 387% between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2026, significantly outpacing growth across the wider labour market. This matters because nearshoring and friendshoring strategies are data-heavy by design. They require:

1. Real-time supplier visibility across multiple regions
2. Scenario modelling for cost and risk trade-offs
3. Digital supplier onboarding and compliance tracking
4. Predictive analytics for demand and disruption management

Procurement professionals are now expected to interpret and act on these complex datasets, as well as execute sourcing strategies. The talent that’s most in-demand needs to bring both commercial procurement expertise and digital and analytical fluency to the table. The challenge is that demand is currently outpacing available capability

The procurement and supply chain market in the last few years has been defined by strong demand for strategic and transformation-focused professionals, particularly at mid-to-senior levels, alongside persistent shortages in key capability areas. This imbalance is now intensified by the structural shift to regional operating models. Many organisations are now hiring simultaneously across multiple geographies, often competing for the same limited pool of experienced procurement and supply chain professionals who understand both global strategy and local execution. This means longer hiring cycles and increased competition to attract and retain the top talent.

Discover: Is your procurement team AI-ready? 

What does this mean for procurement hiring? 

Traditional, centralised hiring models are no longer aligned with how supply chains are being built. Organisations that continue to recruit for static, headquarters-based procurement roles risk falling behind those that are building flexible, regionally-embedded and digitally-enabled teams.

The definition of what constitutes the right candidate is also changing. Employers are increasingly prioritising candidates who can operate across fragmented supply networks, navigate regional nuance and complexity and leverage a wide variety of digital tools to manage risk and performance.

Key takeaways: building talent for regionalised supply chains 

To respond effectively, procurement leaders should consider focusing on the following:

1. Redesign procurement operating models around regions, not headquarters.
2. Build capability closer to suppliers and end markets where decisions are made faster and with better context.
3. Work with specialist, inclusive recruitment partners. Partner with recruiters who understand procurement in depth and can map capability across regions, not just fill roles. The best inclusive recruiters don’t just present candidates; they identify overlooked talent pools, reduce bias in shortlisting and ensure organisations are matched with professionals who genuinely fit both the technical and cultural demands of regional operating models.
4. Hire for hybrid capability, not just category expertise
5. Prioritise professionals who combine procurement knowledge with data literacy, digital tools and risk awareness.
6. Develop regional talent pipelines early on.
7. Invest in building local or nearshore procurement capability rather than relying solely on relocation or central hiring.
8. Embed digital and AI capability into core hiring criteria

The geography of supply chains is changing, and so is the geography of talent. Contact our team today to find out how we can help you recruit the right procurement and supply chain talent for your business.

Read: Building procurement teams that last. 

Across Germany, Austria and Switzerland, procurement leaders continue to invest heavily in digital transformation, particularly advanced analytics and AI-enabled sourcing tools. Yet, despite strong industrial foundations and advanced manufacturing ecosystems, the DACH region is lagging in procurement digital maturity. This isn’t due to a lack of technology, but a shortage of talent able to implement, interpret and embed it effectively.

Organisations are shifting their focus from standalone technology adoption to workforce capability as the primary driver of digital transformation success. Digital tools are widely available, but adoption is uneven due to gaps in skills, data literacy and change management readiness and capability. 

Why is the DACH procurement model under pressure?

Procurement in DACH is undergoing structural pressure from three directions. First, global supply chain volatility has increased demand for real-time decision-making and scenario planning. Static procurement processes simply aren’t sufficient in environments that are defined by disruption. Second, regulatory and ESG requirements are expanding rapidly across EU markets, requiring more sophisticated data tracking, supplier transparency and compliance reporting. Third, competitors, particularly in Northern Europe and North America, are advancing more quickly in AI-enabled procurement, automation, and predictive analytics.

Digital adoption in traditionally strong industrial regions often lags behind ambition due to skills shortages and uneven capability development across organisations. So, the real bottleneck is procurement talent, not technology; specifically, the shortage of professionals who can translate digital outputs into commercial decisions. 

