What If Managing Spend Was as Simple as Asking a Question? Meet Ask Tropic

Kristy McCown

December 19, 2024

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4 min read

At Tropic, we’ve always believed that spend management shouldn’t be a chore. Historically, procurement and finance teams have been plagued by disconnected systems, manual processes, and endless data silos. That’s why Tropic AI was born: to provide teams with a smarter approach to managing spend data. Last month, we took our first step by introducing AI-driven tools to tackle negotiations, price benchmarks, and shadow spend.

And we knew this was just the beginning.

You don’t just need AI tools— you need partners. As our CFO Russell Lester said in a recent webinar, for our finance and procurement functions, it’s about AI in context, from partners that understand the growing responsibilities and pressures you face, whether that’s improving efficiency, aligning with compliance, or simply managing the expanding volume of data at their fingertips.

Today, we’re taking that vision further with Ask Tropic: a natural language tool that allows you to interact with your data as easily as having a conversation.

No more digging for answers. No more bouncing between tools. Just simple, intuitive access to the information and insights you need to make decisions and move work forward.

What Is Ask Tropic?

Ask Tropic is like having a procurement expert on standby—ready to answer questions, initiate actions, and uncover insights from your spend data. And the best part? You can ask almost anything about your spend data in plain English. Whether you need details on a supplier, status updates on renewals, or guidance during negotiations, it’s all a single query away.

Why Did We Build This?

For finance and procurement leaders, the stakes have never been higher. You’re expected to do more with less:

Efficiency: How do you eliminate the manual processes that waste time and energy?
Visibility: How do you surface insights to make better decisions—without combing through endless systems?
Control: How do you ensure compliance, prevent overspending, and negotiate smarter?

Ask Tropic answers all of these questions. You can save time, reduce risk, and focus on decisions that drive the business forward.

What Can You Do with It?

Here’s how Ask Tropic transforms the way you work:

1. Get Answers, Instantly

Procurement and finance data can be hard to access when it’s spread across platforms. With Ask Tropic, you can ask questions the way you naturally think about them—and get answers immediately.

“Which contracts are renewing this quarter?”
“Show me my active suppliers with annual spend over $50K.”
“Which open purchase requests have been inactive for 14 days?”

Eliminate hours spent searching for data and focus on driving outcomes for your business.

2. Take Action Without Leaving Your Flow

Initiating requests—whether for a new purchase, a renewal, or approvals—used to require multiple steps and tools. Now, you can handle it all through a single, unified interface.

“Create a renewal request for our Figma contract.”
“Start a purchase request for new tools for the marketing team.”

Simple queries trigger real actions, helping you move forward faster.

3. Unlock Supplier Insights and Negotiation Power

Ask Tropic doesn’t just answer questions—it delivers insights that make your life easier. Get instant supplier intel, price benchmarks, and negotiation guidance tailored to your specific contracts and requests.

“What’s Figma’s pricing structure?”
“Are we getting a competitive price on this contract?”
“What negotiation strategies work best with this supplier?”

Equip your team with data-backed insights to drive better outcomes and reduce costs.

4. Validate Requests for Policy Compliance

Ensuring every request and contract meets procurement policies can be cumbersome—but it doesn’t have to be. Ask Tropic checks documents and requests against your company’s requirements, flagging any potential issues.

“Is this order compliant with our procurement policy?”
“Did this contract go through the right approval process?”

It’s like having a built-in policy check, saving time and reducing errors.

More Time, Better Decisions, Bigger Results

Our customers are already saving hours with Tropic AI, and Ask Tropic takes that impact even further:

Save Time: Teams reduce manual procurement tasks by up to 50%, reclaiming hours every week.
Improve Outcomes: Customers tapping Tropic’s data and services are seeing 15-20% savings on software.
Ensure Control: Built-in policy checks and instant data access keep processes compliant and on track.

‍A Simpler Future for Finance and Procurement leaders

Your role is evolving. You’re not just managing costs—you’re driving strategy, efficiency, and growth. But with data growing exponentially and resources stretched thin, traditional processes simply can’t keep up.

This upcoming launch is part of a bigger goal at Tropic: to create tools that don’t just manage data but make work easier, smarter, and more strategic. Ask Tropic is a major step in that direction and will be available to Tropic customers next month.

It provides simplification of this complex new world by giving you the tools to move faster, think smarter, and lead with confidence. We’re not here to bolt flashy AI features onto a platform. We’re here to transform how businesses manage spend, for good.