• Navan is hosting a private London roundtable on AI agents and procurement.
  • The event will examine real-world automation use cases across finance and procurement.
  • Compliance, governance and auditability are central concerns for deploying AI agents.
  • Procurement leaders should pilot with clear controls, human oversight, and measurable KPIs.

Navan’s private roundtable: what’s happening

Navan is convening a private roundtable in London to discuss how AI agents are being used to automate finance and procurement today. The session aims to bring practitioners and experts together to explore practical use cases and the compliance requirements organisations must consider before wide rollout.

Why this matters for procurement teams

AI agents — autonomous or semi‑autonomous software that can complete tasks, make recommendations and trigger actions — are increasingly positioned as a way to reduce manual work, speed approvals and surface savings. For procurement and finance leaders the promise is clear: faster invoice processing, smarter spend analysis, and more consistent policy enforcement. But the transition raises real questions about controls, audit trails and regulatory compliance.

Common use cases likely to be explored

Based on the focus of the roundtable, attendees will examine practical applications such as:

  • Automating invoice capture, matching and exception handling to cut cycle time.
  • Using agents to route approvals and enforce procurement policies automatically.
  • Applying AI to supplier discovery, qualification and risk scoring.
  • Enhancing spend analytics and anomaly detection to uncover savings and fraud.

Compliance and risk — the central themes

Compliance requirements are a major barrier to unchecked automation. Procurement teams must ensure agents leave auditable trails, respect data privacy and operate within existing internal controls. Governance concerns include vendor risk, model explainability, role‑based access, and how exceptions are escalated to humans.

Practical guidance for procurement leaders

Whether or not you attend the roundtable, organisations preparing to deploy AI agents should consider a few pragmatic steps:

  • Start with tightly scoped pilots that target high‑value, repeatable tasks.
  • Keep humans in the loop for exceptions and final approvals to reduce operational risk.
  • Define clear KPIs (cycle time, cost per transaction, error rate) to measure impact.
  • Document audit trails and implement model governance before scaling.

What to expect from discussions

The Navan roundtable promises a practitioner‑focused look at what works now and what pitfalls to avoid. For procurement and finance teams, the key takeaway is balance: AI agents can deliver material efficiency gains, but real value depends on careful governance, measurable pilots and alignment with compliance obligations.

Image Referance: https://procurementmag.com/news/ai-agents-procurement-automation-value