Procurement is changing. That much is clear.

At the forefront of this are advanced technology tools that are altering the way procurement lives and breathes. Indeed, the market is changing which is driven by digital agendas, sustainability initiatives and geopolitical problems which is causing Chief Procurement Officers to think on their feet. Customer expectations are also changing and this means that future-proofing supply chains has never been so important with many customers demanding quicker shipping times and more product availability all while delivering on their own sustainability ambitions.

With this in mind, here are five important lessons procurement learned this year.

1. People remain the secret sauce

Despite technology’s increasingly important influence, humans ultimately determine whether an organisation succeeds or not. With the ever-increasing complexity of global supply chains, the necessity of skilled and adaptable procurement professionals has never been greater. As technology matures, data-entry tasks that previously would have been best-placed for graduates can be undertaken by AI which means new starters need to learn more strategic skills quicker. If procurement’s digital transformation is to be managed successfully, people will hold the key. There is no doubt about that. 

2. A better understanding of generative AI

One of the biggest buzzwords of 2024 has been generative AI and the potential it has to reinvent procurement. For CPOs, GenAI is seen by many as a significant step forward in the value their teams can deliver to the business. This showcases the way to faster, more accurate decision-making, higher resilience, increased sustainability and lower operating costs. But it’s not all smooth sailing. There are challenges associated with implementing GenAI such as data quality and ethical considerations. These remain barriers to widespread use and are being continuously navigated in the world of GenAI in procurement.

3. Sustainable procurement isn’t an option anymore

Sustainable procurement isn’t something you can pick. Governments and consumers are past encouraging, there is now a real demand that organisations implement ethical and sustainable practices. Sustainability in procurement supports the green goals of an organisation and optimises the environmental, social and economic impacts over the lifecycle of a product or service. Sustainable procurement requires organisations to develop robust approaches to risk management in order to work out potential problems within their supply chains. Companies are focusing on carbon reduction targets and are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, eliminating waste from their supply chains and incorporating sustainable business practices. Stakeholders are now also implementing action ESG and corporate social responsibility initiatives as part of their sustainability agenda, thus driving the necessity for sustainable procurement.

4. Risk management strategies

If the past few years have taught us anything, it is the importance of having a back-up plan. In 2024, the geopolitical landscape is unstable and volatile with the threat of potential problems seemingly ever present. This year, several significant elections have taken place which always brings uncertainty with the ripple effect potentially leading to trade disputes and shifts in global market access. With this in mind, procurement teams should seek to diversify their suppliers while also identifying risks and using data-driven decision-making. By developing regional sourcing strategies, recognising geopolitical risks and expanding contingency plans can help limit exposure to these risks.

5. Supplier collaboration

Companies can’t treat their suppliers like a transaction any longer. The necessity of developing key, strategic partnerships and alliances in the modern world is too important. Previously a ‘nice to have’, delivering a great supplier experience is paramount to success in 2025 and beyond. In the wake of global challenges, organisations need support and cannot do it alone. Being open with suppliers to create a mutually beneficial relationship where both sides gain value is key.

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery.

While it forms part of a famous quote, the sentiment rings true to Chief Procurement Officers. 

Today’s world is filled with uncertainty and disruption, in addition to innovation and technological transformation as humans increasingly want things yesterday in many cases. In truth, we live in a fast-paced, digital-first environment with the acceleration of AI tools only adding speed to workflows and company operations.

But avoiding a scattergun approach and managing it successfully is a different kettle of fish. It can be tempting to rip up the carpet and adopt a new process because a rival is enjoying success, from an external point of view anyway. However, implementing any new tech or way of working for technologies sake could spell disaster and is a decision that requires strategic and critical thinking.

Simplifying challenges

With an eye on the CPO of tomorrow, Jack Macfarlane, Founder and CEO at DeepStream, believes that a procurement leader’s next step is adopting smart technology and solutions to solve day-to-day challenges, streamlining data and processes and leveraging the profound efficiencies and benefits that AI and other tech have to offer.  

“Tomorrow’s CPOs are driven by technological innovation, sustainability and the increasing importance of developing resilient supply chains to mitigate the effects of a changing world,” explains MacFarlane. “Increasing geo-political instability is affecting global supply chains and procurement strategies across the globe, leaving CPOs grasping for means and methods to withstand disaster, recover supply chains, and build a robust plan for the future.”

While technology transformation often takes headlines on the CPO agenda, an ever-increasing drive in procurement and beyond is sustainability and what initiatives organisations can implement to be more environmentally conscious. Ultimately, given pressure from government legislation and indeed customer demands, procurement functions often don’t have much room to manoeuvre. However, Macfarlane believes CPOs still have a choice about the way in which their companies go about being greener. “The growing concerns around sustainability and ethical sourcing are continuing to complicate existing procurement strategies,” he adds. “CPOs now find themselves in a role of increasing importance to the core ESG values of any business, and rightly so. Lastly, they will be using data-driven decision-making and real-time analytics to improve supplier management and optimise cost management.” 

Balancing transformation with sustainability

While Jenny Draper, Managing Director at Barkers Procurement, explains that one of the biggest factors shaping the priorities and skillsets of future CPOs is technological adoption. “Some procurement professionals may be wary when it comes to AI, and unsure how to integrate it into their day-to-day operations,” she says. “Embracing technologies such as AI, automation and data analytics will be crucial for CPOs to optimise procurement processes, identify cost-saving opportunities, and gain real-time insights into supplier performance.

“Another factor is regarding sustainability and ESG, which are becoming increasingly more important. ESG is being mentioned more frequently in corporate strategies, with pressure coming from the top down; CPOs are being tasked by boards and stakeholders to be accountable for ESG practices down the length of their entire supply chains. In order to do this accurately and efficiently, CPOs will need to have a process in place for tracking and monitoring their efforts, and reporting back on their successes.”

Procurement’s rise

Emma Edwards, Head of Procurement for Hard Services at OCS, believes CPOs must strive to align procurement’s strategic priorities and activities to those of the C-suite, allowing teams to focus on issues essential to the business using bold, measurable goals. She explains that tomorrow’s CPO will be an integral part of the business foundations, with ‘having a seat at the table’ a standout function. 

“They must build data-rich teams, passionate about delivery and earning trust across the organisation, and be great communicators,” says Edwards. “Appropriate stakeholder consultation and briefing is important to avoid frustration from customers and operational teams. If procurement isn’t visible, it can be hard for stakeholders to see its value. 

“Using category strategies and strategic sourcing effectively requires focus and discipline from extended teams. Supporting transition away from traditional value proposition and driving cost benefits towards mutuality with fewer, more strategic suppliers, requires stakeholder support but should provide efficiencies as suppliers benefit from potential pipelines. 

“Investment in people with strong focuses on commercial acumen, problem-solving and negotiation will differentiate teams and directly impact performance. CPOs must provide a culture offering optimum team performance.  

“With supply chains becoming more complex, and mobilisation more critical, supplier relationship management (SRM) is vital. This can be challenging, but good SRM plus digital innovation provides a platform for extracting value, transparency and ensuring suppliers meet performance obligations, anticipating and managing risk early.”

Tomorrow’s CPO

In Proxima’s Tomorrow’s CPO Report, published earlier this year, Thomas Udesen, CPO at Bayer, encouraged the next generation of CPOs to focus forward and meet tomorrow’s challenges head-on by harnessing innovation and digitalisation. “Avoiding the mistakes of the past is one thing, but coupling that with embracing new and innovative emerging solutions will be what sets you apart as a leader,” he tells Proxima. “Today’s technology has the ability to automate and drive efficiency through the legacy of the industrial age, moving focus away from demand control to impact and outcomes. This is what will drive progress.” 

Elsewhere in Proxima’s report, Laura Cook, Chief Procurement Officer at Primark, believes it is important not to rush into decisions and look to make long-term decisions. She lists three decisions – carefully consider your next move, the importance of varied experience and finding your network – as key challenges for a CPO to overcome. “Take the time to think about your next move. What type of environment is going to enable you to be yourself and thrive? Business direction and strategy, cultural fit, team maturity, and line management, to name a few, should all be considered.”

Forward-facing procurement

Looking ahead, tech transformation and a strong sustainability drive looks set to dominate procurement practitioners’ thoughts over the coming years. The efficiency created by AI acceleration has meant cost and time savings previously unimaginable so the responsibility now lies with CPOs and the C-suite to determine how these tools should be delivered strategically. While the future is unclear, one thing is certain. Tomorrow’s CPO is sure to be busy.

