‘AI is the new UI’: Coupa customers race to automate supply chains 

‘AI is the new UI’ for supply chain software

Dean Bain, Coupa’s general manager and senior vice president of supply chain, said companies are moving beyond simple generative AI chatbots toward “agentic AI” systems capable of automating operational tasks and making complex supply chain decisions.

“AI is the new UI,” Bain said during an interview Wednesday with FreightWaves. “As a software company, as an innovator in the space, if that’s not the direction we head, we will be behind.”

Coupa executives said the company has developed more than 20 AI agents and plans to expand that number significantly over the next year as it embeds automation directly into procurement and supply chain workflows.

Bain said Coupa’s AI “prescriptions” technology combines agentic AI with mathematical optimization to quickly evaluate transportation networks, warehouse capacity, supplier constraints and logistics scenarios.

“What we’re seeing is work that was taking four to six weeks is now being conducted in four to six hours,” Bain said.

Bain said digital twin technology is becoming increasingly important as manufacturers and retailers navigate tariffs, port congestion and geopolitical disruptions. Coupa’s digital twins create virtual representations of supply chains that allow companies to model sourcing shifts, transportation delays and inventory-balancing scenarios in real time.

“Tariffs is obviously a huge challenge for everyone right now,” Bain said. “Digital twins are allowing our customers to model those tariff scenarios.”

The systems also incorporate real-time news, social media and operational data feeds to evaluate potential disruptions across global trade networks, Bain said.

Sonepar redesigns fleet, delivery networks

A breakout session at Coupa Inspire 2026, led by Sundara Maddala, director of analytics at Sonepar USA, focused on how the electrical distributor is embedding transportation and logistics decisions directly into network design across its U.S. operations.

Sonepar USA operates roughly 600 facilities nationwide, including distribution centers and cross-docks, while relying heavily on private fleet operations to support tight delivery windows for construction customers.

Maddala detailed several optimization projects involving route redesigns, fleet right-sizing and hub-and-spoke distribution strategies following acquisitions in Florida and the Northeast. One project reduced the number of 26-foot box trucks from 68 to 43 while cutting weekly mileage and generating roughly $3.4 million in lease-cost savings, according to Maddala.

Another network redesign in U.S. Carolinas consolidated inventory into centralized distribution centers while improving delivery-service performance to as high as 95%-96%, Maddala said.

“There’s a big shift from how they operated to how they have to operate,” Maddala said. “Now the customer walks into the branch, places an order, and the branch manager has no say … He just has to trust that CDC will do all that work and then deliver it on time.”

Coupa, Celonis team up on AI-driven procurement

Coupa also announced Wednesday that it is collaborating with Celonis to integrate process intelligence tools into Coupa’s autonomous spend management platform. The companies said the integration will provide Coupa’s Navi AI agents with operational context designed to automate procurement workflows, reduce “value leakage” and improve spend visibility across enterprise systems.

The partnership allows customers to deploy Celonis Process Intelligence through the Coupa App Marketplace while combining Coupa’s spend-management data with Celonis’ operational analytics. The companies said the integration is aimed at reducing maverick buying, accelerating touchless invoicing and improving working capital management.

“AI Agents are only effective if they are fed the best data, intelligence and context,” Salvatore Lombardo, Coupa’s chief product and technology officer, said in a statement announcing the partnership.

Coupa honors partners for supply chain innovation

Coupa also recognized 16 partners during its Inspire 2026 Partner Summit for helping customers improve procurement operations and supply chain resilience. Awards included Global Partner of the Year for Accenture, Supply Chain Partner of the Year for Miebach Consulting and AI Partner of the Year for PwC.

“Our partners are the backbone of the Coupa community, helping our mutual customers drive margin growth and future-proof their operations,” Greg Harbor, Coupa’s chief partner officer, said in a statement.