An agent for the front door of purchasing. It turns "I need to buy this" into a complete request, checks whether an approved supplier or an existing contract already covers it, and routes it to the approvers your policy names.

Employees do not know how to buy things. They email procurement a sentence, or they simply buy and submit the invoice afterwards. Procurement spends its time asking the same five questions, what for, how much, by when, from whom, on which budget, and discovering that a contract for exactly this already exists. The delay employees complain about is mostly the time taken to make a request complete.

This page describes a workflow we propose to build as a custom project. It does not exist as software yet. It would reuse the question-by-question intake from our lead qualification demonstration and the approval routing from our IT helpdesk demonstration. Supplier and contract lookups, purchasing policy rules and connection to a procurement system are not built.

02Today

Where the Time Goes Now

Requests in one sentence

"We need new monitors" with no quantity, budget or date.

Buying first, asking later

The invoice is the first procurement hears of it.

Contracts nobody knew about

A new supplier is engaged while an agreement for the same thing exists.

The wrong approver

A request waits a week with someone who cannot approve it.

New suppliers by default

Onboarding a vendor for a one-off purchase.

No view of the queue

The requester cannot see where their request is.

03Step by step

From the First Signal to the Record

An example of one case, in 6 steps. The same steps play in the picture at the top of this page.

STEP 01

Need raised

An employee writes that their team needs design software for five people.

STEP 02

Details collected

The agent asks for the budget, the cost centre and the date it is needed.

STEP 03

Existing option found

A company agreement with a design software supplier is already in force.

STEP 04

Policy applied

The amount is under the threshold for competing quotes. A security review is required for new software.

STEP 05

Routed

The request goes to the budget owner and, in parallel, to the security reviewer.

STEP 06

Handed over

Once approved, purchasing receives a complete request and raises the order.

04Procurement agent

Six jobs it carries through

Guided intake

Collects what a request needs.

What, why, how much and by when
Budget and cost centre
Asked one question at a time
In plain language

Works inRequest form, chat

Where it stopsIt asks only what your process requires.

Category routing

Recognises what kind of purchase it is.

Software, equipment, services or travel
The policy that applies
Extra questions for risky categories
Security or legal review where required

Works inPurchasing policy

Where it stopsCategories and rules are yours.

Approved options

Points to what already exists.

Preferred suppliers for the category
Contracts and price agreements in force
Catalogue items that match
A note when nothing fits

Works inSupplier and contract records

Where it stopsIt suggests approved options. It does not choose a supplier.

Policy check

Applies your purchasing rules.

Thresholds for quotes or tenders
Spend limits by approver
Budget availability, where you expose it
The rule behind each requirement

Works inPolicy, budgets

Where it stopsIt states the rule. It does not waive it.

Approval routing

Sends the request to the right people.

Approvers by amount and category
In the right order
Reminders at your interval
The requester kept informed

Works inApproval workflow

Where it stopsApprovals are given by people with authority.

Handover to purchasing

Passes a complete request on.

Everything in one record
Linked contracts and options
Ready for a purchase order
Status visible to the requester

Works inProcurement system

Where it stopsIt does not place an order or commit spend.

→Request a quote

What We Need to Scope This

The process as it runs today, in a few lines.
The systems it touches, for example procurement system, suppliers, contracts, budgets.
Rough monthly volume, and who approves what.

Request a quote Book a 30-minute callA quote starts from a written scope, so that the figure means something.

05Operating boundaries

It Completes the Request and Leaves the Buying to Procurement

The agent's job is that a request arrives complete, in the right category, with existing contracts already checked and the right approvers lined up. It does not select a supplier, negotiate, place an order or commit money.

Purchasing rules exist for reasons that include law and audit. The agent applies yours as written and tells the requester which rule applies. It cannot make an exception.

Your purchasing policy as rules
Existing contracts checked first
Approvers by amount and category
No supplier selection
No orders or commitments
Status visible to the requester

06Scope

The Systems Around It

The systems named here are the kind this agent works with. Which ones it connects to in your case is settled in the scope.

Procurement system

SAP Ariba
Coupa
or your purchasing tool

Suppliers

Approved supplier list and catalogues

Contracts

Agreements and price lists in force

Budgets

Cost centres and budget owners

Policy

Thresholds, categories and review rules

Where staff ask

Chat, intranet or a request form

07Questions

Straight Answers

How is this different from the vendor RFQ comparison agent?

Intake happens first: it makes the request complete and decides whether quotes are needed at all. When they are, the comparison agent takes over and normalises the quotations suppliers send back.

Does it approve purchases?

No. It routes each request to the people your policy gives that authority, in the right order, and follows up. It can tell a requester that a purchase is below a threshold. It cannot approve it.

Does it work without a procurement system?

Yes, at smaller scale. The intake, the policy rules and the routing can run over a form, a shared mailbox and your approvers' inboxes. A procurement system adds supplier, contract and budget data that makes its checks stronger.

What exists today?

Not as software yet. This page describes a proposed workflow. It would reuse the question-by-question intake from our lead qualification demonstration and the approval routing from our IT helpdesk demonstration. Supplier and contract lookups, purchasing policy rules and connection to a procurement system are not built. A project starts by mapping your process, then proving the first steps on test data before anything touches a live system.

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Collect Last Month's Purchase Requests

Count how many arrived complete, and how many could have used a contract you already had.

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