Exiger is on a mission to make the world a safer and more transparent place to succeed. 

The company aims to do this by revolutionising how corporations, government agencies and banks navigate risk and compliance in their third parties, supply chains and customers through software and tech-enabled solutions.

Brandon Daniels serves as Exiger’s CEO. A regulatory expert and technology practitioner, Daniels brings decades in senior management across the financial services, technology, life sciences and energy markets. Over the last 20 years, Daniels has managed some of the largest crises, compliance and risk management matters in the private and public sectors.

Given the unpredictable nature of geopolitical challenges and global disasters and the subsequent knock-on effect these events have on supply chains, Daniels stresses it is imperative to keep your finger on the pulse in order to stay ahead and mitigate problems. 

“Even if you look at the past month alone, in the United States there’s been Hurricane Helene, the Longshoreman strike and Hurricane Milton,” says Daniels. “It is one hit after another. Since the pandemic, we’ve really pulled back the veil on how fragile our supply chains really are. With climate change set to disrupt over 25 trillion dollars of assets over the next 20 years, I think the likes of natural disasters, man-made disasters and geopolitical tensions will continue to disrupt our supply chains, so we’ve got to get ahead of it. We’ve got to regain control and procurement professionals are at the front line.”

This is where Exiger comes in. 

Supply chain visibility

Exiger is a supply chain visibility, orchestration and risk management solution that helps customers to increase the resilience of their operations, reduce risk, and help drive cost efficiency throughout their organisation. Exiger helps customers with their most complex and critical issues from ESG to managing supplier financial health. The company empowers them to regain control of their supply chains when facing global challenges. According to Daniels, every challenge brings opportunity. But the real winners out of disruption are those who can achieve greater resilience. 

“Having visibility where you think you’re purchasing from seven vendors, but you’re actually purchasing from one and that vendor is in a high-risk zone that could be disrupted is key,” explains Daniels. “Firstly, you could contract directly with that vendor and use your volume to your advantage. That’s a pricing and cost management opportunity. And two, knowing that you only have one vendor and maybe diversifying away, that’s also a risk management opportunity. Companies are missing major opportunities by not gaining visibility into their supply chain.”

But with procurement and the wider world seemingly transitioning from one ‘black swan’ event to the next over the past few years, Daniels recognises the workforce is ‘exhausted.’ “People are overwhelmed,” he admits.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have all gone into this hyperdrive. Even though we’re working at home and people are remote, employees are still working all day. It’s a constant battle and a constant crisis. So the idea of saying ‘Well, if I have 1,000 vendors at my tier one that I’m managing today, and that’s already hard, how can I manage the 800,000 vendors at tier five?’ You just stare at this morass of data, this volume of suppliers and amount of risk. And you might say, ‘I just don’t want to know.’ And that’s where also AI can help us with ruthless prioritisation of what actually matters. That’s why we get up every day to help our customers to prioritise these issues and opportunities.”

DPW Amsterdam

DPW Amsterdam’s theme for 2024 was 10X and how a moonshot mindset can take companies from incremental to exponential impact. 10X amplifies the necessity for organisations to think and act 10 times bigger than their current capacity. For Daniels, he believes companies could be aiming even higher due to the potential value that can be tapped into.

“I think you should shoot for a 100X and land at 10X. But I think there are so many opportunities as we gain visibility into our broader supplier ecosystem that we’re missing today,” he says.

“Just because I have visibility or transparency into my supplier ecosystem, or because I can manage on a multi-tier basis, it doesn’t mean I need to. For the most critical things, it means that I need to prioritise those areas where I’m going to deliver the most cost savings, the most resilience or the most significant reduction in our risk. What we’re encouraging procurement and supply chain people to do is to drive reward out of this risk and focus on those opportunities where you can have your cake and eat it too. This means I can contract with suppliers that sit deep in my supply chain that are supporting all of the metals and microelectronics buying that I’m doing, and establish a relationship that’s going to reduce cost. 

“But here’s the important point. With that visibility, I can also demand more ethical supply chains. So now that I have visibility into those suppliers that are manufacturing the critical noble gases that I need in order to etch these semiconductors, I can also demand an ethical wage. I can demand a carbon-neutral supply chain, and I can give some of that savings back. If I’ve made 15% percent savings, I can say there’s a 3% premium because we want to source ethically. When I say we can 10X, it’s the compound value of both reducing risk and increasing cost efficiency.”

AI-powered Platform

Exiger delivers AI-powered supply chain visibility, orchestration and due diligence through the 1Exiger Platform and the AI engine, DDIQ. The world’s first purpose-built supplier risk technology has been developed to navigate the biggest risk and compliance challenges in 2024 and beyond. 1Exiger accelerates growth to organised fact-finding which allows for important decisions to be made quicker. 

“We actually started with just an AI tool that built business profiles on companies,” explains Daniels. “But it’s more focused on the data that we give the system as opposed to training on the broader landscape of open source data that can cause some hallucinations. We wanted to get to high fidelity business profiles. What generative AI is doing that is so unique is it’s making that multi-tier visibility and supplier assessment possible. It wouldn’t be possible for us to come here three years ago saying you can 10X in the same way today. It’s really been the fact that people’s eyes are open to the idea you can create net new data with generative AI. If I’m trying to find something out about 1,000 companies, I used to have to go out and research that.”

GenAI drive

Now, with the capabilities of GenAI, time-consuming and cumbersome fact-finding missions can be completed within minutes. Daniels is well aware of how GenAI has changed the game in generating data while also bridging a skills gap. However, Daniels insists that while procurement professionals are incredibly intelligent in what they do, they can’t do everything.

“Procurement and supply chain people are geniuses at cost, schedule, performance, vendor value creation, supplier negotiation, and market research focused on value-based sourcing. They’re geniuses, but they’re not trained risk managers or compliance people,” he explains.

“The second thing generative AI can do is it can help to bridge that skills gap. If you’ve had risk experts in your organisation feed it on how to handle situations, then those procurement people can rely on those decisions to say, is this within risk tolerance? Is this a vendor that we can accept? Is this a supplier risk that we should either mitigate or we should make a change to? And then finally, it can support that decision-making. I need to be able to document my decisions. I need to be able to create a history of why I did that. Generative AI can help us to automate those unnecessary tasks. Generative AI has a sweeping impact on procurement, supply chain, and in the business world overall.”

Find out more about Exiger here and follow Exiger on LinkedIn

“How you communicate determines whether or not you achieve your goals.”

It is fair to say that Caitlyn Lewis, Founder and CEO at Supplier Day, believes in the power of honest conversations. 

Since 2020, her company has partnered with some of the world’s leading brands to help them elevate their supplier relationships through high-impact in-person, virtual and hybrid events. Supplier Day’s mission is to create experiences that drive powerful relationships between procurement teams and their suppliers. In order to achieve this, Supplier Day’s team combines deep expertise in event design, procurement strategy and innovative thinking to offer a full suite of services that empower customers to succeed.

The idea to create the organisation came just after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when supply chains were under pressure more than ever before. Due to the sudden shift from in-person to virtual events, Lewis realised the procurement space needed a partner who had the necessary tools to support the journey. This led to the birth of Supplier Day to help create strategic events and communications while delivering spectacular supplier events that drive real impact. Four years on, Supplier Day has grown into a trusted partner for procurement teams and worked with industry giants such as Siemens, Bayer and PepsiCo.

“Good communication is something that we aim to bring to every single event that we design for our clients,” explains Lewis. “But it’s also something that we hold really close within our team because essentially everything that we do and the value that we deliver for our clients is helping them to achieve their goals through building better relationships with suppliers. And that all starts with communication.”

A positive supplier experience can lead to resilient long-term supplier relationships, increased collaboration and improved supply chain performance. In the modern world, it is vital for companies to prioritise supplier experience as part of their procurement strategy in order to harness sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers. Through Supplier Day, organisations can work with the company’s team to deliver impactful experiences that drive engagement, collaboration and measurable success. 

One of Supplier Day’s alliances is with Alexandra Tarmo, Vice President of Procurement at Kenvue. Speaking to CPOstrategy alongside Lewis at DPW Amsterdam 2024, Tarmo credits Supplier Day with bringing the outside in to drive transformation.

“Coming from a company that was newly formed, you need to find a new identity and work out how and when to engage with suppliers,” explains Tarmo. “The fact that Supplier Day brings us the outside in and reveals that your peers and competition are on the journey too is so important. Ultimately, if you don’t do it, you’re missing the boat and that has been a very big advantage in convincing leadership teams to go for it. The fact that Supplier Day knows how to drive this programme with our peers and competitors is hugely advantageous too. I’m a person of simplicity so if it has already been done and it works, let me just copy and paste it and use the same processes. It has helped us to convince management to feel confident it will work.”

