Every procurement leader today knows the challenge: finding ways to cut costs and improve efficiency while managing growing demands and tighter budgets. For T. Rowe Price, a global investment firm, AI in procurement operations has been a game-changer. Last year, their procurement team saved $43 million, with contract AI as a major driver behind that success.

In a recent Evisort webinar, Optimize Procurement with Contract AI, Chief Procurement Officer Harold Wu Harold Wu shared how his team leverages AI to streamline procurement and uncover new savings. T. Rowe Price relies on procurement to drive strategic impact and strengthen operations company-wide, and Harold’s approach has positioned procurement as a valuable business partner across departments.

Here’s a look at the highlights from Harold and Mike’s conversation.

For many procurement teams, a lack of visibility into contracts can mean missed opportunities and unmanaged risks. As Harold put it, if you don’t know what’s in your contracts or where they are, “you’re driving with your eyes closed.” This lack of visibility led T. Rowe Price to create a single, reliable source of contract information.

With a global supplier contract repository in place, category managers at T. Rowe Price now oversee spending across categories like advertising and software, giving them a clear picture of where costs are going. As Harold said, “If you're not actively managing your spend, you can't generate savings or mitigate risk.” This is a key example of how the AI revolution in procurement is reshaping how organizations approach spend management and decision-making.

Getting the basics right was step one. Harold described this initial “1.0” phase as “bringing order and building out the infrastructure” by organizing contracts and getting in sync with the needs of different business units. This solid foundation allowed Harold’s team to create a system they could rely on.

Now, they’re in what Harold calls the “2.0” phase, focused on “increasing velocity and reducing friction.” This is where AI comes in. “I've talked about all this data that we sit on,” he explained. “How do we unlock the value in that data, specifically on our deliverables of contracts? And that’s why we selected Evisort.” This forward-thinking approach highlights the future of procurement with AI, where technology drives both efficiency and collaboration.

Before choosing a contract AI provider, Harold’s team evaluated five vendors to find the right fit. Their legal department also selected Evisort, which not only met both departments’ needs but also improved collaboration.

As Harold put it, “Legal respects people that know what they're talking about and who aren’t just coming to them with a problem, but with potential solutions.” By gathering contract insights that both teams can act on, Procurement and Legal now have more productive conversations around agreements and risk, creating a stronger partnership. These AI-driven solutions unlock contract data as a resource for smarter, faster decision-making across departments.

Like many other departments, Procurement faces an increasing number of regulations. Compliance with GDPR, DORA, and other standards is a constant priority. “GDPR, we’ve all lived through,” Harold noted. “DORA is now coming into the U.S., so we’re going to have to deal with those regulatory changes.” AI tools simplify compliance by making it easy to search and track relevant contract terms, keeping T. Rowe Price up-to-date and reducing the burden on Harold’s team.

Another practical benefit? With AI for vendor and contract management, T. Rowe Price is equipped to handle important communications across its vendor network. For instance, as they prepare to move headquarters, Harold’s team will need to notify numerous suppliers. Instead of searching each contract for contact details, they can quickly pull that information—saving time and resources.

During the webinar, Mike Stephens also discussed how T. Rowe Price’s procurement team uses AI-driven insights to capture savings. With AI tools, procurement teams can locate details like early payment discounts across all contracts, enabling them to act quickly and capture valuable savings through timely payments.

These insights are just part of what the webinar covered, so be sure to watch the full webinar to learn more.