Iron Mountain: Procurement as a positive disruptor
Our cover story this month features Iron Mountain (IRM), Chief Procurement Officer Reagan Smith, who is transforming a fragmented procurement operation into a strategic business enabler. His approach combines cultural change, commercial discipline and a measured adoption of AI, with the ambition of making procurement a function that actively shapes how the business operates…
Procurement is having something of a moment. For years, the function has fought against a familiar perception: that its primary purpose is to negotiate prices, manage suppliers, enforce processes and deliver savings. Whilst that role remains important, particularly at a time when businesses continue to face intense pressure on costs, the expectations placed on procurement leaders in 2026 are considerably broader.
CPOs are increasingly being asked to balance cost optimisation with growth, resilience, risk, supplier relationships, sustainability and technology adoption. At the same time, AI is promising to automate an expanding share of procurement’s traditional workload and potentially reshape the operating model altogether.
This reality has certainly hit home for Iron Mountain’s Reagan Smith who views procurement transformation, not as a programme with a beginning, middle and end, but a daily commitment to challenging the status quo, building trust and proving that procurement is far more than a simply transactional function.
Smith is 18 months into his role as CPO at Iron Mountain, the global business spanning records management, digitisation, asset lifecycle management and data centre development. Within that complex environment, Iron Mountain’s Global Procurement manages billions of dollars of third-party expenditure, mitigates risk and supports go-to-market and sales activity. It is a broad, and for Smith a tempting, remit… Read the full story inside!
AI with Soul: Why the future of procurement will be decided by leadership – not technology
AI can see the pattern, but leaders must still see the person, argues Ilona Piekoszewska, Global Head of Indirect Procurement (Materials and Services)…
After 30 minutes in the warehouse, I was exhausted. The people around me still had an entire shift ahead of them. It was the middle of July at a manufacturing site in the United States. The heat was intense and the humidity almost overwhelming. When I stepped outside, the air still felt heavy. Even standing still required effort.
My first thought was not about inventory, warehouse efficiency or logistics. It was about the forklift drivers and warehouse operators who spent eight or ten hours in that environment. “If I feel this after only thirty minutes,” I remember thinking, “what does it feel like after an entire shift?”
Months later, when we began redesigning our global forklift strategy, the expected criteria were all there: safety, reliability, performance, energy efficiency, maintenance and total cost of ownership. All important. All necessary.
But I asked a question that did not appear in the technical specification: What about the wellbeing of the people who spend their working lives inside these forklifts? Had anyone consulted the forklift operators as to where they saw areas of inefficiencies, or matters of health and safety and furthermore, opportunities and value that could be seized?
Should air-conditioned cabins become standard in hotter climates? Should heated cabins be considered where winters were severe? Should ergonomics carry the same weight as purchase price? After all, comfort is not a luxury. It influences concentration, reduces fatigue, improves safety and protects health. Most importantly, it communicates respect. That moment crystallised a conviction that has guided my leadership ever since: AI can see the pattern. But, leaders must still see the person. Read the full story here!
SBB: How procurement is helping to build the railway of the future
Swiss Federal Railways’ (SBB) goal is to connect Switzerland, moving people from A to B, by providing a punctual, clean and safe rail service. As Head of Procurement, Simon Roth has a wide-ranging brief…
In a volatile world, that constantly presents us with new challenges, the procurement landscape never stands still. Innovation, organisation and motivational leadership are essential if we want to stay ahead of the curve and nowhere is this truer than at Swiss Federal Railways (SBB). SBB will celebrate its 125th anniversary next year and prides itself on getting people to where they want to go, safely and on time.
Simon Roth joined SBB as Head of Accounts Payable, having previously worked in procurement for many years. A couple of years later SBB needed a new Head of Procurement, so Simon jumped at the chance. “We buy consumables and corporate services.
The Procurement Services business unit is where we focus on support, enablement and data quality, and the Procurement Functional Leadership unit, is where we design, develop, operate, and govern processes, systems, methods and provide governance for the whole procurement group. I also have oversight of the divisional procurement heads and procurement organisations. Together we form the Procurement Board, which I chair.”
Simon first became aware of procurement during his industrial engineering studies, which led to his first job at a company with less than 40 staff. As a result, he quickly moved into a senior role in procurement where he, “learned what procurement means in a small company and afterwards in a large company at BKW AG, an energy company, where I worked in different procurement functions. For me, procurement is incredible because you manage projects across the company. You have contact with a lot of people internally, but also suppliers. You’re integrated in high risk and important decisions, so procurement is fantastic”. Read the full story inside!
APP: Driving procurement transformation through change
Eddie Lim, Chief Procurement Officer at APP Group, discusses why getting the data foundation right is key to unlocking procurement’s potential in the midst of an ever-changing landscape…
Change is a burden for some.
Fear of the unknown, a preference for routine and the concern of loss of control are all reasons why many people can choose to avoid it both in their personal and professional environments.
However, Eddie Lim, Chief Procurement Officer at APP Group, likes to embrace the chaos, and he’s not doing it alone.
The organisation serves as the holding company for a number of Indonesian pulp and paper manufacturing and forestry businesses. It caters to the increasing global need for high-quality tissue, packaging and paper, with its products reaching over 150 countries across six continents. As part of Lim’s role, he manages approximately $4 billion in annual spend across both direct and indirect materials and services, and is armed with a team of around 300 employees. Upon joining the organisation in August 2024, Lim was given a clear mission, backed from the outset by strong sponsorship from APP’s leadership.
The journey within APP
“Our first 90 days were focused on assessing the readiness of the procurement function,” explains Lim. “There’s broad awareness of AI today, and most people have had some exposure through tools like ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot but adoption for core procurement work is still maturing. Looking at this from an organisational perspective, digitisation is an area the company continues to invest in and strengthen, and that commitment from leadership has been critical to how far we’ve been able to take it. Read the full story here!
Plus, we have a report from KonnectHouse’s latest conference and our unique guide to the best procurement events from around the globe.
