AI possibilities in business process development : a case study in public procurement

Abstract

AI has a variety of possibilities in business process development. This study examines the potential of AI in a case study that focuses on business process development in public procurement. AI is not yet widely utilized in procurement, however organizations have awakened to recognizing AI as a valuable tool with a combination of human interaction. The demand for procurement professionals has increased worldwide although there is misalignment with their availability. Therefore, improving efficiency is a necessity. In current literature, there is a lack of studies identifying the capabilities of AI. Previous research has identified that AI is being deployed also in public organizations to achieve efficiency, speed and cost reduction albeit studies considering also competitive tendering are rare. This research aims to formulate insight into AI utilization relying on an integrated literature review and empirical data with semi-structured interviews as the main data collection method. There are also empirical data collection with AI testing and statistical data gathered from the procurement process. Data analysis is conducted by summarizing and categorizing and using narratives to elaborate insights of meanings behind. The results illustrate how AI can be applied widely in procurement, issues to consider in deployment, possible AI solutions, and impact of AI. There are presented 62 concrete arguments of use cases and data protection as well as data privacy and dataset quality are seen as essential factors to consider in deployment and generally in choosing a solution. The same kind of problems are faced by other organizations which makes the findings wider utilizable.