World Procurement Congress is the most senior gathering of procurement leaders globally, bringing together over 150 CPOs. A flagship global gathering in the Procurement Leaders event calendar, more than 1,200 procurement professionals from over 53 countries descended on InterContinental London in May for the congress, hosted by Procurement Leaders. Nandini Basuthakur, CEO of Procurement Leaders, opened the event with a stirring speech about what 2026’s theme – Designing the Future – really means.
The core tenets of this, Basuthakur said, are people, agents, and speed. The challenge she put forward to the crowd revolved around making sure humans are still empowered in an AI-shaped world, using agents to their best and fullest potential, and moving quickly without losing direction. No mean feat, but one which immediately set an inspiring tone for the attendees.
People + AI: Finding a balance
One recurring theme during day one was how people are a superpower when it comes to facing challenges head-on. The first CPO Vision panel of the day – ‘Leading through structural uncertainty’ – addressed this. Cassie Mackie, CPO of Etihad Airways, said: “If I think of superpowers, it’s absolutely our people. It’s the ability of the procurement team to react quickly and make decisions under immense pressure. It’s being part of the conversation. For the team to be able to be in the room and present very credible insights and contribute to that strategy is absolutely our superpower at the moment.”
The panelists each gave a keynote speech with their own case studies, before breakout sessions covered sustainability, procurement transformation, and of course, AI. The focus on people balanced neatly with a spotlight on AI and its inevitable role in procurement. SpendHQ’s digitalisation case study – ‘Brilliant basics for an agentic future: A CPO’s honest path to AI-ready procurement’ – saw a panel of experts explore this topic with clarity, especially regarding lingering fear around AI.
“I think that we are in a time of disruption, which is always a good opportunity,” said Rasmus Steinreien, Director of Central Procurement at Lantmännen, who also shared his hopes for AI within his business. “What I hope AI will do for us is enable parts of our organisation – both in procurement and outside of it – to actually dare to go into the systems.”
The three forces behind designing the future
During her opening address, Basuthakur mentioned that ‘designing the future’ (the tagline and theme for this year’s WPC event) requires three vital forces: people, agents, and speed. “These forces are deeply intertwined,” Basuthakur says. “You cannot leverage agents without upskilling your people, and you cannot achieve the necessary speed of execution without combining the best of both human and artificial intelligence.”
It’s important that ‘people’ is the first part of this equation. After all, in an increasingly digitised world, human talent is still the key differentiator. Basuthakur adds: “While technology is the enabler, the real power behind any successful transformation lies in harnessing the capabilities of your people. We are seeing organisations create entirely new structures to support this.”
For example, Keurig Dr Pepper recently shared its programme of personalised development plans and career pathing. By intentionally designing these pathways, the company has dramatically enhanced its team’s awareness, confidence, and capabilities when it comes to using new technologies. As a result, there has been an immediate 20% improvement in productivity, better alignment, and a stronger innovation pipeline.
“People remain our ultimate differentiator because they provide the empathy, creativity, and strategic influence that machines simply cannot replicate,” says Basuthakur. “As routine work becomes increasingly automated, those human capabilities will become even more valuable, shifting procurement talent toward business outcome strategists rather than traditional category specialists.”
Read the full feature – including an event overview, leadership interview, and attendee Q&As – here!
- Events
- Together in Events