LightSource launches AI workforce for direct procurement

LightSource has launched LightSource AI Workforce for direct materials sourcing, adding five functions aimed at procurement teams that still rely on email and spreadsheets.

The new offering covers data analytics, item ingestion, request-for-quote setup, supplier activation and award optimisation. The tools are designed for direct procurement work and sit within LightSource's broader software platform linking engineering, procurement teams and suppliers.

LightSource is targeting a large part of the market that, it argues, has not adopted specialist sourcing software. It says only 18% of procurement teams use a professional sourcing tool, leaving most teams to manage sourcing activity through manual processes.

The release focuses on work that often absorbs large amounts of staff time. Ask LightSource lets users query spend, suppliers, sourcing pipelines and sourcing history in plain English, while the item ingestion function extracts data from drawings, spreadsheets, PDFs, images and other files, then standardises item records.

Another function, RFX Setup, is intended to reduce the time needed to build quote templates by standardising formats across teams. Supplier Activation is designed to automate reminders and supplier responses, while Award Optimization lets users set constraints such as cost, location and lead times before comparing scenarios for negotiation and award decisions.

Spencer Penn, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of LightSource, said the company sees a longstanding gap in the tools available to procurement professionals.

"The direct procurement professional has been under-tooled for decades," said Spencer Penn, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of LightSource.

"We built LightSource to fix that. These new capabilities give CPOs the ability to act, not just advise, across the full sourcing cycle," Penn said.

Early customer use offers an initial measure of adoption. In the first two months, more than 3,300 items were processed and more than 250 quote formats were created using the new system, according to LightSource.

One early customer, described as a global automotive supplier, used the Ask LightSource analytics function to change how it tracks requests for quotation. LightSource said the customer managed more than 100 RFQs each week across several regions and commodities, while manual tracking and data mining consumed 20% to 30% of the programme management team's capacity.

According to the company, the customer reduced reporting work from weeks to minutes. In one case, the system identified that engineering drawings had not been uploaded, allowing a programme manager to contact the engineering team through LightSource Messages and remove a sourcing bottleneck.

AI controls

LightSource said the system is built on an architecture that separates AI reasoning from data operations. Every action also requires user approval before execution, a point the company presents as important for procurement teams wary of inaccurate AI outputs.

That distinction reflects a broader concern among corporate buyers over reliability and control in software that generates or processes commercial information. Procurement functions often handle large supplier bases, technical specifications and contract-sensitive pricing data, making traceability and human review central to adoption decisions.

Idan Mintz, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of LightSource, said the software improves as it is used across sourcing workflows.

"Every sourcing cycle, supplier interaction, and award decision makes the system sharper," said Idan Mintz, Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of LightSource.

"That compounding context is the difference between a tool that assists and one that changes how a team works," Mintz said.

Market focus

LightSource positions itself around direct materials sourcing, which differs from indirect procurement because it involves parts, components and materials tied directly to product manufacturing. The company argues that many existing procurement suites were built around indirect spend categories and do not match the pace or data complexity of direct sourcing.

This focus also places LightSource in a segment of procurement technology where engineering teams, sourcing managers and suppliers need to work from the same product and cost data. In practice, that means managing drawings, bills of materials, supplier quotes and programme updates in a single workflow rather than across email threads and disconnected files.

LightSource said its customer base includes Amazon, Conair, Canada Goose and Shure. Its new workforce tools are already live, with first-use figures showing more than 3,300 items processed and more than 250 quote formats created.