AI to ROI: Case Study - Dun & Bradstreet
A Better Way to Do Supplier Risk Evaluation
CASE STUDY: Dun & Bradstreet, Advancing the Business of Supplier Risk Evaluation
Company Profile
Dun & Bradstreet is a leading global provider of business decisioning data and analytics, playing a critical role in helping businesses evaluate and manage risk worldwide.
Dun & Bradstreet’s Data Cloud contains over 590 million trusted, proprietary data records on public and private companies worldwide, making it a cornerstone of the global business ecosystem relied upon by governments, corporations, and other entities for strategic business decisions.
The Challenge
Dun & Bradstreet recognized that procurement executives across industries faced significant obstacles in supplier evaluation and vendor selection. Procurement teams were mired in manual, time-consuming processes that lacked real-time visibility into critical supplier information. Key challenges included:
Manual data entry processes are prone to errors and inefficiencies
Lengthy research cycles during routine supplier evaluations and onboarding
Limited ability to conduct comprehensive 360-degree risk assessments quickly
Difficulty accessing real-time insights on supplier financials, ESG performance, beneficial ownership, and compliance
Multi-step analyses that consumed hours or even days of professional time
Inadequate visibility into supplier risks, including fraud potential, financial health, and business stability
“We examined challenges such as: What is the reputation of the supplier you are choosing? Do they have the ESG characteristics that you want? How can we automate processes to onboard suppliers in a faster way?”
Ginny Gomez, President of North America at Dun & Bradstreet
The Solution & Implementation
To address these challenges, Dun & Bradstreet partnered with IBM to develop D&B Ask Procurement, a generative AI assistant that transforms supplier risk evaluation. The collaboration brought together Dun & Bradstreet’s comprehensive Data Cloud with IBM’s advanced artificial intelligence capabilities.
Implementation Team & Expertise
The implementation team featured a multi-disciplinary approach combining expertise from both organizations:
IBM Consulting engaged engineering, technology, data analytics, and governance specialists
IBM Expert Labs fine-tuned and tailored AI functionalities for specific procurement tasks
Dun & Bradstreet contributed data science and domain expertise in business risk evaluation
Cross-functional teams integrated the solution with existing procurement workflows
Technology Partners & Platforms
The solution leveraged cutting-edge technology from multiple sources:
IBM WatsonX Orchestrate for AI assistant capabilities and workflow automation
IBM Watsonx.ai with an agentic AI framework for advanced reasoning and autonomous decision-making
IBM Cloud for infrastructure and deployment
The Meta Llama 3 and Mistral large language models for natural language processing
Dun & Bradstreet Data Cloud provides 580+ million business entity records
Integration capabilities with existing ERP and procurement systems
Implementation Process
IBM Consulting introduced the IBM Garage methodology, which enables rapid prototyping and iterative improvements to achieve desired outcomes quickly.
The initial pilot integrated advanced AI capabilities to create a conversational chat experience that automates repetitive tasks and simplifies complex procurement processes.
The solution was designed to query deep supplier data using advanced AI to interpret information, eliminating time-consuming manual data entry and reducing errors.
Results & ROI
D&B Ask Procurement delivers measurable business value across multiple dimensions:
Efficiency Gains
10-20% reduction in time for procurement tasks, leading to significant cost savings
Multi-step analyses transformed from hours to seconds
Automated routine due diligence processes, reducing manual effort
Enhanced Decision-Making Capabilities
Comprehensive, nearly instantaneous 360-degree insights into supplier risk evaluation
Real-time access to supplier risk, financial, ESG metrics, beneficial ownership, legal filings, and events information
Ability to compare multiple suppliers quickly based on critical risk criteria
Predictive analytics for identifying cost-saving opportunities
Risk Mitigation
Improved ability to anticipate potential supplier issues and take preemptive measures
Enhanced fraud detection through comprehensive data analysis
Better evaluation of supplier disruption risks and contract compliance
Secure continuity and stability throughout value chains
Customer Relationship Impact
Faster, more informed strategic decisions supporting business growth
Enhanced ability to meet compliance requirements and ESG objectives
More efficient supplier onboarding improves vendor relationships
Greater transparency in supplier selection processes
“D&B Ask Procurement unlocks the full depth and breadth of Dun & Bradstreet’s content for procurement professionals to be able to quickly access a 360-degree view of a company’s business relationships and make more informed decisions. We’re committed to fusing Dun & Bradstreet’s trusted data and analytics with the Gen AI capabilities of IBM WatsonX Orchestrate to power solutions like D&B Ask Procurement that deliver meaningful competitive advantages to our customers’ businesses.”
Brian Filanowski, General Manager, Finance & Risk Solutions, Dun & Bradstreet:
“Our team was impressed by the depth of experience the IBM team brought to the table and the capabilities available through watsonx Orchestrate. Our procurement customers will be able to make comprehensive decisions faster and more efficiently, helping to improve their strategic planning, risk management, and mitigation.”
Gary Kotovets, Chief Data and Analytics Officer at Dun & Bradstreet
IBM Case Study, IBM Newsroom, Dun & Bradstreet Product Page, Procurment Magazine, IBM WatsonX Announcement
The AI to ROI Newsletter
Subscribe to AI to ROI here to receive daily insights on turning your AI projects into real business results.
The AI to ROI Podcast
If you want to listen to the latest in AI in more detail, Peter and Ray break down our big AI story of the week on the AI to ROI podcast. We also interview leaders at AI companies and mid- to large-sized enterprises about their challenges and successes in AI.
This past week, we discussed the SaaS-to-AI-First transformation that most SaaS companies are facing, especially in light of the SaaS-pocalypse.
Click here to listen or subscribe using your favorite podcasting app.