Host Justin Etkin and VP of Procurement Michael Shields sit down with Evan Mayer, Head of Strategic Sourcing and Indirect Procurement at Frontdoor, to talk about how procurement teams should handle the rush to adopt AI. The conversation opens with a clear tension. AI adoption is moving faster than the governance meant to control it, and companies are skipping foundational steps in the excitement to try new tools.

Evan explains why new AI tools and existing vendors rolling out AI features both deserve the same scrutiny, and how to build a fair process for evaluating spend. The group gets tactical on contract structure, dual sourcing, tiered pricing, and why locking into one provider is risky when the space changes every few months. They also cover outcome based pricing and how budget expectations will tighten in 2027. Finally, Evan shares what he looks for when hiring and how he coaches his team to use AI for efficiency without losing original thought.

Key topics covered:

[00:00] Intro

[03:07] AI adoption outpacing governance

[05:08] Procurement as connective tissue

[07:04] Continuous sourcing replaces renewal events

[09:27] Automating low value procurement tasks

[11:29] Empowering stakeholders through smart intake

[14:34] Questions to ask new AI tools

[16:13] Legacy spend vs new spend scrutiny

[18:05] Piloting to prove Roi

[22:40] Dual sourcing and avoiding lock in

[24:08] Structuring AI contracts for flexibility

[28:01] Shift to outcome based pricing

[30:18] Budget reckoning coming in 2027

[36:02] High agency talent wins now

[39:47] Original thought vs AI regurgitation

[42:06] Coaching teams to keep their voice

Listen in for a practical look at how procurement can lead through the AI shift instead of getting swallowed by it.