ProcureTEX: Empowering procurement’s next frontier

Introducing ProcureTEX. 

A new kind of event has arrived – one built by the best-of-breed community, for procurement leaders driving real change.

Held for its inaugural event in Kings Place, London, on 17th September, and hosted by Keelvar, Beroe and Zip, ProcureTEX brought together the procurement community with proven best-of-breed technologies, so forward-thinking practitioners can build their own bespoke, integrated best-of-breed ecosystem to solve their biggest challenges. Designed for procurement leaders and digitalisation teams at large enterprises, the event was created for those seeking scalable, modern alternatives to legacy systems. 

The idea of ProcureTEX was born following a casual conversation between Alan Holland, CEO and founder at Keelvar, and Vel Dhinagaravel, CEO and founder at Beroe, who both felt there was a gap in the market for an event that could combine the best of innovation with providers and vendors of a certain scale that can be interoperable. They mused that while some events focus on innovation,  primarily attracting startups, and other conferences centre more on larger, more established players with a huge amount of pedigree – there was nothing quite like ProcureTEX out there. 

Having been described by Dhinagaravel as an “unconference” in his opening address, ProcureTEX wanted to put practitioners at the forefront and create a place for transparent discussion about the direction of travel for procurement amid significant digital transformation. 

One of the biggest successes of the event was the spotlight on peer-to-peer learning. In addition to speaker sessions and panel discussions, ProcureTEX provided practitioner-only sessions and workshops offering candid conversation, as well as a series of hackathons showcasing a deep-dive into real-world challenges. The result was an enthusiastic floor filled with a shared buzz and hunger for collaboration to achieve better outcomes for individuals and their procurement teams.

The first session was an engaging and educational keynote from Professor Mike Woolridge from the University of Oxford who stressed how “you can’t have an AI strategy without a data strategy.” Woolridge’s message set the tone for the day with speakers and attendees alike reinforcing the notion that clean, contextual data is procurement’s most valuable asset while also being its greatest challenge. No data, no AI.

Another notable theme from the day’s proceedings was that discussions about AI are now grounded in practice rather than hype. Real use cases were showcased, including a presentation on Roche’s AI orchestration journey delivered by Digital Procurement Solutions Lead, Martin Ward, and a discussion of how Siemens Energy is leveraging AI to tackle inflationary pressures. ProcureTEX highlighted that leading organisations are already “walking the talk”, when it comes to AI implementation. 

Given the rapid development of AI-powered procurement technologies, it can be challenging for people and organisations to always keep pace with the latest innovations. ProcureTEX showcased the skills gap in data literacy and comfort with AI tools as an important focus area for the industry. Satvinder Panesar, Data and Analytics Director at AstraZeneca, said it best: “If you’re not competent from a digital perspective, you’ll struggle. Many large enterprises are like big slow ships, while AI is moving so quickly.” 

Further, ProcureTEX demonstrated how the best-of-breed model is a viable alternative to purely traditional suites. The future is one of digital ecosystems with orchestration holding the keys to link it together. According to one attendee, orchestration is not simply workflow efficiency, but in fact, the data engine that powers AI and captures structured, high-fidelity data at every step. 

Attendees praised the vendor-alliance format with one declaring ProcureTEX as a “breath of fresh air” and “refreshingly human.” Posting on LinkedIn after the event, Channing Brazier, Partner and Alliances Manager EMEA at SpendHQ, said: “I’ve been to more procurement conferences than most people have hot dinners – and usually, they’re all about chasing leads like seagulls after chips. So I was genuinely curious to see how this new vendor-alliance format would play out compared to the usual big-platform and organiser-led marathons and honestly, it was a breath of fresh air. Instead of the usual sales pitch parade, the vibe was open, collaborative, and refreshingly human.”

Sourav Das, Senior Product Manager at Maersk, who also joined Head of Operational Excellence at Maersk, Dilip Nair, on stage for a practical look at real world transformation, shared how the event felt more like a “working session than a conference.” He said: “Great job done by Keelvar, Beroe and Zip – this feels like the start of something lasting!”

Following the success of its first event, ProcureTEX is keen to build momentum. Given the overwhelmingly positive response from attendees, event organisers are already planning how to launch future ProcureTEX conferences elsewhere in Europe or in the United States, amidst a drive to create an ongoing community that meets regularly.