With procurement and supply chain in the midst of its most exciting, dynamic era yet, Lewis believes the real challenge procurement faces is how companies differentiate themselves from competitors in a bid to win business. “I think what is really exciting is that it now comes down to the quality of that relationship and how you can pull real value out of a strong relationship,” reveals Lewis. “We’ve heard so much at DPW Amsterdam about technology and how that really helps to drive productivity and efficiency and I think that the big game changer will be for the companies and for the procurement teams that can then use that extra time to drive capabilities around relationship building so that they can extract more innovation.”

Looking ahead, Lewis is full of optimism for the future, particularly after going through a recent rebrand. “I’m just so proud as I think that it is a true reflection of the differentiation that we bring for our customers,” she explains.

“We talk about being unmissable and a large part of that is bringing that outside in. This is done for multiple companies across a range of industries for many different purposes across various cultures. We have a vast understanding of what different communication needs to look like. It means that we have that good foundation and then we are focusing on making it 10X better. What does being unmissable mean for this client? How is that going to look? Which again is that differentiation for every single client. It is that unmissable element and that’s what excites me. It’s what I get really enthusiastic about every time we’re sitting down with a client because I’m thinking ‘What’s that unmissable quality going to be for them?’

This year’s theme at DPW Amsterdam explored the mindset of aiming for 10X growth instead of an incremental approach. According to Tarmo, prioritisation is key in order to achieve goals for the coming year and beyond.

“The concept of 10X is non-negotiable,” she explains. “If we want to continue to be relevant and drive value, it’s the way to go. What I get is that we talk a lot about digital, data and systems. There are a lot of solutions and there is a lot of technology available for us as a function. The decision we need to make is where do I put my efforts? What do I prioritise? It is important to keep in mind that this is a space where the full value comes only when you bring everybody inside. What is the first priority I follow where I know I will get adoption and I will get all my team and my supplier on board to get the full value?”

Given the hype around new digital innovations such as GenAI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft CoPilot, Lewis recognises how exciting the landscape is for procurement. However, she is quick to point out that despite the transformational advantages to leveraging new technology, they can’t be at the cost of replacing humans. “Having listened to Marcelo Stefani, CPO of PepsiCo, and Marc Engel, CEO of Unilab, on the main stage earlier, there is still this idea that AI can’t fix my toilet or do the laundry,” explains Lewis. “As great as this excitement about what AI can do and how this technology can make our lives so much easier, the human element remains so important. I think that the companies that are really going to differentiate themselves, both with their customers and with their suppliers are the ones that understand that. That’s my main takeaway from DPW Amsterdam this year.”

Moving towards 2025, Tarmo reveals that being transparent about what kind of relationship you wish to have with suppliers and where they fit into the journey is vital. “There is a necessity to be very open and transparent on what we want and what type of relationship we want to have with our suppliers,” she says. “It’s important to ensure that whatever we build as new technology, you always remember that you also need to engage your suppliers on that journey. You should question how to onboard them and make their experience easier.”

Lewis aligns herself with Tarmo’s view of honest communication with suppliers in order to grow in a mutually beneficial way. “We talk so much about user experience when we are designing products or services for consumers and essentially it’s that same value, but doing it for suppliers,” explains Lewis. “We have an approach at Supplier Day that is “Starts with Suppliers” and as Alexandra said, once you’re super clear on what it is that you are trying to achieve, you then want to put yourself in the shoes of your suppliers and work out how you can communicate with them in a way that relates to them and allows them to see where the value is in having a relationship with you as their customer.”

Read more about Supplier Day here.

“We want people to understand that suppliers are very important in their ecosystems.”

Costas Xyloyiannis, CEO of HICX, is passionate about the value supplier experience brings to procurement and supply chain. 

And he’s not the only one. Indeed, there has been a boom in popularity in recent years following decades of supplier experience being seen as a ‘nice to have’ rather than a necessity. Today, companies know they cannot go alone, particularly against the backdrop of a wave of global disruptions and geopolitical challenges.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, HICX Supplier Experience Live returned to the Tobacco Theatre in Amsterdam to take the conversation one step further. Once again recognised as an official DPW Amsterdam side event, HICX Supplier Experience Live’s mission is to help organisations use supplier experience to remove friction and become a customer-of-choice.

Xyloyiannis believes as the global procurement landscape evolves, the antiquated way of dealing with suppliers as a transactional deal is shifting to more of a key, strategic relationship. “This shift has happened because the objectives of procurement have moved,” he explains. “Of course, savings is still a big component of it. That doesn’t go away, but it’s not the only component anymore. You have risk, sustainability, and a lot of other requirements which are now also being considered. In order to do these things successfully, the focus shifts to working with suppliers more closely. Supplier collaboration is key.”

Speaking exclusively to CPOstrategy, Chief Marketing Officer Anthony Payne aligns with Xyloyiannis’s view and believes supplier experience now sits as an important item on the CPO agenda. “I’d like to think the boost in popularity is because the core message of supplier experience is resonating and people are recognising that the old ways of treating suppliers as an asset to be milked or a value extraction point don’t work anymore,” he tells us. “Companies are realising that it’s about the strength of their entire ecosystem in order to deliver to their own internal customers. If I’m a manufacturer, how do I work closely with my suppliers to collectively deliver value to the end customer? What supplier experience is to me is the vehicle to remove friction and figure out how companies and their suppliers can work better together.”

The half-day event began with a welcome from Payne who gave an introduction into the world of supplier experience, the market developments that have happened so far and given rise to the strong community of evangelists who have placed the topic back on the agenda.

Payne handed over to futurist Dr Elouise Epstein, Partner at Kearney, who delivered a keynote on how leaders can leverage the importance of supplier experience in a disrupted world. As supply chains can no longer count on legacy technology and processes, she explained the importance of embracing digital innovation to build resilient systems for the future. Epstein also revealed how automation is taking over last-mile delivery and related her own personal experiences with self-driving taxis while injecting her trademark humour into the session.

After Epstein was a panel session with Oliver Hurrey, Founder at Galvanised, Marc Munier, CEO and Founder at DitchCarbon and Alexandra Tarmo, VP Procurement Centre of Excellence at Kenvue. While the theme was around delivering climate-conscious decision-making in ESG management, Hurrey opened the floor and asked the audience for themes to engage with the panel. One of the topics discussed was the importance of managing the challenge between regulation and reporting while still also driving change.

Later, Xyloyiannis sat down with Payne for a conversation around supplier data. Important questions were answered regarding how the tech stack should be able to address supplier data challenges and how companies can begin a supplier data project. Following this session, Duncan Clark, Director of Product Marketing at HICX, explored the topic of supplier marketing and how it can help improve supplier adoption and engagement.

Finally, Payne hosted a panel discussion with Laurens Van Den Bovenkamp, Senior Director Supply Chain and Marc Bengio, Senior Director – Head of Technology Enterprise Procurement at Johnson & Johnson. The duo focused on J&J’s revolutionary supplier digital collaboration project and uncovered how supplier interactions are boosting internal and external experiences.

Speaking to CPOstrategy following their sessions, Munier, Hurrey and Tarmo are all in agreement about how positive the future of supplier experience is within procurement and supply chain. “Whenever you talk about any procurement issue, it’s always about trying to engage with suppliers correctly in order to get them to do something but actually people don’t often think enough about what the supplier might need from a relationship,” explains Munier. “I think HICX really enables you to do that.”

Hurrey adds that the key, particularly when dealing with SaaS software, is down to adoption. “Unless you focus on the supplier experience, procurement is not going to get what it needs from the supplier and you’re not going to get that customer of choice,” discusses Hurrey. “This is because the suppliers, particularly of carbon, don’t know what you’re asking for. This is why I think it’s incredibly refreshing to hear HICX talk about supplier experience because the users of the platform that will give you the data that will enable you to make decisions are the suppliers and the buyers. It’s really important to hear that.”

Tarmo believes one of the biggest challenges in procurement is navigating how best to engage with suppliers. “Supplier engagement and collaboration is critical for everything we do in procurement,” explains Tarmo. “Everyone in procurement wants to understand how to reach out to suppliers and how to engage with them correctly. I think we also have an increasing number of requests from our suppliers so the task is about making sure we continue to engage and answer our requests because without suppliers we cannot move the needle.”