We can see this trend presenting in three key gaps:

1. Data literacy: Procurement teams are not always equipped to interpret advanced analytics outputs or integrate them into sourcing strategy.
2. Digital fluency: Many professionals lack confidence working with AI-enabled procurement platforms or automation tools.
3. Change leadership: Transformation requires behavioural and organisational change, not just system implementation.

Without these capabilities, digital investments risk becoming underutilised. Adapting hiring strategies is now one of the most effective ways to remedy this, and organisations in the DACH region are increasingly competing for hybrid talent profiles that combine procurement expertise with digital, analytical and transformation capabilities, particularly in mid-to-senior transformation roles. However, this is particularly challenging in DACH markets, where experienced procurement talent is highly valued, digital-native procurement professionals are still relatively scarce, and competition from consulting, tech and manufacturing sectors is – to say the least – intense.

Read: The hidden costs of narrow recruitment hiring. 

What good procurement talent looks like now

High-performing procurement professionals are increasingly defined by their ability to:

• Work confidently with data analytics and digital dashboards
• Translate insights into commercial and sourcing strategy
• Manage supplier ecosystems through digital platforms
• Lead cross-functional transformation initiatives
• Operate across both traditional procurement and digital environments

Notably, the above are not purely technical skills but hybrid capabilities that combine procurement expertise with analytical thinking and change leadership. Organisations that continue to recruit purely for traditional procurement experience risk reinforcing the very capability gap they are trying to close.

Discover: Is your procurement team AI ready?

Why internal upskilling alone is not enough

Many organisations are responding to the talent gap by investing in internal training and upskilling programmes. While essential, these initiatives alone are not sufficient to close the gap in the short- to medium-term. The pace of digital transformation is outpacing the speed at which existing teams can be retrained, so organisations are adopting a dual approach: developing internal talent while also bringing in externally experienced professionals with hands-on experience in digital procurement environments. This is particularly important in the DACH region, where competitive and regulatory pressures compress transformation timelines.

Key takeaways: how to build digital procurement in DACH

To move forward effectively, organisations should focus on:

1. Hiring for hybrid capability, not just procurement experience.
2. Prioritise candidates with proven exposure to digital, data, and transformation.
3. Building structured digital procurement skill pathways.
4. Invest in data literacy, analytics training and AI tool adoption across teams.
5. Bringing in transformation-ready external talent.
6. Supplement internal teams with professionals who have already delivered digital procurement change.
7. Shift from process execution to insight-led, data-driven decision-making.
8. Working with specialist procurement recruiters who understand digital capability, who can identify candidates beyond traditional procurement networks and assess digital readiness, not just category expertise. 

The team at Bramwith have an unrivalled network of contacts across the DACH region and worldwide. This includes top digital transformation talent across all levels of procurement and supply chain. Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business. 

Procurement has always been about making the right decisions. Who are the best companies to partner with? Where to invest. How to balance cost, risk, and long-term value. But the context around those decisions has changed.

Today’s procurement teams continue to grapple with global supply chain disruption, ESG scrutiny, digital transformation, and ever-changing stakeholder expectations. In this environment, homogenous teams struggle to keep up. Diverse procurement teams don’t just look different. They think differently. And that difference shows up in the quality of decisions they make.

Our latest research explores this in much more depth. But the wider market data is already pointing in the same direction.

Better business decisions start with broader perspectives

Procurement is about making the right judgments under pressure. At any given time, you’re simultaneously assessing supplier risk, negotiating contracts, and anticipating future challenges, often with incomplete information or relying on guesswork and hypotheses. Teams that offer a broader range of perspectives are simply better equipped to do that well.

Diverse teams are more likely to challenge assumptions rather than default to the status quo. They can identify risks that others might overlook, and build more authentic, empathetic relationships with a wider supplier base. They also tend to spot opportunities earlier, particularly in fast-moving or unfamiliar markets.

Recent data confirms this: A 2023–2024 McKinsey analysis found that companies in the top quartile for ethnic diversity are 39% more likely to outperform financially, reinforcing the link between diverse thinking and better business outcomes. Diverse teams aren’t just a cultural advantage. They provide significant commercial value, too

Procurement feels the impact faster

In procurement and supply chain, the impact of decision quality is immediate. A narrow supplier network increases risk. A lack of cultural awareness can weaken negotiations and alienate potential partners and suppliers. Blind spots in due diligence can create compliance issues that surface later, often at considerable cost. 

