Inverto : Redefining Resilient Procurement

As geopolitical volatility, climate risk, and market disruption redefine global trade, procurement is stepping into a more strategic role. In light of Inverto’s Procurement Trends 2026 report, Matthew Rose, UK Managing Director, shares how businesses are strengthening resilience, unlocking innovation, and harnessing artificial intelligence to protect margins and drive growth.

REDEFINING RESILIENT PROCUREMENT

With myriad socioeconomic factors leading to many companies planning for geopolitical disruption as standard in 2026, supply chains across the world are feeling the effects.  

Traditionally, procurement functions have been responsible for managing supply chain risks in instances such as these, assessing supplier resilience and analysing financial stability by ascertaining whether a supplier is likely to remain solvent.  

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the scale and complexity of the risk involved has changed dramatically.  

Disruptions are now more systemic, less predictable, and no longer just about single points of failure – risks can hit multiple areas of a supply chain simultaneously.  

“You might have a financially healthy supplier that’s suddenly affected by unanticipated external shocks, which then ripple through your operations,” opens Matthew Rose, UK Managing Director of Inverto – a leading global consultancy specialising in strategic procurement and supply chain management.  

Fully acquired by Boston Consultancy Group (BCG) in 2017, Inverto operates as an independent entity within BCG, serving as its specialist arm for procurement, operations, and supply chain projects.  

Rose notes how some risks are highly visible today, such as tariff volatility and global conflicts, which have become an important point of discussion amongst Inverto’s clients.  

Meanwhile, less tangible challenges such as climate change have emerged as a major concern for the company’s food sector clients, with environmental changes in many regions potentially requiring them to diversify their sourcing locations.  

“Over in the technology sector, we’re seeing hyperscalers investing heavily in data centres and absorbing large volumes of supply, which has driven unexpected price increases for many,” he adds. 

In response, businesses are beginning to rethink their supply chain strategies – such as one of Inverto’s customers in the manufacturing space who once opted for lean, cost-efficient production concentrated in a single location. 

Now, with Inverto’s help, the client in question is manufacturing a broader mix of products across multiple sites – which may be less efficient on paper but spreads risk.  

“In doing so, this client is not just safeguarding the continuity of their supply chain but preserving its margins against potential future shifts in the trade environment,” Rose points out.  

ADDING VALUE AT SCALE 

In the face of supply chain disruption, Inverto outlines how scaling artificial intelligence (AI) across procurement processes can add significant value.  

“It’s an incredibly exciting time for AI in procurement. Historically, the sector has received less investment than front-end functions like sales and marketing – but today, the opportunities are enormous,” Rose excites.  

Procurement sits at the very centre of a complex network, linking global supply chains with company demand.  

Traditionally, it has operated with tools such as source-to-pay platforms or enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems – analysing spend, contracts, and capital.  

Today, AI is having a transformative effect on these processes, enabling them to link end-to-end demand and supply signals. 

“Take, for example, a chocolate manufacturer using nuts as a commodity ingredient. Nut prices fluctuate not only due to demand but also changing crop yields and weather patterns. 

“AI can analyse external data such as weather forecasts and agricultural output trends, alongside internal data, to predict price movements months in advance.  

“This kind of insight allows the manufacturer to adjust ingredient mixes without compromising on the customer experience and product quality, protecting margins against commodity spikes,” Rose exemplifies.  

In this way, AI brings together disparate internal and external data sets and allows complex decisions in real-time – something that previously may have taken weeks of manual analysis.

DIVERSIFICATION IS KEY 

As many procurement processes become increasingly drawn to nearshoring in light of the current geopolitical climate, multi-sourcing and regional supplier networks have never been more important to supporting supply chain resilience and margin stability.  

The COVID-19 pandemic provides a stark example, when Inverto saw many consumer goods organisations absorbing billions in additional working capital costs by building up local inventory to offset international supply risk.  

“This kind of activity proved expensive and unsustainable – whereas today, we’re seeing more proactive modelling around risk planning,” Rose outlines.  

For Inverto, this translates into diversifying supply chains and removing single points of failure by multi-sourcing across suppliers and countries.  

This could mean avoiding sole-source supplier relationships or spreading demand across different regions.  

“It might also involve creating optionality in components and ingredients for reducing dependency,” he emphasises. 

One of Inverto’s building materials clients, for example, is diversifying across multiple Asian markets.  

“Whilst still benefitting from strong manufacturing capabilities and cost structures, the client has reduced its reliance on any single country,” Rose explains.   

In this way, whilst managing a broader supply base can add complexity and may increase costs, it can also create access to innovation, new ideas, and emerging markets.  

GENUINE GROWTH DRIVER 

With margin and revenue growth, product quality, and innovation firmly on the agenda for Chief Procurement Officers (CPOs) in 2026, supplier innovation has become a critical engine of progression.  

Taking software development as an example, Rose explains how 20 years ago, a third of this kind of activity was carried out in-house.  

“Fast forwards to today, and most organisations rely on specialist external providers, with the depth of expertise required to build world-class technology often unattainable internally,” he sets out.  

As a result, businesses are becoming more reliant than ever on their supply chains – particularly those in non-core areas.  

At the same time, globalisation has created an enormous pool of external knowledge and capability. 

“No single procurement function is able to fully access this talent pool without building the right supplier relationships,” Rose urges.  

As such, by partnering with specialist providers, many of Inverto’s clients are able to not only acquire capability but also benefit from the innovation those providers bring thanks to their growing expertise. 

“The challenge is cultural – if procurement’s sole focus is on price negotiation, then suppliers are unlikely to invest in innovation,” Rose details.  

Therefore, CPOs must rethink supplier relationships and create partnership models, contractual incentives, and joint business planning frameworks that align objectives beyond transactional costs to succeed.  

“That’s where supplier innovation becomes a genuine growth driver — not just a cost lever,” he adds.

ENABLING INNOVATION 

As supply chains continue to face sustained geopolitical disruption in 2026, Inverto is looking to enable innovation for its clients across all sectors with a twofold approach.  

“First, we will expand our global footprint. We opened offices in Atlanta, the US, Bangkok, Thailand, and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the last 12 months, amongst other areas,” Rose tells us.  

Being close to its global clients matters to Inverto, particularly as advanced procurement increasingly involves shaping demand and building supplier partnerships on the ground – not just negotiating ideas.  

Secondly, the company plans to continue its investment into generative AI, which is already embedded across many of its solutions. 

“For instance, we are already using AI to analyse spend data and identify value opportunities in a matter of days – a process that historically might have taken us weeks or even months,” he reveals.  

Inverto is also helping its clients to monitor supplier input costs in real-time.  

“If a supplier relies on commodities like nuts or fertiliser, we can anticipate their upstream cost pressures and future pricing trends by using AI technology, enabling them to mitigate inflationary risks proactively.”  

As such, whilst Inverto already offers a comprehensive end-to-end suite of procurement solutions for its clients, the company understands the myriad opportunities presented by new technologies.   

“Generative AI is something Inverto intends to leverage, and we plan to continue investing heavily in that space in the year ahead,” Rose confidently concludes.