Supplier experience is certainly on an upward trajectory. Watch this space.

“We believe.”

That was the message from DPW Amsterdam’s powerful opening show. The song, performed by Elvis-E and the ZA-EL Gospel Choir, was created exclusively for the event and kicked off the highly anticipated meet in the Dutch capital.

And it is safe to say the world’s biggest and most influential tech event in procurement and supply chain lived up to its billing. With 1,300 attendees from 44 countries across 32 industries and 72 sessions featuring 140 speakers across five stages alongside 120 sponsors, 84 startup pitches over 14 tech domains, the numbers speak for themselves. Procurement gets excited about DPW.

DPW’s journey

Indeed, the story of how DPW was born is truly inspiring. Founder Matthias Gutzmann had grown frustrated at the lack of procurement conferences to showcase his previous employer Vizibl and decided to create the solution himself. He left his job in New York City, moved into his parents’ house and invested all his savings to launch DPW. Months later, DPW’s launch conference in September 2019 welcomed 400 industry leaders while being praised from across procurement. Fast forward five years and DPW Amsterdam has grown from strength to strength and even launched its first event in North America last summer back where it began for Gutzmann in New York.

DPW Amsterdam strives to deliver a great experience and its competitive advantage is it doesn’t solely revolve around procurement. DPW Amsterdam blends talks, technology, networking, performances, culinary and wellness into one immersive experience that inspires attendees and keeps them coming back. 

Every year, DPW selects a different theme to set the tone for the conference’s conversation. This year, 10X was chosen which is the idea that organisations should aim for a moonshot mindset instead of seeking incremental growth. In procurement and supply chain, 10X thinking essentially means fostering a progressive diverse culture where calculated risks are embraced, reimagining and rewiring traditional processes, moving from legacy tech to disruptive technologies, and leveraging AI and automations that deliver tenfold improvements in efficiency, cost savings, and supplier relationships.

DPW Amsterdam 2024

Held once more at the historic former stock exchange building, the Beurs van Berlage, Gutzmann and CEO Herman Knevel had a few special tricks up their sleeve. New this year were tech safaris which were guided group tours operating throughout the expo halls. Due to the 25,000ft² of exhibition space within the building, it can often be challenging to find your way around. However, the introduction of these tech safaris, which were tailored to specific themes, allowed attendees to gain real insight into the areas they cared the most about. Also new this year was a podcast studio which covered topics from AI and procurement orchestration to women in procurement and sustainability. 

As is customary for DPW Amsterdam, the conference did not disappoint once again with its speaker line-up. The headliner was Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, who delivered a spectacular keynote on how purpose-driven leadership can drive both profitability and positive impact. Polman, who is a globally recognised thought leader in sustainability, also took to the stage to challenge business leaders to embrace Sustainable Development Goals with urgency and courage in a separate session on exponential climate action. 

Driving Procurement

One of the biggest draws of DPW Amsterdam is there is something for everyone. Sessions covered a range of topics including how to leverage data analytics and AI for guided decision-making, how to build and rethink procurement organisations with a tech mindset and how to scale 10X efficiency and impact, among others. Across the two days, there were more than 70 learning sessions spanning keynotes, workshops and pitches across seven stages. The stages were Centre Stage, Sponsors We Love Stage, 10X Stage, Masterclass Stage, CPO Summit, Expo Pitch Arena and Startup Academy. Some of the speakers across the event included the likes of Jennifer Moceri, Chief Procurement Officer at Google, Marc Engel, CEO at Unilabs and Rujul Zaparde, CEO at Zip. And for those unable to attend, DPW live-streamed the action via social media to allow thousands more people to watch the important keynote sessions along at home.

As many attendees travel to Amsterdam from other countries, there are official DPW Amsterdam side events the day before the conference begins. A padel tournament was arranged for the first time which proved a hit, alongside ORO IMAGINE, while HICX Supplier Experience Live also returned for its second year. Add in the Opening party, the Zip Canal Cruise, After Drinks and the Grand Finale Closing party, DPW Amsterdam 2024 ensured no attendee was left without plans.

Digital Procurement Boom

The conference has grown significantly over the years. Last year’s theme of ‘Make Tech Work’ laid the groundwork for technology transformation and focused on how to turn digital aspirations into a reality. As procurement’s current favourite word, generative AI, continues to create conversation and make waves within the function and beyond, collaborating to find the best strategies to leverage large language models and advanced technologies is the key to success in the modern world. 

Speaking exclusively to CPOstrategy following the event, Gutzmann was in no doubt about DPW Amsterdam’s direction of travel. “I’m overwhelmed. The final word is always with our sponsors and attendees and the feedback I’ve heard across the board is amazing. I really think this was our best one yet.”

Knevel was in full agreement with Gutzmann and revealed that he felt the momentum upon entering the building. “The energy in the room across the two days was contagious. There was a genuine interest in what these solutions are bringing to the procurement space.”

Future

And the duo of Gutzmann and Knevel have no plans to slow down yet. With a final year planned with the Beurs van Berlage as the venue, they are in the early stages of locating a new home for DPW Amsterdam from 2026 onwards as the conference continues to scale exponentially.

DPW Amsterdam is a hub of collaboration. It is an event that truly brings real-world challenges to the front of the agenda and offers real, actionable guidance on how to overcome obstacles. While today’s world is ever-changing, procurement has the keys to unlock the door. Let’s go 10X. 

Why come to DPW Amsterdam? What, in your mind, makes this event so special and such a popular meet in the procurement calendar? 

Edzard Janssen, RBI: “For me, it’s a very good overview of procurement technology trends. It asks, ‘What are the business problems and the solutions to business problems?’ It’s two days where I invest in getting a good overview, talking to people, and networking.”

Jurriaan Lombaers: “From the beginning, it’s been authentic. It’s great to see all the startups and it triggers your innovation and entrepreneurial mindset to think ‘What else can we do?’ Instead of just doing more of the same. And likewise, it creates a super exciting platform for the startup to show what they can do and what they can deliver. DPW grows every year and it’s a great networking event to meet lots of old friends and make some new ones. It’s super special.”

Kristina Andric, Tetra Pak: “To me, what really describes this event is inclusiveness and collaboration because it brings startups and the corporate world together and shows what kind of amazing synergies that can yield. No one company has all the solutions in one place. However, together we can leverage the strengths and perspectives of each other and then amazing things can happen.”

Chris Platts, SSE: “It’s an amazing event. It’s obviously full of energy. We think it’s the best event for procurement tech, and I get a lot from being here and reflecting on what’s next, what people are doing, what best practice is, and how we can leverage some of that. And then hopefully we can work with some of the vendors and help some startups. I love this event.”

Sopan Shah, IHG Hotels & Resorts: “It’s been mind-blowing. It is so exciting to be in our industry, at a conference that is focused on procurement technology. We’re at the precipice of this dramatic change in digitalising everything we do and the way we run our supply chains, and the people that are building that future are here at DPW. And so it’s hugely exciting to see this kind of startup environment with new and established players that are engaging, showing use cases, building connections, building networks. It’s hugely empowering. My team is getting a long to-do list from me after this, but I know they’re excited.”

What are some of the strategies that leaders can adopt in order to achieve 10X thinking? 

Iris van der Harst, Equans: “My main focus is to reflect my operating model every year. Is my team of procurement specialists still adding value and are we doing the right thing for our business and stakeholders both internally and externally? Also, are we bringing in the right innovations to drive 10X? It’s always really easy to blame it on the other departments but I think it’s important to look at what you can do within your own team and operating model. As a CPO, I set the vision and the strategy, but I don’t forget my team and I need to constantly train and educate them about what’s going on. I might lose some people along the way, but it must be their decision, not that I didn’t give them enough attention or opportunity to grow.”

Christophe Villain, Nestle: “You need to change the mindset of your people, and showcase the opportunities available to your colleagues. It’s also about your data maturity and foundations, because the next generation of procurement activity will be strongly data-based, and you’re relying on that data accuracy, availability, and accessibility. You’ll also need to challenge your processes and ways of working.”

Kristina Andric, Tetra Pak: “One of the key reasons is innovation. While it’s a huge competitive advantage, in terms of employee engagement striving for 10X gives teams a very strong sense of purpose as well as unity. I believe it is vital for companies to have a clear vision and ensure the right amount of emphasis on talent, a culture of innovation, and demonstrate adaptability to change.”

How would you describe the past few years in procurement as a result of advanced technology?

