Guide to a Successful CIO-CPO Relationship

Procurement and IT have historically operated in separate lanes. But as digital transformation accelerates, the relationship between the CPO and CIO has become one of the most important factors in an organization's ability to adapt, innovate, and compete.

What the research shows

This WBR Insights report, sponsored by Vertex, surveyed 100 procurement, supply chain, and risk management professionals across the U.S. and Canada. The findings paint a clear picture of where organizations are making progress, and where they are getting stuck.

Only 30% of respondents have reached an advanced stage in their end-to-end digital procurement journey. Most (48%) are mid-way through, and 22% are still building the foundation. The biggest obstacles are not technology. They are people and process. Sixty-four percent of respondents point to change management and integration challenges, and 59% cite a lack of coordination between procurement and IT.

Coordination at the leadership level matters

Almost half of respondents say their procurement and IT leaders collaborate regularly or always. But the other half collaborate only occasionally or rarely, a gap that directly slows technology adoption. When CPOs and CIOs work in sync, organizations move faster, make better technology decisions, and get more value from their investments. Financial leadership matters too: 29% say the CFO drives procurement's digital transformation, and 27% say both the CIO and CFO lead the effort together.

Indirect tax automation is a top priority

Among the digital procurement strategies respondents plan to pursue in the next 12 months, automating indirect tax processes during the procure-to-pay (P2P) cycle ranks first, cited by 55% of respondents. Manual tax processes at scale can lead to overpayment and compliance risk. A dedicated tax engine reduces that risk, improves accuracy, and removes the burden of ongoing tax content maintenance from internal teams. That is a win for tax, procurement, and IT alike.

AI and supplier integration round out the agenda

Nearly half of respondents plan to incorporate AI-enhanced analytics (48%) and integrate with supplier technology (49%) over the next year. AI is already proving its value: 54% of organizations use it today to extract information from unstructured vendor contracts. Supplier integration builds the transparency needed for strategic partnerships and improves resilience when disruptions hit.

A roadmap for what comes next

The report closes with practical suggestions: build a change management plan before rolling out new technology, pursue holistic end-to-end procurement tools, and make CIO-CPO collaboration a structured priority. Organizations that align across procurement, IT, and finance will implement technology faster and get more from every dollar spent.