Jason Busch makes a strong case that procurement was never really about the auction. The auction was just the visible moment. What drove results was everything before and after it: how clearly requirements were defined, how well suppliers were prepared, and whether the business could turn a negotiated number into something real.

Jason came to procurement from history and academia, then built a career across consulting, research, analysis, and startups. He explains why reverse auctions were often misunderstood, why so many companies chased savings without the process to realize them, and why specification quality shapes outcomes more than most teams admit.

As AI improves, he asks what part of procurement still needs human judgment, from RFQs and RFPs to direct versus indirect spend and the future of the automotive industry.