Edzard Janssen, RBI: “Software as a service (SaaS) was a big leap forward. We started rolling out our contract management service in 2017. Normally this would have been a multi-year exercise across the whole group, but we did it in 18 months. That would never have been possible with a traditional on-prem solution. Then there’s the cloud. One of our banks is located in Ukraine, and of course we had to think about what would happen if our data centres would be affected by the war. So we moved everything to the cloud in a couple of months. That would’ve been uns]thinkable in the past. The speed of how you can do things is completely different.”

Sebastien Bals, Merck: “GenAI will enable us to move faster. The whole topic around chatbots and automating certain types of interactions with your stakeholders is definitely something that, through GenAI, will be able to go quicker. What I do see is that we’re not leveraging it yet.

“And the reason why is because data is so crucial to the entire picture when leveraging GenAI. So it starts with how we translate everything that is articulate – meaning everything that we can speak or we can write down –  and transfer that into data so that then it can be commoditised as a streaming service so we can start streaming knowledge. These large language models that GenAI is based on will enable us to transfer the knowledge that is in our heads more freely but secondly, also take away some of the time that people are spending on activities that no longer need to be spent on.”

Chris Platts, SSE: “Things are progressing, advancing, and innovating all the time. Obviously the big theme is AI; that’s front and centre of everything. When I started procurement, we had SAP and we did sourcing via email. It wasn’t any more sophisticated than that. And now, I don’t know how many digital tools we’ve got at our disposal. I’m pretty sure we’re not yet making the best use out of them yet.”

In your view, what is the best way procurement professionals can overcome data quality challenges when implementing advanced technology, like GenAI? 

Alexander Pilsl, TeamViewer: “That’s the million dollar question. I think it’s always been a challenge. I’ve spent years in consulting and seen many, many different procurement departments, and I’ve never seen good data quality. It just doesn’t exist. It’s an illusion that we try to have. It’s something to aspire to. It’s about understanding the flaws, where your data lacks, and what you can improve in some select areas. Have a use case that you actually want to achieve with your data, and work your way back from there. What does the data have to provide you with so that you can actually solve that use case? Then you can start fixing those areas wherever you can.”

Christophe Villain, Nestle: “You need to rethink your data foundations, define which your key assets are, define how you govern and input your data, and make data as relevant as any other achievement on the people performance agenda. If there’s no component of data, you’re just a recipient and you are not owning the outcome. And that’s critical going forward.”

Sopan Shah, IHG Hotels & Resorts: “Data is complicated. I think first it starts with the industry you’re in and the types of data that you’re dealing with. Fundamentally, some of the new technologies are going to allow us to take either dirty, unstructured data, and very quickly leverage AI machine learning and other tools to help clean up that data. We are seeing that again already as we’ve moved into some of our new procurement technologies.

“We’ve historically had poor data and these systems have very quickly shown us how poor that data actually is. It really changed the concept of how we think about it, because it’s not necessarily people on our teams that need to be reviewing, understanding, and dissecting that data – it’s actually the systems and the tools that are analysing it and giving us recommendations that allow you to get the right information out of poor data. So I think data is a promise. Is it perfect? No. Is it going to take time to get there? Yes. But I think it’s a promising start.”

What are the biggest considerations that CPOs need to think about when seeking to implement tools like GenAI as a business strategy in procurement? 

Alexander Pilsl, TeamViewer: “It’s really that element of procurement being an ecosystem function. A lot of the strings come together in procurement. For example, when I’m going out looking for a supplier, I check their client status. I want to know if they are customers of our company before I become a customer of their company. That’s two data bullets already that you need to check, and then you do all your external sources, your risk analysis, third party databases, check their risk status, check their financial information. There are millions of data points that come together in procurement when you make a decision. And I think getting all those right, but then also not getting distracted by the sheer numbers, is probably the single biggest challenge in business and data.”

Sebastien Bals, Merck: “I think the biggest obstacle is ourselves. Are we truly experimenting or adopting enough or are we being sceptical? GenAI hallucinates, but we’re also critical thinkers. We’re not robots. I believe that all of us who are currently working in procurement could see whether GenAI is hallucinating or not and could adjust.”

Michelle Baker, Virgin Money: “They talk about humans in the loop, which is interrogating what comes out of the black box. The hallucinations are that it’ll confidently make up garbage and confidently tell you where it came from. So essentially source the garbage. However, I believe that I have enough experience to be able to write 85% of a supplier relationship management strategy in ChatGPT to say, ‘Well, that is garbage’.

“I have experienced enough to know that it is incorrect. I don’t think that we should sacrifice our critical thought. For any of us who’ve been to university, the requirement not to plagiarise the requirement and to reference our source of data is important. If you’re going to be leaning on a tool like Copilot or ChatGPT, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to leave your brain at home. You can actually use your brain to question whether something makes sense and then poke a little further. But it certainly will help you get going in a way that starting with a blank piece of paper wouldn’t have.”

Is this the most exciting time to be in procurement and supply chain?

Iris van der Harst, Equans: “I think so. But it also was five or 10 years ago. I’ve been in procurement for about 15 years, and before that, I was in more commercial roles because in my time there weren’t many further education courses in procurement that you could do. Everyone just grew into procurement from different backgrounds. The reason why I still love being in procurement is that it evolves all the time. It’s always changing and it’s getting increasingly relevant. It is an exciting time and I think it still will be in 10 years.”

Jurriaan Lombaers: “It’s a great profession and I am a passionate procurement professional. I think coming out of COVID-19, we earned a lot of credibility as a procurement function, which should have enabled procurement organisations to have even more impact. I think it’s exciting because of all the technology enablement, but I think that’s just one part. The much bigger thing is all the change management. Scaling fast is all about adoption.

“There’s still a long way to go to get these things embedded into the organisation. That’s why you have to start small and take people by the hand. People might be a bit frightened about all the automation on offer because it is taking work away that they have done for many years. What we need to learn is that it’s taking some of the more administrative or repetitive work away. Secondly, as part of 10X, there’s so much more that the business is asking of procurement that needs to be done that can be utilised by the time you gain from further automation.”

Michelle Baker, Virgin Money: “Technology has always been an interesting thing and I’ve grown up with it. So when I started work, there were no PCs on desks. The only person who had a typewriter was the managing director and secretary. So technology for me has always been really interesting in terms of how it can augment our lives. If you look at DPW behind me, we’ve got 1,400 attendees excluding exhibitors. That is a massive number of people who are interested in technology now. If we’d had the same conference 10 years ago, we’d barely have filled a room of 100 people. I think there’s a sense now that data analytics, digital, all of these cool words actually have an impact upon your business and it’s an inescapable, unavoidable impact.”

In 2025, US state and local government procurement departments will focus on removing barriers to contracting, creating a more equitable and accessible environment. By emphasising strategic procurement, they can better meet residents’ needs and align with city and state priorities. This is where Amazon Business comes in.

Amazon Business assists government departments of all sizes in managing their spending with a streamlined procurement process and wide range of products and services to make purchasing simpler. Through smart business buying, Amazon Business enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and ensures equitable access to resources—helping manage both routine and unexpected expenses. This approach supports the creation of a more inclusive procurement environment and helps align purchasing decisions with broader city and state goals.

Today, Amazon Business works with all 50 states and Washington D.C., serving 90 of the 100 most populous local governments. With features like purchasing controls and spend optimisation tools, Amazon Business helps teams manage their overall spending effectively, ensuring compliance with government policies and supporting smart buying decisions beyond just one-off purchases.

Streamlining the procurement process

Oscar Montes is Amazon Business’ Director, US Government and Nonprofit. He explains that Amazon Business offers its customers the right pricing, selection and convenience. “These elements are fundamental to streamlining the procurement process for our customers, particularly in the government sector,” explains Montes. “We also recognise compliance as an important factor, alongside the mission of government agencies. Cost savings are paramount, and we are committed to enhancing them for our government clients through exclusive business pricing. This includes tailored quotes for bulk purchases and various categories. Our goal is to offer an extensive product selection; from office supplies to first responder equipment, we provide business-only pricing on over 53 million products, all available in one location via the Amazon Business store. Streamlining the procurement experience remains a priority.”

Since 2016, Amazon Business has worked with the City and County of Denver for purchasing card transactions, often smaller purchases across various categories. “Numerous agencies in the Denver area range from parks departments procuring supplies for children’s summer camps to councils providing shoes for unhoused community members, along with customers at the Denver airport who can swiftly obtain products, encompassing a wide array of services and support in between,” says Montes. 

