AI Advisory Group partnered with the IT procurement division of a billion-dollar oil and gas service company to centralize purchasing, improve visibility, and cut operating costs across a newly consolidated enterprise.
The Opportunity
After a corporate consolidation, the company’s IT procurement operations were fragmented. Different divisions managed device purchasing independently, relying on inconsistent vendors and legacy systems.
The lack of a centralized process made it impossible to track spending, enforce vendor standards, or allocate costs accurately. Each group operated in isolation — duplicating effort, overpaying for equipment, and missing opportunities to negotiate better terms.
The challenge was to unify procurement under a single, transparent system that could support cost recovery, improve accountability, and simplify operations company-wide.
The Approach
AI Advisory Group began by mapping the procurement journey from request to chargeback. This uncovered not just data gaps, but cultural ones — different teams had built their own processes based on convenience, not strategy.
Through stakeholder interviews and workflow analysis, we identified the core requirements for success:
A centralized structure for tracking inventory and orders.
Standardized vendor management tied to the Approved Vendor List (AVL).
Accurate chargeback mechanisms to ensure budget fairness across divisions.
Real-time visibility for leadership to monitor costs and procurement volume.
Given the company’s uncertainty about available market options, a comprehensive vendor assessment was conducted. After evaluating various solutions, considering budget constraints, and emphasizing the importance of chargeback tracking, a decision was made to create a custom application using a low-code platform. This approach allowed for cost control and rapid customization as needed.
The Solution
A new procurement management system was designed to bring structure and accountability to every stage of the process.
The solution featured:
Unified Procurement Requests: One place for all equipment orders, tracked from submission to fulfillment.
Central Inventory Management: Full visibility into device availability, usage, and cost.
Chargeback Automation: Accurate allocation of costs back to the appropriate departments, improving financial transparency.
Performance Dashboards: Real-time reporting for leadership, showing spend by category, vendor, and division.
The new process also empowered the company’s newly formed centralized IT procurement team to manage vendor relationships proactively — ensuring consistency, compliance, and long-term scalability.
The Impact
The impact was immediate and measurable:
50% cost reduction in the first year through consolidation and process efficiency.
70% projected savings from improved vendor negotiation and reduced software licensing costs.
Centralized procurement that gave leadership full visibility into company-wide spending.
Improved financial accountability across divisions through transparent chargebacks and reporting.
What began as an effort to fix inefficiencies evolved into a company-wide shift toward smarter, more accountable procurement.
The Takeaway
This engagement proved that the right process can outperform any platform. By validating business needs before investing in technology, the company achieved meaningful cost savings, restored control, and created a scalable procurement model that continues to deliver results.