Sliced Bread, AI Agents, and the Procurement Revolution

If AI is the greatest invention since sliced bread, then it’s time we ask: what kind of sandwich are we making with it?

That was the opening analogy from Lalitha Rajagopalan, co-founder of ORO Labs, at a recent keynote that brought AI’s real-world potential into sharp focus. But this wasn’t a talk filled with future-facing hypotheticals. It was a masterclass in what AI agents can do for procurement right now. And it presented a compelling vision, in which human and AI agents collaborate to simplify, accelerate, and transform how work gets done across enterprises.

Rethinking the Business Process: From Graphs to Agents

A business process is just people working together to get something done. We used to imagine this as a graph: tasks connected by nodes, performed by humans in different systems. But that idea has matured. Today, we view the business process as a blend of human and AI agents working in concert, each with clear roles and responsibilities. In this world, an AI agent is like a new employee. They arrive with training, are provided with role-appropriate data access, work well with others, and are evaluated on the basis of clearly defined KPIs.

AI agents aren’t just one-off automations. They’re intelligent collaborators trained on instructions, equipped with context, and capable of escalating issues just like any human teammate. This is not a vision for the future. It's happening today.

From Bureaucracy to Breakthrough at Bayer

Ryan Whitmore leads Procurement Generative AI and Process Orchestration at Bayer. With 93,000 employees, 88,000 suppliers, and operations in over 80 countries, Bayer is a global heavyweight. And they’re undergoing an exemplary digital transformation that’s radically flattening procurement friction.

Their vision? A zero-bureaucracy model where employees can easily engage with procurement through one intelligent front door, powered by ORO.

At DPW New York, Whitmore demoed how a scientist at Bayer, “Emily,” can now buy a complex lab microscope by simply uploading a quote. The system categorizes it, suggests the supplier, extracts discounts, and initiates the purchase—all without any manual data entry. What once took days now happens in minutes, and without needing to teach scientists how to use procurement tools.

Collaboration, Not Coexistence

What makes an AI agent actually useful? It’s not enough to just recommend a supplier. That’s just a feature.

True agents have job descriptions. They own a task from start to finish, are evaluated on output, learn from past performance, escalate when needed, and improve over time. Sound familiar? That’s the definition of a great team member. And these are the standards to which ORO holds its AI agents.

What about the 'dirty data problem'? Clean data, while ideal, is not a blocker. The systems we have today can handle messy inputs. What matters more is giving organizations the power to choose which tasks to automate, and how to plug in agents from any provider, not just those created in ORO.

What’s Next for Procurement Orchestration?

If Bayer’s example is any indication, the future of procurement isn’t about replacing people. It’s about giving them better tools and smarter systems. Procurement teams shouldn’t be stuck chasing approvals, managing intake through email, or explaining policy workarounds. Instead, they should be focused on strategy, supplier relationships, and driving value.

By embracing AI agents and orchestration platforms like ORO, businesses can:

• Reduce manual steps and delays in sourcing, contracting, and supplier management.
• Unify fragmented systems into one intuitive workflow layer.
• Empower business users with guided buying experiences that require no training.
• Accelerate compliance by embedding policy into the process itself.
  
  

The era of AI-powered orchestration isn’t coming soon. It’s already here. Procurement leaders don’t need to wait for perfect data or massive overhauls. They just need to start thinking differently—about processes, about people, and about how technology can work with them, not just for them.

Because, as Lalitha so perfectly put it, sliced bread isn’t valuable just for being sliced. It's valuable because of what it enabled.

And with AI agents in procurement, we’re just beginning to see what’s possible.