Competitive pricing

As a strong partner for strategic spend, Amazon Business’ competitive pricing and easy-to-use interface enable government procurement departments to enhance their purchasing power and align their spending with broader organisational priorities. Amazon Business’ advanced analytics and reporting capabilities provide valuable insights to help identify cost-saving opportunities and optimise procurement strategies. By leveraging Amazon Business’ end-to-end e-procurement solutions, government agencies can streamline their purchasing processes, improve spend visibility, and make more informed, strategic buying decisions that ultimately benefit their communities.

“We help to simplify e-procurement processes,” explains Montes. “We provide features including online and mobile purchasing options, allowing our customers to maintain multi-user accounts. Our approval workflows facilitate purchase control, while seamless integrations with over 150 procure-to-pay systems enhance visibility and control. These tools assist government departments in managing procurement effectively, ensuring compliance and operational efficiency.”

Navigating the market

Montes explains that one of the biggest opportunities identified by Amazon Business is the ability to leverage cooperative contracts, which offer state and local governments compliance tools to more easily acquire the products they need. “These contracts streamline staff processing, reduce costs through bulk purchases, and offer better pricing compared to the market, all while expanding opportunities for small, local, and diverse businesses,” says Montes. “We aim to further support Denver’s housing and safety initiatives, aligning our efforts with our customers’ priorities. In Denver, this includes a donor programme that efficiently collects funds to supply products for both sheltered and unsheltered individuals. Additionally, our voucher system would provide essential choice to those supported by the city. Ultimately, our focus is on helping the city and county obtain what they need in an efficient manner.” 

Amazon Business ensures it tailors its service to each specific customer, depending on their priorities. Montes realises that every government agency has something different at the top of their agenda and a one-size-fits-all solution needs to be revised. “We have to adjust in order to be the best business partner that we can be, and we meet whatever our customers need us to,” he says. “Each government agency has different priorities. In certain cases, the primary focus may be on public safety or assisting individuals experiencing homelessness, and we adapt to become the business partner that our clients require.”

Driving forward

Sustainability is also a factor that is considered with Amazon Business increasing its customers’ utilisation of sustainable products by offering tools to help promote more sustainable products through guided buying policies. “We’re able to help the state in identifying the types of more sustainable products they wish to feature in their search results and promote these options to guide purchasing decisions,” explains Montes. “At the end of the day, individuals can recognise that they have significantly increased their utilisation of sustainable products. Additionally, reporting mechanisms are available to track progress against their goals for using these products, allowing for necessary adjustments to be made as needed.”

Looking ahead, Amazon Business is well-positioned to enhance its collaboration with government organisations and beyond. By actively engaging with key stakeholders and assessing specific needs, Amazon Business can customise its services to effectively support public sector partners of all sizes. This commitment to understanding and addressing individual requirements opens the door for innovation and improved service delivery.

Discover how Amazon Business can transform your procurement experience.

Read the full story in the latest issue of CPOstrategy Magazine.

Since 1979, Safeware has provided a superior selection of safety products and technical service to customers in the industrial, government, military, and response markets. Founded with a vision to provide innovative and high-quality safety solutions to businesses and organisations, Safeware has since become a trusted name for law enforcement agencies, fire departments, rescue operators, emergency medical services, hazmat teams, educational institutions, government, and industrial safety workers across the United States.

Rick Bond is the Chief Revenue Officer at Safeware. Having been involved with Safeware since June 2011, Bond today oversees all sales and marketing for the company as part of his role. With almost 14 years of experience with the organisation overall, Bond has had a front row seat to quite the transformation. “I’ve seen the evolution of cooperative contracts from something that was just a few agencies that were out in front to a widely accepted method for purchasing professionals all over the country,” he explains.

“What’s great about our contracts in particular is that they were competed for categories that are unique compared to other companies who hold cooperative contracts. Some of those early contracts were for office supplies and then a lot of contracts have been competed for MRO, which is saw blades and toilet paper and other really important stuff. But the stuff we sell is critical to our country’s infrastructure and the categories in particular are unique from those other contracts. I think government purchasing professionals are finding that we stack nicely alongside other national suppliers as someone who can really provide critical products at competed products whenever they need them.”

Cooperative contracts

Safeware holds several cooperative contracts, allowing the company to serve a broad range of customers nationwide. Bond explains that over the past 25 years, cooperative contracts have emerged which have become national in scope.

“The big question is if the City and County of Denver or Maricopa County has competed a contract, why do they both have to compete for the same contract? These very innovative thought leaders in public procurement have constructed cooperative contracts that enable one large municipality to take advantage of the competition,” says Bond. “Secondly, it enables even smaller agencies to take advantage of that same competition. Competed contracts and cooperative contracts are a way for government purchasing people to do more with less. That’s very important because I used to go into these government purchasing offices 25 years ago and there were cubicles full of people. Now I see these same agencies doing more with fewer bodies. It’s an example of great innovation taking place in our government procurement offices.”

City and County of Denver link

Over the years, one of Safeware’s most influential relationships has been with the City and County of Denver. Over time, the alliance has evolved and has pushed the envelope of the traditional definition of ‘business relationship’ – offering so much more to both parties. “We work with the City and County of Denver at an agency level, but we also work with the highest levels of procurement,” explains Rick Bond, Chief Revenue Officer at Safeware.

“Lance Jay, Chief Procurement Director of City and County of Denver is a great friend to Safeware. He’s very clear in demonstrating exactly what the needs of the City and County of Denver are, and he calls us when something comes up or he feels like we could be a good fit. It’s not just a business relationship where they’re on one side and we’re on the other – it’s a relationship. They trust us with some of the most important initiatives that they have and we’re honoured to be a part of that supply chain.”

Building trust

Good partnerships require a high level of trust built upon actions, not words. For Safeware and the City and County of Denver, they have that mutual understanding which in Bond’s mind holds the key. “If I get a text message from someone in our Denver office and they say they need something, it’s all hands on deck around here,” he says. “There’s a lot of business opportunity for us, but a lot of responsibility comes with it.

“A really important example was during the pandemic. Many times, we heard from the City and County of Denver that they had a specific need, and because of the lasting relationship and the strong ties we had to Lance and the City and County of Denver, we prioritised those requirements and we made sure wherever possible we got them those products. We’ve had a strengthening of the relationship as they’ve been through different situations where they had a need or requirement and communicated it to us and we’ve been able to demonstrate the type of value we can deliver.”

Future facing

Looking ahead, Bond is in no doubt that his company’s focus is on the country’s largest metros, cities and counties over the coming years. However, Bond stresses the importance of being flexible to meet ever-changing customer needs. “A big buzzword that we’re talking about now is community resilience,” he reveals.

“We’re seeing these communities being challenged with new threats, and the solutions are complex. It’s not just one product, it’s a bundle of products delivered in a certain way. We’re providing products like supplies to make nursing homes safer in other parts of the country. Also, we are working with customers to provide generators for people who have disabilities so that they don’t lose the ability to use their critical medical equipment if there’s a power failure. We’re seeing a focus in our country on developing infrastructure to make people safer. As a thought leader in our country, we expect and anticipate that the City and County of Denver will be leading the charge in this type of project. We look forward to being challenged with some of those new ideas and projects through our cooperative contracts in the future.”

Find out more in the latest issue of CPOstrategy Magazine.

DPW Amsterdam is back. And it’s better than ever.

One of the world’s largest and most influential tech events in the procurement and supply chain space returns on October 9th and 10th, with expectations for its biggest conference yet.

As a first for this year, DPW Amsterdam will offer tech safaris which are guided group tours operating throughout the expo halls. Given the 25,000 ft² of exhibition space at the historic Beurs van Berlage, it can often be challenging to navigate in the buzz of the event. Tech safaris offer an immersive, curated tour through the expo hall for up to 15 people, spotlighting cutting-edge innovations and key industry trends. Tailored to specific themes, these guided experiences provide focused insights into the latest technologies. Attendees gain dual perspectives from solution providers and corporate customers, showing how these innovations solve real-world challenges.

According to CEO Herman Knevel, customers were the key driver in bringing this idea to life. “Right before I joined as CEO, Matthias and I went to San Francisco and the Valley and also visited New York,” he tells us. “Being able to listen to different customers and founders was key and meant we could listen, learn and then implement that innovation.”

