Ivalua has launched IVA Studio, an artificial intelligence system for procurement and supply chain teams. It centres on a single agent, called IVA, that operates across the company's source-to-pay platform.
The launch adds a new layer to Ivalua's software, allowing teams to handle tasks such as sourcing, invoicing and supplier risk management through one interface rather than separate tools. The system can act within workflows, support users in conversations and run some processes in the background.
Ivalua presented the product as a way for procurement teams to cope with supplier risk, compliance requirements, cost control and disruption. IVA Studio manages the skills, permissions, tools and external integrations used by IVA.
For example, a category manager could ask the system to retrieve an expiring contract, compare it with other agreements, identify stronger suppliers, create an RFx and launch the event in a single exchange. In accounts payable, the software can check invoices against prices, purchase orders and contract terms contained in documents.
Single agent
Ivalua's approach is to offer one agent across the full source-to-pay process rather than a collection of separate agents for different tasks. For more complex work, IVA can create and coordinate temporary sub-agents.
The system has access to the full source-to-pay application as both its knowledge source and toolset. According to Ivalua, this means it can carry out actions available to a user from the outset without separate integration or configuration work inside the platform.
David Khuat-Duy, Founder & Chief AI Officer at Ivalua, said this sets the product apart from rival approaches that require companies to build and configure agents before they can use them.
"Procurement teams have typically had to spend time building and configuring AI agents before seeing any results. Ivalua's approach is entirely different: IVA accesses the Ivalua platform as its toolset and source of knowledge, so procurement can start getting value from day one, within a framework of governance that's enforced by design," said Khuat-Duy.
Governance focus
Governance is central to the launch. IVA inherits the permissions of the person using it and cannot go beyond those limits.
When the software runs autonomously in a workflow, it still operates within the boundaries of an accountable user and can fall back on human review where needed. Every action is logged in an audit trail, giving procurement leaders a record of what the system has done.
This emphasis reflects a wider issue for companies adopting AI in finance, procurement and supply chain operations, where approval rights, compliance checks and internal controls are closely monitored. By tying AI permissions to existing user permissions, Ivalua is seeking to address concerns that autonomous systems could act outside established governance rules.
Skills framework
IVA Studio is built on a skills framework similar to those used by leading AI research groups. In practice, that means organisations can encode sourcing methods, negotiation tactics and compliance rules as reusable skills for the system to follow.
Those skills allow teams to turn individual know-how into a shared operating model. A new employee using IVA could therefore draw on existing internal practices rather than rely solely on personal experience.
The system also keeps a memory of interactions and can improve over time, according to Ivalua. Customers can manage the tools IVA uses, the external systems it connects to through Model Context Protocol support and the large language models on which it runs.
Ivalua added that the system is model-agnostic, allowing customers either to use models provided by the company or bring their own. That gives IT teams, partners and customers scope to tailor how the software works and which systems it connects with.
Franck Lheureux, Chief Executive Officer of Ivalua, positioned the launch as part of a broader shift in how procurement teams organise their work.
"At Ivalua, we believe the future of procurement is not AI, it's people using AI to deliver better and faster results. IVA, powered by IVA Studio, is a decisive step forward into a new era for procurement, one full of disruptive challenges and exciting opportunities. With IVA, procurement teams can focus on what they do best: building strategies and relationships, internally and externally. We are thrilled to lead this journey with our customers and partners," said Lheureux.
Ivalua said it works with more than 500 brands through its spend and supplier management platform.