Awards shortlist, Prolo & AI: top 5 procurement stories. July 25, 2026 Procurement Magazine looks at the five biggest stories from the past week, including Prolo, Ivalua, Amazon Business, Zip and The Global Procurement Awards Procurement Magazine is excited to reveal the official shortlist for the Global Procurement Awards 2026. The judges have examined a range of fantastic entries, looking at both individual heroes and organisations which are transforming the industry. Now, the shortlist has been revealed and Procurement Mag is one step closer to announcing the winner on the 8th September 2026. The awards celebrate those individuals and teams which are implementing innovative solutions throughout their strategy. By integrating sustainability and resilience throughout their operations, these leaders are driving change. The shortlisted finalists are driving operational excellence, efficiency and long-term value creation, whether through their use of AI or their individual leaders who are champions of the organisation. Congratulations to those shortlisted - your work demonstrates how meaningful impact can take place across global operations. The Global Procurement Awards will take place at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House London, co-located with The Global Supply Chain Awards and The Global Sustainability Awards. The event will be held on the 8th September 2026, with an exclusive black-tie gala dinner. James Morris-Manuel, CEO & Founder at Prolo, knows the construction industry's pain points from both sides of the site fence. Growing up in a family of developers, he spent his childhood watching building projects grow up around him - and grew all too familiar with the delays, cashflow crunches and inefficiencies that come with them. His career took him first into commercial real estate at Cushman & Wakefield, before he founded Virtual Walkthrough in 2009, a digital walkthrough platform likened to "Google Street View for inside buildings". The business was acquired by Matterport in 2016. That experience, combined with a lifelong front-row seat to the construction industry's challenges, led him to found Prolo - a platform built around what he calls "procurement as a service". By handling sourcing, pricing, logistics and even credit for materials, Prolo aims to tackle three of construction's biggest headaches at once: cashflow constraints, time, and the cost of getting a project over the line. Following news that the company has raised £4.2m (US$5.6m) in seed funding, James spoke to Procurement Magazine about Prolo's mission, how it is using its latest funding round and the role AI plays in making construction procurement faster and fairer for everyone involved. Zip's latest State of Spend Report argues that procurement is uniquely positioned to close the gap between AI spend and AI proof, provided it moves quickly. Zip has published its latest State of AI in Spend report, which has revealed that companies deploying AI deeply are seeing six times the ROI of those still stuck in pilots, but only 17% of organisations have unlocked that level of return so far. The State of AI in Spend 2026 is Zip's annual research report on how organisations are adopting AI across procurement, finance and business spend. The report is based on a global survey of 1,050 procurement, finance, IT and operations leaders who manage spend at primarily large enterprises with over 1,000 employees. The report reveals that there is a real split in the market, with two starkly different cohorts: 'Builders', who are deploying AI deeply and seeing real measurable returns, and 'Bystanders', who have invested little into pilots or are seeing nothing for it. "The Builders are showing everyone else the way," says Nick Heinzmann, Head of Research at Zip. "Their edge isn't bigger budgets, it's treating AI as a team-wide transformation instead of another tool. That's worth 6x the ROI and closing that gap is within reach for other companies willing to go deeper." Amazon Business has helped to power US$60bn in annualised gross sales in Q2 of 2026, as it has helped more than 11 million organisations across the globe to simplify their business buying. Regardless of size, organisations from hospitals and schools to factories and hotels have harnessed Amazon Business to buy what they need to run. Since its launch in the US back in 2015, Amazon Business now serves organisations across 11 countries, including hundreds of thousands of small business customers and 97 of the Fortune 100 companies. More than 1.8 million new organisations joined the platform in the first half of this year alone, further accelerating that momentum. Major names including Citi, United Service Organizations (USO), Marriott International and Carnival Corporation have relied on Amazon Business to support their evolving needs, underscoring the value customers are seeing day to day. Scott Thompson, Vice President, Logistics, North America at Carnival Corporation, says: "Amazon Business has made it easier for our teams to get what they need, when they need it." Enterprise AI procurement platform Ivalua is working alongside Unite, a European procurement platform connecting buyers and suppliers for fair and sustainable business. This partnership will allow Ivalua customers to have more control over their tail and non-contracted spend by accessing Unite's network of over 2,000 vetted European suppliers directly within Ivalua, enabling more efficient, transparent and sustainable procurement operations. This will see an integration between Ivalua's enterprise AI platform and Unite's compliant, catalogue-based marketplace infrastructure, empowering organisations to streamline supplier management, consolidate long-tail purchasing and increase spend visibility. Executives. * James Morris-Manuel Founder and CEO * Nick Heinzmann Head of Research * Scott Thompson Vice President Logistics - North America Company Portals

