New research and analysis from the University of Auckland Business School highlights how agentic AI could help New Zealand businesses respond faster to supply-chain disruption by automating parts of procurement, supplier discovery and risk monitoring.
Professor Ilan Oshri says AI agents can continuously monitor risks, identify alternative suppliers, assess tenders and contracts, and support procurement teams during disruptions. The issue is particularly relevant to New Zealand because of its geographic isolation, long supply routes and reliance on international trade.
Key facts
- The work draws on a 2026 study of more than 200 procurement professionals.
- Most enterprises surveyed were already piloting or deploying agentic AI in procurement.
- AI agents can continuously monitor shipping data, news and supplier information for emerging risks.
- Supplier-discovery agents can identify and pre-screen alternative suppliers.
- 71% of respondents identified trust in autonomous decision-making as a barrier.
- Fragmented data, legacy technology, security, accountability and auditability were also identified as obstacles.
Our take
This is particularly relevant to New Zealand because agentic AI could give relatively small procurement teams capabilities that previously required much larger teams.
There is also a useful governance lesson. Buying an AI-agent platform does not remove the need for internal capability. Organisations still need people who understand what information agents can access, what decisions they can make, when human approval is required and how their actions are recorded. That becomes increasingly important as AI moves from providing advice to actually performing business processes.
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