Dr. Elouise Epstein on the Future of AI in Procurement
Wed Jan 21 2026
In this episode, Sagi Eliyahu welcomes back Dr. Elouise Epstein, Partner at Kearney, to explore how AI is reshaping enterprise functions, procurement and the future of work. The conversation moves from personal AI-skepticism-to-believer journeys to radically new mindsets around black-box corporate functions, personal AI productivity and governance for an agent-driven enterprise. Listeners in operations, procurement and technology leadership gain a forward-looking view of how to navigate the next decade of AI-driven transformation.
Key Takeaways:
00:00 Introduction.
05:05 Education systems face an impending AI-driven learning crisis.
09:20 Personal AI productivity is mandatory, not optional, for professionals.
13:55 AI job disruption creates a painful lag before new roles emerge.
17:18 Corporate functions evolve into AI black boxes managed by specialists.
18:10 Procurement shifts from transactional tasks to embedded business partnership.
27:44 New mindset favors highly personalized tools over standardized platforms.
30:56 Governance must enable experimentation while protecting core enterprise data.
34:27 Invisible personal AI agents will outlive roles and preserve institutional knowledge.
Resources Mentioned:
Dr. Elouise Epstein
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drelouise/
Kearney | LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/company/kearney/
Kearney | Website
https://www.kearney.com/
This episode is brought to you by Tonkean.
Tonkean is the operating system for business operations and is the enterprise standard for process orchestration. It provides businesses with the building blocks to orchestrate any process, with no code or change management required. Contact us at tonkean.com to learn how you can build complex business processes. Fast.
#Operations #BusinessOperations
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In this episode, Sagi Eliyahu welcomes back Dr. Elouise Epstein, Partner at Kearney, to explore how AI is reshaping enterprise functions, procurement and the future of work. The conversation moves from personal AI-skepticism-to-believer journeys to radically new mindsets around black-box corporate functions, personal AI productivity and governance for an agent-driven enterprise. Listeners in operations, procurement and technology leadership gain a forward-looking view of how to navigate the next decade of AI-driven transformation. Key Takeaways: 00:00 Introduction. 05:05 Education systems face an impending AI-driven learning crisis. 09:20 Personal AI productivity is mandatory, not optional, for professionals. 13:55 AI job disruption creates a painful lag before new roles emerge. 17:18 Corporate functions evolve into AI black boxes managed by specialists. 18:10 Procurement shifts from transactional tasks to embedded business partnership. 27:44 New mindset favors highly personalized tools over standardized platforms. 30:56 Governance must enable experimentation while protecting core enterprise data. 34:27 Invisible personal AI agents will outlive roles and preserve institutional knowledge. Resources Mentioned: Dr. Elouise Epstein https://www.linkedin.com/in/drelouise/ Kearney | LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/kearney/ Kearney | Website https://www.kearney.com/ This episode is brought to you by Tonkean. Tonkean is the operating system for business operations and is the enterprise standard for process orchestration. It provides businesses with the building blocks to orchestrate any process, with no code or change management required. Contact us at tonkean.com to learn how you can build complex business processes. Fast. #Operations #BusinessOperations