Diverse teams mitigate these risks earlier in the process. They take a more holistic view of supplier risk, including ESG and geopolitical factors. They engage more effectively with stakeholders across regions and cultures. And they build supply networks that are not only broader, but also more resilient and adaptable.

The data behind better decision-making

The link between diversity and performance isn’t theoretical. It’s been tested across industries, geographies, and operating models – and the findings are remarkably consistent.

Some of the most relevant data points include:

• 25% more likely to outperform with gender-diverse leadership: A McKinsey report found that organisations with high gender diversity at the executive level are more likely to achieve above-average profitability.
  Why it matters: Leadership diversity shapes procurement strategy and governance, influencing how decisions are made across the function.
  
• 1.7x higher likelihood of being innovation leaders
  A survey by Deloitte revealed that organisations with inclusive cultures are significantly more likely to lead in innovation.
  Why it matters: Innovation in procurement often comes from rethinking suppliers, processes, and value creation. All of which benefit from diverse perspectives.
  
  
• 76% of employees (86% of Gen Z) are more likely to stay in inclusive organisations
  A recent study by Catalyst and NYU School of Law Meltzer Center revealed employees are significantly more likely to remain with organisations that actively support DEI.
  Why it matters: Retention strengthens procurement capability, preserves supplier relationships, and reduces the cost and disruption of turnover.
  

As well as reinforcing the case for diversity, these figures highlight something more fundamental. Better decisions don’t happen by chance. They happen when different perspectives are actively included in the process.

Innovation comes from difference, not agreement

Let’s debunk the persistent myth that high-performing teams are those that align quickly. However, the opposite is often true. The best procurement teams aren’t the fastest to agree. They’re the ones willing to debate, test ideas, and pressure-test decisions before committing. Diverse teams create that dynamic naturally.

Different lived experiences and perspectives lead to more robust discussions. In the end, this leads to stronger outcomes. In procurement, that might mean challenging a long-term supplier, rethinking cost strategies to include ESG, or identifying entirely new routes to market.

Representation builds trust 

Decision-making relies on trust. When teams are visibly diverse and inclusive, that trust is easier to build.

Internally, representation increases engagement, confidence, and psychological safety. People are more likely to contribute ideas, challenge decisions, and step into leadership pathways. Externally, it matters just as much. Suppliers – particularly diverse or underrepresented businesses – are more likely to engage with organisations where they see themselves reflected. That opens up access to new markets, new ideas, and stronger partnerships, while also supporting ESG goals and stakeholder expectations.

The talent equation is changing

If the performance case wasn’t enough, the talent market is adding further urgency. Gen Z and Millennial professionals now expect diversity, equity, and inclusion to be embedded, not optional. They are actively choosing employers based on these factors. For procurement functions, that has direct implications.

Retention, recruitment costs, and long-term capability all depend on whether organisations can meet these expectations. Those who don’t, risk losing the very talent needed to drive transformation.

Read: How to attract and retain Gen Z talent. 

Turning intent into action

Progress doesn’t require perfection. It requires intention and follow-through. That might mean setting clear DEI goals linked to procurement KPIs, expanding supplier diversity programmes, or rethinking hiring criteria so you prioritise skills over traditional and outdated pathways.

It also means working with the right partners, including inclusive recruitment specialists like Bramwith. Creating diverse procurement teams doesn’t happen by chance. It comes from intentional hiring strategies, broader talent networks, and a recruitment approach that looks beyond the usual profiles.

Our team works closely with procurement and supply chain organisations globally, connecting businesses with the top talent from a wider, more varied pool. That includes professionals from different sectors, backgrounds, and career pathways who may not always appear in traditional pipelines. Our focus isn’t just on filling roles, but on strengthening teams: improving decision-making capability, broadening perspective, and supporting long-term performance through better balance and representation.

For organisations serious about embedding diversity into procurement, it starts with who they hire and how they hire them.

