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Course · PST-01
The Procurement Toolsmith
AI for procurement: build your own tools, then put AI agents to work with proper controls. Interactive, practical, and written for people who buy, source and manage contracts.
- Price
- £19.99 one-off
- Time
- 3 to 5 hours
- Modules
- 10, with tests
- Level
- No coding needed
- Content reviewed
- October 2026
Who it's for
You'll get the most from it if you
- work in buying, sourcing, category or contract management
- run part of your process on spreadsheets that grew by accident
- keep hearing about AI agents and want to know what's real
What you need
- a laptop or desktop with a modern browser
- any mainstream AI assistant. Free tiers are enough.
- three to five hours, in as many sittings as you like
Course outline
- 01
Why this matters now
How AI is changing procurement work in 2026, and why being able to specify a tool is now more useful than being able to code one.
- 02
Chat, build, delegate
The three ways to use AI, the vocabulary you actually need, and how to choose which AI assistant to use.
- 03
The offline tool
Single-file tools that run in your browser and keep data on your machine, plus five checks to prove a tool really is local.
- 04
Briefing the AI
The BRIEF method for writing build prompts, a prompt builder, and a troubleshooting guide for when things go wrong.
- 05
Build 1: Contract tracker
Build a renewal tracker with RAG-rated notice deadlines, then enter your results to check them against the expected answers. A reference version is included if you get stuck.
- 06
Build 2: Tender scoring
Weighted scoring under the Procurement Act 2023, with justifications, a locked method and correct handling of ties. Moderation and summary drafting are optional extensions.
- 07
Build 3: Spend analyser
An optional stretch build that turns a finance export into a view of where spend concentrates, your supplier tail and possible duplicates. Sample data is provided.
- 08
Agents
What agents are, where they live in 2026, which decisions stay with people, and how to write an agent specification with approval gates.
- 09
Guardrails
UK GDPR, commercial confidentiality, PPN 017, prompt injection and permission creep, plus a hygiene checklist for every tool you build.
- 10
Final assessment
Your 30-day plan, an 11-question final assessment, and your certificate.
How you're assessed
Every module ends with a short test. Every answer, right or wrong, comes with an explanation, so the tests teach as well as check. You need 80% to move on, and you can retake as often as you like.
The core builds go further than a tick-box. You enter the figures your own tool produces, and the course checks them against the expected results. If your tracker's totals are wrong, you'll know before you trust it with real contracts.
Your certificate
Founder, Young ProcurementYP-AIT-EXAMPLE
Verify online
When you complete every module and pass the final assessment, you receive a certificate of completion showing the builds you verified and your final score. You can print it or save it as a PDF.
Each certificate has a unique ID. Anyone can check it on our verification page, which confirms the name, course, date and score.
This is a certificate of completion for independent training. It isn't a formal qualification and isn't endorsed by CIPS.
Good to know
Your data stays yours. You build every tool with made-up test data, so nothing confidential goes to an AI service. The course also teaches you to check that a finished tool keeps real data on your own machine.
Up to date, and dated. AI products change monthly. Product details in the course carry a review date (currently October 2026), and the course is updated as things change.
Your progress follows you. Progress saves to your account, so you can start on a work laptop and carry on at home.