In this energizing fireside chat, Microsoft’s Prithvi Pingle and Zycus’s leadership explored the evolving landscape of Agentic AI and its real-world impact on procurement transformation. The session took attendees through the journey from traditional AI and GenAI to the emergence of Agentic AI, showcasing how enterprise workflows—especially across procurement—are being revolutionized. A special focus was placed on Merlin Intake, Zycus’s intelligent conversational agent embedded within Microsoft Teams, and the broader vision of building AI-driven experiences across the Source-to-Pay (S2P) lifecycle. With relatable anecdotes, live examples, and a dose of humor, the session highlighted why enterprises must move from piloting AI to scaling it, starting with a user-first, outcome-led approach.
Key Takeaways:
- From GenAI to Agentic AI: The next wave of enterprise productivity is being driven by Agentic AI—AI that remembers, reasons, and acts. This new generation of AI moves beyond prompts to proactive decision-making and orchestration across departments.
- Real Adoption Starts with Where Work Happens: Zycus’s Merlin Intake, a conversational AI agent embedded in Microsoft Teams, was spotlighted as a breakthrough innovation—meeting users in their flow of work and removing friction from intake and procurement processes.
- Source-to-Pay Intelligence in Action: The Zycus + Microsoft partnership is already bringing Agentic AI into play across the entire Source-to-Pay spectrum, enabling automation in areas like purchase requests, approvals, vendor onboarding, and more—with no learning curve for users.
- Lean Teams, High Impact: Especially in regions like Southeast Asia where lean procurement teams are common, Agentic AI enables organizations to “do more with less”—freeing up procurement teams from repetitive tasks to focus on strategic outcomes like supplier strategy and savings.
- Designing for the Day-in-the-Life: Successful AI adoption depends on deeply understanding users’ daily routines. Zycus applies this philosophy by designing agents that offload undifferentiated work, so users can focus on what they were truly hired to do.
- Advice for CPOs: Start small, but start smart. Begin by identifying repetitive, high-volume tasks, and augment them with intelligent agents. With Zycus’s prebuilt solutions, enterprises can immediately begin their Agentic AI journey—no need to wait for the future, it’s already here.