To explore the full insights, data, and practical recommendations, read our report on Making DEI Work in Recruitment.

And if you’re looking to build a more diverse, future-ready procurement team, contact the team at Bramwith today. We can help you find the right people to prepare your business for the future. 

It seems like only yesterday that digital transformation was the buzzword that made everyone nod seriously in meetings, while quietly hoping it didn’t mean too many new logins and compliance-related webinars. Now the conversation has moved on to Artificial Intelligence, and more specifically, are you actually AI-ready, or just AI-curious?

While everyone has been busy experimenting with generative AI and automation tools, the gap between trying AI and using it well in procurement is rapidly widening. Recent developments across a raft of platforms have pushed the technology deeper into sourcing, contract analysis and spend visibility. Meanwhile, “agentic AI” (systems that don’t just assist but actually execute tasks) has started showing up in conversations across procurement tech. 

With increasing regulatory pressure from frameworks like the EU AI Act and expanding guidance from government agencies around AI risk management, AI is now firmly part of the procurement and supply chain infrastructure.

So how do you know if you and your procurement team are ready for it? Let’s take a look. 

AI readiness is about identifying and using the right tools

A common misconception is that AI readiness is the same as choosing the right tech and tools. Most procurement teams already have access to some form of AI through their existing platforms. The real question is whether they’re set up to use it meaningfully and understand how its capabilities can improve ways of working.

AI-ready procurement teams tend to show a few common traits:

• They trust data enough to act on it, not just review it
• They’re comfortable challenging system outputs rather than accepting them as truth
• They understand where automation stops and human judgment is needed
• They actively redesign processes instead of just digitising old ones

This is the approach that leading organisations are moving toward in procurement transformation programmes.

Read: How AI is redefining commodity trading. 

AI-readiness self-assessment

You don’t need a complex maturity model to know if you’re AI-ready. A better starting point is to look at these four simple areas.

1. Data discipline

Is your procurement data clean, connected and consistently used? Or is it still spread across ERPs, emails and the ubiquitous Excel file named “FINAL_final_absolutely_FINAL_v12”?

Always remember that AI is only as good as the data it learns from. Fragmented data doesn’t just slow AI down; it actively misleads it.

2. Process clarity

If your sourcing process changes depending on who is running it, AI will struggle to standardise anything. The more inconsistent your workflows, the more “AI assistance” becomes guesswork rather than optimisation.

3. Skills confidence

Do your teams understand what AI is actually doing when it suggests a supplier, flags a risk or drafts a contract clause? 

We know from conversations with clients and from industry insights that there’s a growing skills gap across procurement functions, particularly around interpreting AI-generated insights rather than simply consuming them.

4. Governance maturity

With frameworks like the EU AI Act moving into enforcement phases and enterprise risk teams taking a closer interest in AI usage, procurement cannot operate in isolation. If you don’t have clear guidance on how AI is used, reviewed and escalated, you’re exposed, whether you realise it or not.

Building AI capability without overengineering it

The good news is that becoming AI-ready doesn’t require a full system overhaul. In fact, most successful organisations are taking a much more pragmatic approach. The first step is to start small, but deliberately, and with the specific needs of your business and its people in mind. 

1. Fix one process, not everything

Choose a single high-friction area, like supplier onboarding or spend classification, and redesign it with AI support in mind. Don’t retrofit AI onto a broken process. Rebuild the process with AI as a participant.

2. Upskill around interpretation, not coding

Procurement professionals don’t need to become data scientists. But they do need to know how to interrogate outputs, question anomalies and understand when an AI recommendation doesn’t feel right.

3. Create room for human intervention

As automation increases, so does the need for structured human oversight and checkpoints. The best prepared teams are already integrating explicit review points into processes where AI outputs are challenged, not automatically approved.

4. Align with enterprise AI governance

Most large organisations are now aligning with structured AI risk frameworks to help ensure transparency and accountability. New compliance regulations are springing up all the time, and this will likely be an ongoing trend for years to come. The best approach is to be prepared and ensure you have access to the talent that can help you tackle the challenges and remain compliant.

Read: How to close procurement and supply chain talent gaps. 

