I found this article on SupplyManagement.com.
Technology could make buyers redundant within the next five years. This is the view of professor Richard Lamming, director of the school of management at the University of Southampton. Technology trend to replace manpower is obvious. Now, if you want my opinion, having buyers redundant within the next 5 years looks irrealistic to me but, more interestingly, I simply appreciate the concept of “deal shapers” when the professor Richard Lamming says:
“purchasers will be replaced by improved technology and a new breed of “deal shapers”
Worth a look?