New Coupa research highlights a widening gap between industry leaders and laggards, underscoring the urgent need to modernize direct procurement using AI

FOSTER CITY, Calif., April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The recently released report, State of Direct Spend 2026, from Coupa, the leading platform for autonomous spend management, reveals that direct procurement-related disruptions cost organizations an average of $16 million annually – with nearly every respondent experiencing significant supply disruptions within the last 24 months.

These staggering costs arrive as direct procurement reaches a critical inflection point. While 39% of organizations still view the function as a basic operational necessity, 72% expect it to evolve into a strategic contributor or a competitive advantage within three years. However, alleviating potential costs and maintaining agility requires overcoming massive internal hurdles. Respondents cited legacy systems (58%), data quality and fragmentation (51%), and integration complexity (42%) as the primary barriers to modernization.

The research identified a severe and widening capability gap between procurement “Leaders” and “Laggards”, with Leaders demonstrating early adoption of AI-driven technologies in helping to solve issues:

60% of Leaders can detect supplier reliability and price risk early, compared to just 26% of Laggards.Laggards are 2.4x more likely to lose revenue due to fulfillment failures.53% of Leaders are piloting, scaling, or running AI in procurement, whereas 64% of Laggards are still just exploring use cases or have not started at all.

By industry sector, the Industrial Machinery sector is seeing the highest operational risk, with 63% experiencing unplanned production shutdowns. Yet it is also the least prepared for cascade failures, with only 32% conducting quarterly scenario modeling or continuous optimization with AI digital twins. In contrast, the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) sector leads in sourcing sophistication – with over half of respondents operating at a Level 3 sourcing maturity or above. The Freight & Logistics sector is operationally the most resilient, but structurally constrained by legacy systems – 60% cite legacy systems as their #1 modernization barrier, more than any other sector surveyed.

“The survey data is clear – better management of direct spend and its processes can either significantly contribute to, or hinder, corporate growth. The good news is that Coupa is helping many customers address this issue by unifying direct and indirect spend data, and embedding intelligence into continuous decision-making workflows, transforming procurement from a tactical cost-center into a proactive driver of strategic enterprise growth,” said Vikram Pathak, Coupa Chief Product Officer, Direct Spend. “Coupa helps organizations unify and align their supply chain, finance, and procurement operations from design to payments, enabling them to build more adaptive supply chains, intelligently manage total spend and supply, and protect and grow their margins.”

Download the full State of Direct Spend report here.

Methodology
Incisiv surveyed 133 senior leaders across the CPG, Freight & Logistics, and Industrial Machinery sectors in North America and EMEA.

About Coupa
Coupa is the leading platform for autonomous spend management. Using its trusted, community-generated, $9.5 trillion dataset, Coupa brings evidence-based intelligence and autonomous AI agents to a network of 10M+ buyers and suppliers on a unified platform. Coupa seamlessly automates the purchasing and transaction process for buyers and suppliers alike, powering the #1 business trade network. With Coupa, you’ll make margins multiply™. Learn more at coupa.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).

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SOURCE Coupa Software

 The agreement positions Meta at the forefront of a new category of energy infrastructure strengthening America’s energy leadership

ASHBURN, Va., April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Overview Energy and Meta today announced a first-of-its-kind agreement and partnership to advance American-built space solar energy with initial orbital demonstration in 2028 and commercial power delivery expected in 2030.

To support AI infrastructure deployment across the United States, Meta is taking an innovative step to enable and secure access to new power technology designed for modular scalability. The agreement gives Meta early access to capacity from Overview’s space solar energy system of up to 1GW. The system collects solar energy in space and beams it to existing solar facilities on the ground, where it is converted into electricity, allowing these assets to maximize utilization and produce power around-the-clock.

“Space solar technology represents a transformative step forward by leveraging existing terrestrial infrastructure to deliver new, uninterrupted energy from orbit. We’re excited to partner with Overview Energy to pioneer innovative energy solutions to advance our AI ambitions and infrastructure,” said Nat Sahlstrom, VP of Energy and Sustainability, Meta. “This collaboration demonstrates our commitment to innovation – leveraging cutting-edge technology to strengthen America’s energy leadership.”

With this capacity reservation agreement, Meta is one of the first major companies to secure rights for future space solar energy capacity delivered from orbit to the grid.

“Space is becoming part of America’s energy infrastructure,” said Marc Berte, CEO of Overview Energy. “Our approach to space solar energy enables hyperscalers and technology providers to secure clean power with reliable siting, and speed to power. “Together with Meta, we’re looking beyond traditional constraints on where and when power can be delivered to meet the growing demand for electricity.”