Where Bramwith fits in

This shift is also reshaping the search for the top procurement and supply chain talent. AI readiness is becoming a hiring criterion in its own right, not just a technical skill but a behavioural one. 

At Bramwith, we’re seeing more and more organisations prioritising candidates who can operate comfortably in hybrid environments where human judgement and AI-driven insight work happily in tandem. That means curiosity, adaptability and a willingness to challenge outputs rather than accept them at face value. Procurement teams don’t need to become AI experts overnight. But they do need to become AI-literate enough to stay in control of the decisions that matter.

Talk to us today to find out how we can help you build a team that is ready for whatever the future holds. 

There has been a noticeable shift in how procurement talent is sourced and assessed. What was once a function genuinely open to transferable skills and fresh commercial perspectives has, in many cases, become a search for near-identical profiles.

When I started recruiting in the procurement market over eight years ago, transferable skills were genuinely valued. Hiring managers were open to meeting strong candidates from different sectors, people who could bring fresh thinking, different ways of working, and proven commercial capability. Today, that openness has narrowed considerably.

In many cases, the market has shifted towards a far more risk-averse approach. Too often, businesses are looking for someone who has done the exact same role, in the exact same industry, at a broadly similar organisation.

On paper, that can feel like the prudent option. In practice, it can be significantly limiting.

The Case for Capability Over Category Match

If you only hire from the same talent pool, you miss out on new ideas, broader perspectives, and different approaches that create genuine commercial value. Some of the strongest procurement leaders we have worked with built their careers precisely by taking what worked in one environment and applying it to improve another.

The ability to transfer commercial capability across categories and sectors is not a weakness in a candidate profile. In many cases, it is a strength.

This is especially relevant as procurement and supply chain functions face growing pressure to drive sustainable value, navigate complex risk environments, and lead on ESG and digital transformation. These challenges reward adaptability and strategic thinking qualities that are not sector-specific.

The Time Cost That Is Often Overlooked

There is also a practical hiring reality that businesses frequently underestimate. The more specific and narrow the brief, the smaller the available talent pool and the longer it takes to find someone who meets every requirement.

Extended hiring processes carry a real cost: missed opportunities, added pressure on existing teams, and delayed progress on critical procurement initiatives. All of this in pursuit of a “perfect” candidate who may not exist, or who has no compelling reason to move.

That last point matters. Procurement professionals already doing the same role elsewhere are being asked to move company to do more of what they are already doing. Without a clear step up, a stronger package, or a genuinely compelling opportunity, motivation to make that move is limited. Narrow briefs can inadvertently produce a weaker shortlist, not a stronger one.

Something Worth Reflecting On

It is worth noting that some of the same hiring managers who insist on sector-specific experience when building their teams are often the first to emphasise how transferable their own skills are when they are exploring their next move.

If you expect the market to recognise the value of what you bring beyond a category or sector match should you not be prepared to offer the same consideration to the candidates sitting across from you? Would you want your own hiring process to reflect the standard you would hope to experience as a candidate?

Hiring for Capability in a Competitive Market

Procurement has always been a function built on adaptability, stakeholder management, problem solving, and commercial impact. Those qualities are transferable and the organisations willing to recognise that and hire for capability rather than a precise sector or category match will access stronger talent, introduce fresh thinking, as well as gain a meaningful advantage over competitors still fishing in the same pool.

Every hire carries an element of risk but narrowing your options too far is often the biggest risk of all.

Key Takeaways for Procurement and Supply Chain Hiring Managers

• Risk-averse hiring briefs are shrinking the available talent pool and extending time-to-hire.
• Transferable skills, commercial acumen, stakeholder influence, adaptability, are core procurement competencies, not compromises.
• Candidates already performing the same role elsewhere need a compelling reason to move. Lateral same-sector moves can limit motivation and shortlist quality.
• Organisations that hire for capability and potential, not just category match, consistently access a stronger, more diverse pipeline.
• Specialist procurement recruitment guidance helps businesses strike the right balance between specific experience and broader commercial capability.

If you are looking to build your procurement or supply chain team and want to think differently about how you approach talent, get in touch. We would be happy to help.