# 865: Confidence, Cost, and Compliance: Insights from the Economist Impact Report W/ Gordon Donovan

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/art-of-procurement-322079/865-confidence-cost-and-compliance-insights-from-the-economist-impact-report-w-gordon-donovan
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/art-of-procurement-322079/865-confidence-cost-and-compliance-insights-from-the-economist-impact-report-w-gordon-donovan.md
Podcast: [Art of Procurement](https://stenobird.com/podcast/art-of-procurement-322079)
Published: 2026-05-11T10:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://artofprocurement.libsyn.com/865-confidence-cost-and-compliance-insights-from-the-economist-impact-report-w-gordon-donovan
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/artofprocurement/AOP_-_Gordon_Donovan_2026_AUDIO.mp3?dest-id=323169
Processing state: not_requested
JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/art-of-procurement-322079/episodes/865-confidence-cost-and-compliance-insights-from-the-economist-impact-report-w-gordon-donovan
Duration seconds: 2943

## Resource

"Right now, procurement needs to define their future role in the business. Procurement needs to drive that for themselves, because if we don't, then someone is going to drive it for us, and that could drive us out." - Gordon Donovan, Vice President Research - Procurement & External Workforce, SAP Business models are being disrupted, and so is procurement. This year's Economist Impact report reveals a sharp drop in C-suite confidence, a dramatic return to basics on cost and compliance, and AI taking center stage as both opportunity and challenge. Amid these changes, how can CPOs set a strategy that's fit for tomorrow, not just today? Gordon Donovan, VP of Research for Procurement and External Workforce at SAP, returns to the show with exclusive data and a candid view on industry shifts. Gordon breaks down what really matters in this year's survey: the operational realities behind AI, the new direction for category management, and why rethinking old processes is the only way forward. In this episode, Gordon discusses: Why procurement confidence shrank up to 18% globally The importance of zeroing in on cost and compliance as resurgent priorities Rethinking category management for a complex new landscape How to pinpoint where AI delivers and the barriers still holding teams back Why now is the time to reinvent, not just digitize Links: Gordon Donovan on LinkedIn Homepage: The Procurement Imperative 2026 Report: The Procurement Imperative Infographic: A View from the C-Suite in 2026 Subscribe to the AOP Newsletter Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube

## Actions

- request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/art-of-procurement-322079/episodes/865-confidence-cost-and-compliance-insights-from-the-economist-impact-report-w-gordon-donovan/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.
- read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/art-of-procurement-322079/865-confidence-cost-and-compliance-insights-from-the-economist-impact-report-w-gordon-donovan.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.

A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed.

## Transcript

Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.