Since then, the agency has built on an initial success to become one of the first in the nation to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into its procurement processes, with Celonis Process Copilot.
The tool uses a digital twin of the state’s financial and procurement data from PeopleSoft, the state’s enterprise resources planning system, to provide detailed insights into financial processes and data in near real time. It takes compiled data, examines each system and outlines inefficiencies to identify opportunities for improvement.
Since its launch, it has flagged $6.8 billion in purchasing inefficiencies, leading to renegotiated contracts and a new level of transparency around procurement budgets.
Before the implementation, Janet Morrow, director of OMES Risk, Assessment and Compliance said via email, state procurement audits were slow and labor-intensive. The state could only complete up to eight audits per year and officials often reviewed purchases that were already two to three years old. Following a legislative report that found $3 billion in state purchases lacked OMES oversight, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt directed the office to audit all procurement for over 100 agencies within a limited time frame.
“By leveraging the Celonis Process Intelligence platform, OMES was able to review all state procurement within just 60 days of launching the tool,” Morrow said. But steering AI-driven procurement oversight across more than 100 agencies was not without challenges.
“Change management was the most difficult piece to implementing the Celonis Process Intelligence platform,” Morrow said. “Educating the state’s buyers on the tool and how it would be utilized was the biggest hurdle.”
As the system matured, automation and AI-driven data helped ease the transition. Buyers could receive auto-generated alerts highlighting errors, allowing them to stay up-to-date on corrections and “further mitigate risk in how taxpayer dollars are spent,“ according to Morrow.
The tool’s comprehensive approach has helped cost-saving significantly, Morrow said, offering opportunities to expand existing statewide contracts and create new ones “by pulling all procurement into a single pane of glass that reveals opportunities to leverage economies of scale.“
In one case, the platform uncovered instances of agencies purchasing directly from a vendor at prices 45 percent lower than those outlined in the existing statewide contract. This, Morrow said, “enabled the state purchasing director to require a renegotiation of the statewide contract to reflect better pricing.“
Beyond cost savings, Celonis’ AI capabilities have brought forth another integral benefit: accountability.
“Real-time AI analysis has increased accountability for the way agencies manage procurement by providing key insights into spending patterns, identifying cost-savings opportunities and streamlining contract utilization,“ Morrow said. “This allows agencies to make more-informed decisions, reduce procurement times and better allocate resources to ensure they can remain focused on their core missions for taxpayers.“
State employees have responded positively to the platform, specifically to its ability to clarify procurement laws, Morrow said.
With procurement optimization well underway in OMES, Oklahoma is now utilizing Celonis in other areas, expanding into Workday, the state’s human resources platform; and to OMES’ service delivery ticketing system, to examine the overall utilization of manpower and the time frames to complete procurement.
Other states could find opportunities for the platform, Morrow said, due to its “agnostic” nature. The company is already partnering with federal agencies to identify similar opportunities for efficiency improvements.
Oklahoma's adoption, Morrow said, has revolutionized its procurement approach and created a lasting shift toward greater efficiency and effectiveness.
“By utilizing process intelligence for data mining and procurement efficiencies, state agencies can identify redundancies in processes that prevent agencies from focusing on their core missions to better serve the taxpayers of Oklahoma,” Morrow said. “In short, the state is doing more with less, saving taxpayer dollars and ensuring maximum compliance with state purchasing laws.”