Overview’s satellites collect continuous sunlight in geosynchronous orbit and beam it to existing solar projects on the ground as low-intensity, near-infrared light. By extending the hours that solar installations can generate power, the system is designed to significantly increase their output without requiring new land, fuel, or lengthy grid interconnection processes. Overview’s beam is invisible, less intense than sunlight, and passively safe for humans, animals, and aircraft. The technology is engineered to meet U.S. regulatory, grid integration, and safety standards. Overview’s advisory board includes Jim Bridenstine, former NASA Administrator and Congressman; Mike Griffin, former NASA Administrator; and Joseph Kelliher, former FERC Chairman and EVP of Regulatory at NextEra.

The agreement between Meta and Overview marks an important step toward making space solar energy a practical component of America’s energy infrastructure mix—one capable of supporting a growing economy that depends on always available, high-quality power.

About Overview Energy
Overview Energy is turning uninterrupted sunlight in space into directable energy on Earth. Its satellites will collect solar energy 24/7 in geosynchronous orbit and beam it to receivers on the ground—existing and future utility-scale solar projects—as safe near-infrared light. The system will be able to shift power across continents in real time based on demand, without changing infrastructure on the ground. Founded in 2022, Overview has already achieved first-of-its-kind power beaming from a moving airborne platform and is backed by leading investors in energy and aerospace.

About Meta

Meta is building the future of human connection, powered by artificial intelligence and immersive technologies. When Facebook launched in 2004, it changed the way people connect. Apps like Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp further empowered billions around the world. Now, Meta is moving beyond 2D screens toward experiences that foster deeper connections and unlock new possibilities.

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SOURCE Overview Energy

The standard for Climate Risk Financial Modeling now connects physical exposure to earnings,
credit, and valuation for institutional investors.

NEW YORK, April 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — As physical climate risk continues to shape investment decisions, investment teams still lack consistent, actionable data to translate that risk into financial terms. To meet this need, First Street has formally expanded its climate risk coverage beyond real estate to include companies and complex infrastructure assets, giving investors a more complete view of how physical exposure affects earnings, credit, and valuations across markets.

Founded nearly a decade ago as a research nonprofit, First Street has built a global foundation in property-level climate risk modeling, with coverage spanning billions of buildings worldwide. Its peer-reviewed, proprietary models quantify the likelihood and severity of hazards such as floods, wildfires, and extreme temperatures, translating physical exposure into estimates of damage, downtime, and financial loss.

Building on this foundation, First Street has developed two new modules that extend Climate Risk Financial Modeling across corporate balance sheets and infrastructure portfolios:

The Company Module connects physical climate risk to financial outcomes across corporate footprints and supply chains to earnings, credit, and valuation. It quantifies how disruptions at specific sites, suppliers, and infrastructure nodes flow through to company performance, helping equity and credit analysts assess when physical risk becomes material to the P&L.

The Complex Assets Module extends analysis beyond individual properties to infrastructure systems and large-scale sites, including transportation networks, data centers, energy systems, and industrial campuses. It captures exposure across entire routes and parcels, identifying the specific segments or sub-assets that drive vulnerability, and giving infrastructure investors, lenders, and operators the asset-level detail needed for more targeted capital planning and resilience investment.

Together, these modules close a structural gap in how institutional investors evaluate physical risk. Exposure at the property level can affect infrastructure performance, disrupt supply chains, and ultimately influence big-picture financial outcomes. Evaluating these interdependencies within a consistent framework lets asset owners, asset managers, and other financial institutions price physical risk across due diligence, underwriting, and capital allocation.

“Earth Day increasingly reflects how climate risk is being integrated into financial decisions across the system,” said Matthew Eby, CEO and Founder of First Street. “Our expansion into companies and infrastructure builds on our foundation in real estate and aligns with how risk actually moves, from individual assets through to financial performance.”

First Street’s data and analytics are used by institutional investors, corporations, and financial institutions to identify exposure, assess financial materiality, and integrate physical climate risk into investment strategy and operations.

Complete coverage of these asset types is available to investors, financial institutions, governments, and corporations in the First Street Enterprise Suite. To learn more, visit firststreet.org.

About First Street:
At First Street, we are on a mission to connect climate and financial risk. For nearly a decade, our scientists have created transparent, peer-reviewed physical climate risk models that quantify the financial impacts of perils such as flooding, wildfire, and extreme wind events for every property in the world. In December 2024, we launched the First Street Enterprise Suite, a global software platform that transforms our models into actionable financial signals for decision-makers worldwide. First Street is the standard for Climate Risk Financial Modeling, empowering asset owners, asset managers, governments, real estate investors, corporations, and millions of homebuyers every day to make climate informed decisions.

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SOURCE First Street Technology, Inc.