# procurement Published articles for procurement. This is one page of public article previews, not the complete archive. Follow Next page to continue. Summaries are not the original full articles. ## Modernizing sourcing at scale: How intelligent agents are changing procurement DevFeed: [Modernizing sourcing at scale: How intelligent agents are changing procurement]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Shreya Peddi Published: 2026-07-21T07:16:01Z Content type: article Language: en Sources: [Data Science at Microsoft]() Topics: [microsoft 365](), [Microsoft]() Tags: [agent](), [agentic-workflow](), [agents](), [generative-ai-finance](), [microsoft](), [microsoft-365](), [procurement](), [procurement-strategy](), [setup](), [structured](), [supply-chain](), [tool]() ### AI overview This article describes how a Microsoft procurement professional built the Supplier Price Interpreter with M365 Chat Agent Builder. The agent uses supplier price sheets stored in a structured Teams channel as a knowledge source and responds to plain-language prompts about the data, aiming to reduce manual comparison work in RFP and RFx processes. ### Source excerpt Image generated by AI Picture this: It's late in the week, an urgent sourcing decision is due, and sitting in your inbox are three separate supplier price sheets -- each formatted differently, each with its own tab structure, its own naming conventions, its own quirks. Your job is to compare them, find the gaps, flag the inconsistencies, and deliver a recommendation. The clock is ticking. This isn't a hypothetical scenario. It happens regularly in procurement teams running large scale RFP and RFx processes. For years, the solution was straightforward: Open each file and compare them line by line. It worked, but it was slow, manual, and far removed from the strategic work that sourcing professionals are hired to do. In a world where business decisions move fast and supplier negotiations are time-sensitive, delays in price review have real consequences. Slower cycles, missed windows, and sourcing teams spending their cognitive energy on extraction instead of analysis. So, we asked the question: What if the extraction part could just happen on its own? Starting small, at the desk The Supplier Price Interpreter didn't start as a grand initiative. It started as a practical frustration. Rupa Shastri, a procurement professional within Microsoft's broader procurement organization, built the agent right at her desk using M365 Chat Agent Builder. No dedicated engineering team, no lengthy development cycle, no new infrastructure. Just a clear problem, an available tool, and the willingness to try something different. Figure 1: M365 Copilot flow and the actionable insights it provides. Working within a large enterprise procurement environment, where supplier bids come in across multiple RFx engagements spanning vendors, scopes, and formats, the repetitive nature of price sheet review was hard to ignore. Every engagement required the same foundational steps. Open the files, read the data, compare the numbers, find what's missing. The methodology never changed. Only the suppliers ## Community feedback: How can corporations improve support for open source maintainers? DevFeed: [Community feedback: How can corporations improve support for open source maintainers?]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Author: Google Open Source (noreply@blogger.com) Published: 2026-06-30T18:30:00Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Google Open Source Blog]() Topics: [Maintainers](), [Open Source](), [Google](), [Pull Request]() Tags: [community](), [conference](), [funding](), [maintainers](), [open-source](), [open-source-communities](), [procurement](), [sponsorship](), [sustainability](), [transparency]() ### AI overview Google Open Source reports community feedback on how corporations can better support open source maintainers. Suggestions include predictable financial support, contribution-based payments, procurement and support services, conference travel sponsorships, respect for community norms, and consistency between documentation and practice. ### Source excerpt by Sophia Vargas, Google Open Source We know that AI is actively transforming the sustainability and socio-technical dynamics of OSS communities. Google Open Source is committed to partnering with open source communities and ecosystems to learn together how we should update our own models for engagement and support. During an open meetup for GitHub Maintainer Month, I led a session to gather community feedback on how corporations can more effectively support open source maintainers. Paying maintainers takes creativity Many maintainers would appreciate consistent financial support. However, facilitating payments to individuals without established contractual relationships remains a complex challenge, particularly across diverse international jurisdictions. Fiscal hosts and programs such as Open Collective, GitHub Sponsors, and the LFX Mentorship Program can simplify components of this process, but they do not resolve the underlying issues of funding sustainability and predictability. While initiatives like the Open Source Endowment are working toward long-term funding sustainability, individual maintainers also had a few ideas: Pay per meaningful contribution vs gameable metrics: Avoid payment models based on easily manipulated units like pull request counts or review volume. A proposed alternative is 'pay per report,' encouraging maintainers to document their achievements and upcoming roadmaps. Commitment-based purchasing: Corporate policies might make procurement simpler (or more complex) than sponsorships, so maintainers could benefit from offering structured support services alongside traditional sponsorship opportunities. Fund conference attendance: In-person networking can be a boon for solo maintainers but it's often cost-prohibitive. For some corporations, travel sponsorship may be a simpler alternative to direct payments. Challenge for Corporations and Fiscal Hosts: How can we assist maintainers in understanding any and all prerequisites and documentation ne ## Europe's cloud dependence and the case for specialized European cloud services DevFeed: [Europe's cloud dependence and the case for specialized European cloud services]() Original publisher: [Read original article]() Published: 2024-01-11T08:27:14Z Content type: opinion Language: en Sources: [Bert Hubert's writings]() Topics: [Cloud](), [Computing]() Tags: [article](), [business](), [cloud](), [collaboration](), [communication](), [computing](), [ecosystems](), [europe](), [hyperscaler](), [innovation](), [policy](), [procurement](), [providers]() ### AI overview This opinion article argues that Europe depends on major non-European hyperscaler cloud providers and cannot realistically create a competing mega-cloud through legislation, standardisation, procurement, or coordinated government action. It suggests that specialized European email, communication, and collaboration services could provide a more feasible starting point for a European cloud ecosystem. ### Source excerpt This article is part of a series on (European) innovation and capabilities. The very short version: All of computing is moving to the cloud at a rapid pace, including (government) parts you might want to keep under your own control Europe has no relevant 'hyperscaler' cloud providers at all, and there is a desire to change this by policy means Competing with the IKEA-concept is nearly impossible. Offering IKEA-like products but then with a smaller range is not an attractive proposition.