“We felt there was a real gap in the market for us,” Jenny Rushforth, Vice President, Communications and Content at Beroe, told us towards the end of the event. “We wanted to put practitioners front and centre to make our event incredibly practical with lots of key takeaways. There are hackathons which show how best-of-breed providers can be interoperable and can come together to make more than the sum of their parts. We are hearing from customers that this is what they need right now. They don’t want massive enterprise systems or to feel overwhelmed with too many point solutions so we are showing that companies can come together and create a better solution.”

Procurement’s future is transformative and ever-changing. It is set to involve a blend of robust data foundations, creative usage of AI and collaborative problem solving which is transitioning away from theory into producing scalable solutions with real-world impact.

The tools exist, the use cases are real – and ProcureTEX aims to facilitate the discussions and collaboration needed to bring more organisations along on the journey.

What brought you to ProcureTEX and what are your thoughts about the event?

Clare Cassano, Head of Procurement, Strategy and Execution, Invesco

“It was an opportunity to meet with other practitioners. We are in this world of new digital solutions and are at different points of the journey. It’s a great opportunity to learn from each other.”

Kim Harris, Global Procurement, Senior Director of Digital Transformation, The Coca-Cola Company

“I was really excited to hear about ProcureTEX a few months ago. It’s a brand new event on the London circuit so I’m always looking to take in new procuretech events and experiences. I’ve loved what I found this morning and there’s been great engagement with other customers and suppliers. It’s been really interesting to hear what the speakers have had to say today.”

Kasia van Rijnberk, Procurement Team Lead, Source to Contract, Global Categories, FreislandCampina

“Curiosity brought me. I’m really interested in what the hype is, what other companies are doing and how digital transformation is evolving the industry.”

Harry Saurai, Global Procurement Technology Lead, Astellas Pharma

“I think it’s very important that we as an organisation and a wider community evolve with what is happening in procurement technology. For me personally, it’s about understanding what our peers are doing and listening to any lessons that they can share.”

Darshil Khimasiya, EU Demand Services Procurement Logistics Manager, Colgate-Palmolive

“We wanted to understand how the industry is changing. It’s a great place to come and see what other companies are doing in procurement and how they are leveraging AI.”

Jemima Ahmed, Digital Garage Advisor, bp

“Keelvar invited us here today and I was keen to see what it was all about and see what others are doing. I’m enjoying it, it’s a great event.”

Martin Ward, Digital Procurement Solutions Lead, Roche

“The primary reason for being here today was that I gave a presentation about our journey in orchestration and explained our learnings on what has been a long running initiative for us. It’s also been great to come and see how scale ups are working together and collaborating to show how the procuretech ecosystem can be vibrant and efficient. There’s huge value here.”

Why are events like ProcureTEX important for the industry?

Clare Cassano, Head of Procurement, Strategy and Execution, Invesco

“They are super important because the world is changing so quickly in procurement, particularly in the digital solution space. It can be really hard to keep up with the latest trends and what good looks like so coming to events like this can provide a view over what other people are utilising and doing day-to-day.”

Kim Harris, Global Procurement, Senior Director of Digital Transformation, The Coca-Cola Company

“This is the best opportunity to share knowledge, best practice and experiences with each other as large corporations so that we can come together and exchange ideas to help us all mature digitally in this fast paced environment.”

Kasia van Rijnberk, Procurement Team Lead, Source to Contract, Global Categories, FreislandCampina

“It’s about bringing people together. We all speak the same language. We have the same issues and challenges to face so we can work together to do better.”

Harry Saurai, Global Procurement Technology Lead, Astellas Pharma

“It’s the future. It’s a huge, emerging market. Events like this will equip us with the knowledge we need to succeed. AI is the magic word and we need to grasp that because that’s the future. Events like this are very important in order for us to adapt going forward.”

Darshil Khimasiya, EU Demand Services Procurement Logistics Manager, Colgate-Palmolive

“It’s about networking. I love finding similar challenges that everyone is facing, so coming to events like ProcureTEX gives us the ability to learn and take things on board to improve.”

Jemima Ahmed, Digital Garage Advisor, bp

“I’m quite new in the space, so listening to what other people have challenges in is really interesting. This is especially true in some of the more intimate sessions, where people ask questions so you can connect and relate with them. In the garage, we like to look at what others are doing to see if we can help them while also seeing if what they say can instil something in us too.”

Martin Ward, Digital Procurement Solutions Lead, Roche

“It shows an evolution and an increase in maturity. You’ve got scale ups who are getting together not only to showcase their own capability but also about how they can work with others. It gives more choice, increases confidence while also displaying resilience which is what we’re after. We need to be able to minimise our risk when we make investments when we look to deploy technology.”