Ivalua and Unite strike partnership to deliver seamless access to Europe's trusted supplier network. Paris, July 16, 2026. Ivalua, the enterprise AI platform for procurement, today announced a strategic partnership with Unite, a European procurement platform connecting buyers and suppliers for fair and sustainable business. Through this collaboration, Ivalua customers will be able to better manage tail and non-contracted spend by accessing Unite's extensive network of over 2,000 vetted European suppliers directly within Ivalua, enabling more efficient, transparent, and sustainable procurement operations. The partnership integrates Ivalua's enterprise AI platform with Unite's compliant, catalog-based marketplace infrastructure, empowering organizations to streamline supplier management, consolidate long-tail purchasing, and increase spend visibility. Through this integration, customers can access Unite's network of pre-vetted European suppliers and manage non-contracted spend digitally through Ivalua. Buyers will be able to search, compare, and purchase from Unite's supplier network while maintaining their existing Ivalua workflows, approval processes, and compliance controls. The integration also enhances Ivalua's 'Search360 technology'* by providing instant access to products not covered by existing contracts, while also allowing Unite to incorporate customers' contracted supplier catalogs and make them available across both Unite's website and Ivalua's Search360. This simplifies the search experience and reduces the time spent sourcing items. Customers can expect immediate benefits, including expanded catalogs, easier access to localized suppliers across Europe, and improved data clarity to support better financial oversight and strategic decision-making. Additionally, the partnership supports sustainability goals by making it easier to identify responsible suppliers and source locally, aligned with Unite's focus on fair competition and strong regional ecosystems. "Partnering with Unite gives our customers an even stronger procurement ecosystem," said Gabriel Giret, VP Alliances at Ivalua. "Unite's marketplace adds breadth, compliance, and supplier diversity to the Ivalua experience, empowering organizations to make smarter, more sustainable purchasing decisions with simplicity and control." "Ivalua and Unite share a commitment to simplifying procurement for modern organizations," said Zachary Rubio Grundell, Head of Global Partner Management at Unite. "Together, we're making it easier for companies to discover trusted suppliers, streamline purchasing, and build more resilient, sustainable supply chains." *Ivalua's Search360 feature allows users to search for an item across local and external catalogs in a single search session within Ivalua's user interface. About unite. Unite is a European procurement platform combining a single-creditor marketplace with governed catalogue intelligence and expert services. Unite charges a transparent service fee; it's free from conflicts of interest and treats all suppliers equally. It makes procurement compliant, efficient and resilient - reducing operational load and maintaining cost control. Hosted on EU servers, Unite offers a trusted alternative to non-European providers, strengthening local value creation and keeping procurement data where it belongs. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Leipzig, Germany, Unite operates in 12 European countries. Revenue in 2025 totalled €465.3 million. Unite has carried the Fair Tax Mark since 2022 and connects the economy for sustainable business. For more information, visit unite.eu. About Ivalua. Ivalua is the only truly unified, enterprise AI platform for managing spend and suppliers. Ivalua Inc. seamlessly connect people, AI, workflows, and data, making businesses more profitable, resilient, and sustainable. Ivalua Inc. is trusted by over 500 of the world's most admired brands and consistently recognized as a leader by Gartner and other analysts. Learn more at www.ivalua.com. Follow Ivalua Inc. @Ivalua.

Ivalua named a Leader in Accounts Payable Invoice Automation 2026 evaluation. Ivalua is recognized for its Autonomous AP capabilities and seamless supplier communication. Redwood City, CA, June 23, 2026. Ivalua, the enterprise AI platform for procurement, today announced that it has been recognized as a leader in The Forrester Wave(TM): Accounts Payable Invoice Automation (APIA) Software, Q2 2026. As global regulatory pressures around e-invoicing and prompt payments intensify, organizations must optimize the supplier payment journey. To achieve this, accounts payable (AP) teams must focus on business compliance and current liability, which is where the value of Autonomous AP becomes key. Autonomous AP instantly verifies the compliance of every invoice, while blocking fraud at every step. This allows finance teams to shift their focus from transactional activities to managing exceptions and strategic cash optimization. In its report, Forrester states: "Ivalua's supplier portal excels by offering an interactive supplier collaboration center with rich functionalities, such as seamless supplier and buyer communication, invoice corrections, and PO flips. The vendor provides granular AP reports that are easy to use. It also differentiates with its event and status tracking, with fine-grained, auditable workflows that monitor every invoice and payment stage from receipt to settlement." By streamlining the APIA process, enterprises can ensure e-invoicing compliance, maximize working capital opportunities and release liquidity into their supply chains. Ivalua's Autonomous AP delivers this level of agentic automation to enterprises by digitizing the entire invoicing journey, shortening cycle times, and preventing fraud. When coupled with advanced supplier collaboration, this approach drives over 96% supplier adoption within two months*, improves payment accuracy, ensures higher levels of business compliance, and optimizes cash flow. "In today's high-pressure regulatory and cost-conscious environment, the partnership between procurement and finance is critical to unlocking value that goes beyond the transactional by turning accounts payable into a strategic enterprise asset and value center," said Franck Lheureux, CEO of Ivalua. "Ivalua has accelerated innovation in the AP space to empower this partnership, and we are thrilled to be named a Leader by Forrester." *Based on the case study of a leading semi-public organisation with 40,000 suppliers. Disclaimer. Forrester does not endorse any company, product, brand, or service included in its research publications and does not advise any person to select the products or services of any company or brand based on the ratings included in such publications. Information is based on the best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. This report is part of a broader collection of Forrester resources, including interactive models, frameworks, tools, data, and access to analyst guidance. For more information, read about Forrester's objectivity here. About Ivalua. Ivalua is the only truly unified, enterprise AI platform for managing spend and suppliers. Ivalua Inc. seamlessly connect people, AI agents, workflows and data, making businesses more profitable, resilient, and sustainable. Ivalua Inc. is trusted by over 500 of the world's most admired brands and consistently recognized as a leader by Gartner and other analysts. Learn more at www.ivalua.com. Follow Ivalua Inc. on LinkedIn. Global media contact. Corporate Communications [email protected]