10X thinking

Since founder Matthias Gutzmann launched DPW in 2019, the conference has grown from strength to strength. In its October 2023 edition, DPW welcomed 1,250 procurement professionals with more than 2,500 virtual attendees watching along at home. This year, DPW’s topic focus is 10X which emphasises the importance of organisations thinking and acting 10x bigger than their current capacity. It is a moonshot mindset that encourages transformative leaps instead of incremental advances. In procurement and supply chain, 10X thinking essentially means fostering a progressive diverse culture where calculated risks are embraced, reimagining and rewiring traditional processes, moving from legacy tech to disruptive technologies, and leveraging AI and automations that deliver tenfold improvements in efficiency, cost savings, and supplier relationships.

Gutzmann founded DPW based on a gap he saw in the industry. The entire reason he launched the organisation was because he identified a need for events focused on digital transformation in procurement, particularly recognising startups at the forefront of innovation. DPW focuses on getting the best speakers to tackle procurement’s most critical issues and priorities. “A lot of what’s out there for procurement events, it’s the same old, same old,” explains Gutzmann. “It’s the same old speakers, the same old topics. We bring new topics into the community, focusing on technology first. It makes sense to prioritise innovation.”

DPW’s draw

One of the biggest draws of attending DPW is undoubtedly the high profile speakers it attracts. This year, the likes of Paul Polman, former CEO of Unilever, Jennifer Moceri, Chief Procurement Officer at Google and Sudhir Bhojwani, Co-Founder and CEO at ORO Labs, among a host of other visionaries and pioneers will take to the stage to deliver keynotes. However, DPW doesn’t just limit its speakers to procurement executives, it brings in experts from various fields. Last year, former Formula One team boss at Haas Guenther Steiner was interviewed on stage about how to overcome challenges and the importance of teamwork to reach ambitious goals. Knevel values the importance great speakers have to DPW but stresses that leaders such as Steiner are welcomed with open arms too.

“We want to bring in more CEOs for a different perspective with the right leadership experience,” he explains. “We had Guenther who provided an interesting perspective from a different industry. This year, we’re bringing in the former CEO at Unilever Paul Polman. We’re always seeking fresh speakers, and they don’t need to be CPOs.”

What does the future of DPW hold?

Every year, DPW provides a different theme. Knevel reveals the process of deciding a conference’s premise is relatively straightforward and draws parallels to last year’s offering ‘Make Tech Work’. “If you look at ‘Make Tech Work’, that was a really good theme last year and that resonated well with many who came to DPW, not only in Amsterdam but also online on our live stream,” he explains. “But also, what we learned from the market, and especially from the side of the startups and scale-ups, is that the technology is there and ready to solve the problem. Making tech work was an obvious thing last year, as the adoption rate is still fairly low and a pain point in the industry. The 10X mindset is something we think we should need in the industry to accelerate the base of innovation and to increase the speed of value for many.”

DPW Amsterdam 2024 follows the organisation’s first entry into North America after the success of its one-day event in New York City in June. The meet was on a smaller scale than its sister Amsterdam conferences, however, more than 130 procurement practitioners still attended for a day of learning, discussion groups and networking. “If you do well in Europe, the next big market is North America,” Gutzmann states. “You have to ask yourself, ‘Where do we go?’ As a launch event, you want to get access to the CPOs, the top leaders in procurement. New York has the highest density of CPOs in the US. It’s really low-hanging fruit to launch DPW here.”

DPW Amsterdam 2024

But with New York City’s inaugural event completed, all eyes are now firmly back on Amsterdam. For Gutzmann, Knevel and co, they have no interest in slowing down. And if the past few years are anything to go by, DPW Amsterdam 2024 is set to pack a punch 10X harder than usual.

While it has always been a vital business process, the last few years have demonstrated the true importance of having robust supplier risk management. Initially, the COVID-19 pandemic caused major disruptions to supply chains, as well as turbulent market conditions, leading to global supply chains grinding to a halt and established business across a diverse range of sectors suddenly disappearing.

Although global supply chains have somewhat stabilised in the aftermath of the pandemic, geopolitical unrest – namely the ongoing Russia-Ukrainian war, the wider conflict in the Middle East, and the US-China chip dispute – is creating new challenges and posing fresh risks for procurement professionals, once again underlying the value of proactive supplier risk management.

It goes without saying that proactive supplier risk management is a vital input for building supply chain resiliency. Nevertheless, across the procurement industry, a limited number of firms are harnessing supplier risk management’s full potential.

Facing significant supplier risk management problems

There are undoubtedly major concerns with the current supplier risk management practices organisations are utilising. One of the main reasons why the majority of procurement teams aren’t approaching and managing supplier risk consistently is because the appropriate volume of resources has yet to be allocated to the vital business function.

Organisations don’t have clear authorisation for supplier risk management, making it challenging to gain the resources required to effectively manage it. In most cases, this is due to the firm in question not having a chief risk or compliance officer in place. This means risk has no seat at board level – the place where awareness needs highlighting most. Awareness also varies significantly between teams, resulting in irregularities concerning the approach taken to risk.

What’s more, businesses currently have extremely limited risk coverage. Many organisations don’t track the financial risk of their suppliers or the ESG and sustainability risk, leaving them vulnerable to possible reputational damage. In fact, somewhat surprisingly, in some circumstances companies don’t actively monitor material price or supply risks at all. With the additional caveat that risk intelligence in most organisations is based on point-in-time assessments, continuous visibility is missing from the picture, especially for strategic suppliers. This leads to most firms being unable to identify risks prior to their occurrence.

Nevertheless, highlighting a risk is only half the challenge. Once this has been done, procurement experts must take the right remediating actions at the right time. This necessitates dependable and actionable intelligence. A limited number of firms have access to supplemental risk deep dives which can assist them in contextualising their own data and insights. In addition to this, within these companies, internal stakeholders select remediation strategies largely founded on what they can see with their own eyes and their personal goals. Again, this limits the consistency and strategic impact of how risk is overseen.

Elsewhere, while most businesses already have a lot of risk data they need, this tends to be located in diverse and siloed systems. This means procurement teams are unable to access the data, and, as such, don’t have a holistic view of risk. Without that visibility, procurement professionals cannot effectively manage risk for different vendors. The result of this is a procurement team in which individual professionals approach risk utilising different methods, and make decisions in an inconsistent manner, exposing themselves to supplier risk.

The combination of these issues is making it incredibly problematic for procurement professionals when it comes to managing the plethora of supplier risks facing them in today’s world. However, procurement leaders can overcome and solve these problems. To ensure effective supplier risk management transformation, there are a handful of pillars procurement teams put in place.

Ensuring effective supplier risk management transformation

Firstly, to manage supplier risk effectively, procurement teams need to investigate and track holistic and relevant risk factors. Some risks, such as financial ones, are already relatively widely monitored. For instance, should a supplier have poor finances or be plagued by financial uncertainty, that represents a clear and obvious risk to its ability to meet the long-term needs of customers, jeopardising future operations.

Nevertheless, other risk factors ought to be tracked too. Unsurprisingly, an ever-growing number of procurement teams are beginning to monitor ESG risk. By continuously observing the ESG impact of a third party’s operations, organisations can identify any issues that may have a negative impact on their brand and reputation, or their ability to adhere to increasingly strict ESG regulations.

Irrespective of how widely firms listen for risk, it’s vital their efforts are continuous. As risk is dynamic rather than static, snapshots of conditions cannot be relied on in the long-term. Only by continuously listening to risk can businesses consistently respond to issues in an efficient and effective manner.

Proactively identifying risk is extremely valuable – but the battle doesn’t stop there. Following the identification of a risk, procurement teams need to take the right remediating actions at the right time. That necessitates access to specialist support, as well as reliable and on-demand intelligence relating to identified risks. For example, if procurement professionals discover that a commodity is expected to see increased demand soon, they’ll require access to bespoke intelligence that helps them clearly identify several factors. This includes the impact it will have on price and availability in both the short and long-term, as well as alternative suppliers, regions, or even commodities that could mitigate the effects of rising demand.

On-demand access to intelligence enables procurement teams to respond to risks in an appropriate manner. However, intelligence on its own is not enough to mitigate risks effectively. Working alongside a partner which provides as required access to specialists helps procurement professionals make complex supplier choices. What’s more, having access to impartial, supplier-agnostic experts assists procurement teams in thinking outside of their established ways of working. From this, organisations can not only alleviate the impacts of potential risks, but in fact turn these into opportunities for value creation.

Once the right actions to take in response to a risk are identified, businesses need to implement a framework to ensure suitable action is taken. Having a corrective action planner ensures activities and responses are visible throughout the company. With insight into what they need to do, and when, all members of the procurement team can respond to risks swiftly and consistently. In most scenarios, risk remediation is an activity that needs completing by multiple people working together. A corrective action planner operates as a singular source of truth for all essential and previous remediation actions, so as to ensure every person in the procurement team and beyond is in agreement with one another and emboldened to collaborate seamlessly.

