How AI Will Change Procurement and Knowledge Work

Spencer Penn, Co founder and CEO of LightSource, joins The Tech Trek for a sharp conversation on AI native procurement, agentic workflows, and what actually happens to knowledge work as automation gets better. This episode is worth your time because it moves past lazy takes about AI replacing jobs and gets into something more useful, how work changes, where human value holds, and why procurement may be more strategic than most companies treat it. This conversation starts with procurement, but it quickly expands into a bigger discussion about role design, change management, and the pace of AI adoption inside real companies. Spencer breaks down why some jobs get redesigned while others disappear, how AI can elevate overlooked functions, and what people should do right now if their company is behind. In this episode Why procurement is a strong fit for AI, especially where teams are buried in tedious process work The difference between job automation and job elimination Spencer’s idea of role plasticity, and why it matters more than most AI debates Why procurement teams may become more valuable, not less, as AI improves Practical ways professionals can start using AI before their company rolls out a formal strategy Timestamped highlights 00:37 What LightSource does and why direct material sourcing is a high stakes AI use case 01:51 Why procurement teams spend too much time on transactional work 06:47 Which jobs get enhanced by AI, which ones get eliminated, and Spencer’s framework for role plasticity 13:44 What the next few years could look like for procurement professionals 26:18 Where to start if your company has not adopted an AI native workflow yet 30:07 How to learn more about LightSource and connect with Spencer “AI will not replace your job. Someone who knows how to use AI will.” A practical thread running through this episode is simple. Start using the tools now. Use foundation models for secondary work, reporting, summaries, and internal communication. Build familiarity before the workflow shift gets forced on you. If you are interested in AI, procurement, operations, supply chain, or the future of knowledge work, follow The Tech Trek for more conversations like this.