S3.E8. Has Procurement got..Easier? 1990s CIPS v 2026 CIPS

Send us Fan MailA listener asks a simple question that every procurement professional should take personally: what can we do right now to stay future-proof over the next five years? Our first instinct is to joke about AI hype and quitting to “find yourself”, but the real answer sits underneath the banter: the best way to future-proof your procurement career is to build durable skills that survive new tools, new job titles, and the next wave of “must-have” tech.Then we do something oddly practical for a show full of chaos, we open up CIPS past papers from the mid-1990s and read what counted as expert purchasing knowledge. International purchasing case studies, transfer pricing, global contract terms, countertrade, customs duties, and a surprisingly sharp question on procurement ethics across different countries. It’s a reminder that supply chain management is not just strategy slides and stakeholder engagement, it’s also trade mechanics, contracting, logistics, and knowing how to protect delivery, quality, and long-term performance.We also compare those older exam themes with modern CIPS Level 5 and Level 6 modules, and you can hear the shift towards category management, negotiation, teams, and stakeholder management. The takeaway is not nostalgia, it’s balance: keep your commercial fundamentals strong, stay curious about technology like AI, and don’t let the “new” procurement role erase the hard edges that still matter when contracts go wrong.If you enjoyed this, subscribe, share it with a procurement mate, and leave us a review. What skill do you think will matter most in procurement by 2030?Support the showPlease get in touch as we love to hear from you listeners! You can use the "text" function above or drop us on email: [email protected] or visit our website www.letstalkprocurement.co.ukIt would also mean the world if you can drop us a cheeky 5* rating on your platform of choice, Cya Later