For organisations, changing the way in which they manage supplier risk is far from an easy process. Nevertheless, in order to transform their supplier risk management into an efficient and effective practice, businesses must implement wide market listening, well-defined remediation actions, and timely and actionable intelligence. This ensures procurement teams can take the appropriate mitigating actions, at the right time.

The role of the Chief Procurement Officer is in the midst of seismic transformation and change.

No longer a back-office role hidden in the background, today’s CPO has risen to become one of the most important components of a company’s operations. Out of sight no longer.

Witnessing the evolution first hand is Stephanie Lang, Director and General Manager for Amazon Business. Lang speaks exclusively to CPOstrategy and shares her extensive experience and expertise, shedding light on why CPOs are integral to an organisation’s strategic and operational success. The discussion covers various facets of a CPO’s responsibilities, including driving product innovation, aligning strategies with business goals, and fostering cross-functional collaboration. 

Lang also explores how CPOs serve as the bridge between market needs and company capabilities, thus playing a crucial role in sustaining competitive advantage. 

Can you talk to us about the importance of a Chief Procurement Officer in today’s business landscape? 

Stephanie Lang: “The role of a CPO has evolved from being focused purely on cost reduction and compliance to now encompassing strategic sourcing, supplier relationship management, and driving innovation. Today, CPOs are positioned as strategic partners, helping an organisation navigate the complexities of procurement. In today’s global economy, the CPO plays a crucial role in dealing with supply chain hiccups. They must keep up with regulations, and push sustainability initiatives. All of which help maintain a company’s resilience and competitive edge. Having the CPO involved at the executive level shows how important procurement has become as a strategic function.”

What is your take on the industry at the moment? Is it an exciting or challenging space to be working in?

Stephanie Lang: “The procurement industry is at a turning point, with both exciting opportunities and tough challenges ahead. Digital transformation is changing the game. By 2027, 50% organisations will support supplier contract negotiations through the use of AI-enabled contract risk analysis and editing tools. Blockchain could reduce procurement fraud, and IoT applications may improve asset utilisation. These advancements can lead to smarter business decisions and better supplier relationships, making it an exciting space for forward-thinkers.

“On the flip side, the industry isn’t without its hurdles. Geopolitical uncertainties, fluctuating commodity prices, and organisations still implementing lessons learned during the pandemic are major challenges. CPOs need to be agile and resilient, constantly adapting strategies to manage risks and keep things running smoothly. So, while there are plenty of obstacles, the field remains dynamic and intriguing for those who can navigate its complexities.”

In what ways does a CPO at the C-suite level improve the company’s ability to manage supply chain risks and ensure sustainability?

Stephanie Lang: “CPOs are becoming the sustainability champions businesses need. Having a CPO in the C-suite is key for managing supply chain risks and ensuring sustainability. This role lets the CPO align procurement strategies with company goals, creating a more holistic approach to risk management. By weaving risk assessment into procurement, CPOs can spot potential disruptions, monitor supplier reliability, and put contingency plans in place, protecting the supply chain from unexpected hiccups.

“Today, 70% of companies see procurement as one of the top three drivers of their sustainability programs. They make sure procurement practices meet important environmental, social, and governance standards by vetting suppliers for sustainability, promoting ethical sourcing, and cutting down carbon footprints with smart sourcing. This not only helps tackle environmental risks but also boosts the company’s reputation and keeps it in line with regulations.”

How can CPOs drive cost efficiencies and operational excellence to sustain a competitive advantage?

Stephanie Lang: “CPOs help cut costs and boost operations by smart sourcing, optimising supplier relationships, and using tech to streamline procurement. With thorough market analysis and competitive bidding, they secure better prices and service, positively impacting the bottom line.

“Plus, CPOs enhance operations by standardising processes and using automation. Procurement software lets you make data-driven decisions, cuts down on manual errors, and speeds up the procurement cycle. Going digital with procurement can cut costs by up to 30%. These upgrades make procurement leaner, more agile, and help keep you ahead of the competition.”

What are the biggest challenges a Chief Procurement Officer is dealing with today and how is it managed?

Stephanie Lang: “One of the biggest challenges CPOs face today is dealing with supply chain disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions, natural disasters, and pandemics. To handle these risks, many CPOs are turning to diversified sourcing strategies, stronger relationships with key suppliers, and tools that improve supply chain visibility. These steps help reduce disruptions and keep everything running smoothly.

“Another challenge is balancing cost-effective procurement with sustainable practices. This requires innovative solutions like circular economy models and green procurement policies. By prioritising suppliers with strong ESG performance and promoting cross-functional teamwork, CPOs can effectively address these challenges.”

What advice would you have for a new Chief Procurement Officer starting their journey?

Stephanie Lang: “For new Chief Procurement Officers, my advice is to prioritise continuous learning and stay abreast of emerging technologies. There are different ways one can stay curious about innovation across the board. My journey has been to try and learn many different positions before working closely with procurement. I started as a strategic consultant where I learned to analyse risks and opportunities across industries. Then I moved into consumer electronics seeing innovation first hand before joining Amazon. There is not only one way to develop insights into procurement, but curiosity is one common theme.”

How can the integration of Amazon Business into a company’s procurement processes influence a CPO’s ability to demonstrate strategic value and secure a seat at the C-suite table?

Stephanie Lang: “Integrating Amazon Business into your company’s procurement processes can boost a CPO’s ability to show strategic value. With Amazon Business, you get access to a vast selection of products, great prices, and smoother purchasing, resulting in major cost savings and efficiency improvements. This setup gives CPOs better control and visibility over spending, helping them make smarter decisions.

“Plus, the data and analytics from Amazon Business can help CPOs spot spending trends, streamline procurement, and negotiate better deals with suppliers. Highlighting these strategic perks can solidify the CPO’s role in hitting organisational goals and securing their spot at the C-suite table.”

Powered by machine learning and computer vision expertise, Tobii enables a safer, more intuitive and comfortable in-cabin experience — for everyone in the car. Their technology enables the next generation of interior sensing, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.

Over the past few years, Tobii has worked closely with automotive companies such as Bosch. Adrian Capata, Senior Vice President at Tobii Autosense, is in no uncertain times about the importance of establishing key, strategic partnerships. “Our mission is to help the world through technology that understands human attention and intent,” he explains. “In order to achieve our goals, we rely on working together with important automotive players. We believe that through joint technology and market expertise, we can provide the right value to our customers. To be successful in automotive, we need to rally as an ecosystem focusing on developing our own strengths and relying on our strategic partners for areas where they are powerful.”

Partnership benefits

Henrik Mawby, Sales Director at Tobii, explains that one of the major benefits of partnerships is how the companies Tobii works with have helped accelerate and mature their delivery to the automotive industry. “We were new and had to learn about the uniqueness of this industry. Working with companies in the automotive industry lends a lot of credibility to Tobii as well,” he adds.

Anders Wirkestrand, Director of Product Management at Tobii, explains that harnessing trust is one of the key ingredients to a successful partnership and stresses the importance of establishing and building mutually beneficial alliances. “Our partners know we are a company who can go in and solve problems when it comes to delivering key signals that are needed, analysing problems and collecting data.”

To meet the needs of partners in the automotive industry in the future, Tobii focuses on innovation and improved ways of working, according to Capata. “We have been in the automotive market for more than five years, but at the core, we are a technology company and through our partnerships we are learning how to become more reliable from an automotive requirements point of view,” he reveals.

Looking ahead to the future of the partnership, both Mawby and Wirkestrand are excited about the potential of Tobii’s collaboration with partners moving forward and are aiming to achieve continued growth. “We want to go deeper into our partnerships and are looking forward to exploring what other opportunities there are over the next few years,” discusses Mawby.

“We are creating technology that saves lives,” adds Wirkestrand. “Something that is for the greater good of traffic safety.”

Find out more in the latest issue of CPOstrategy Magazine.

Life as an expat can throw many hurdles at you. 

You are constantly forced to adapt to new cultures, languages, forever meeting new people, and forge new relationships – there are no such things as comfort zones. But despite this, there are some things that you simply can’t anticipate or prepare for.

Steven Cox knows this all too well. A Chief Procurement Officer with more than two decades of experience serving the mining sector, Cox is used to leading and delivering major global contracts. And the events of the past few years have played a significant role in the inner workings of both his professional and personal life too.

Navigating disruption

Indeed, Cox was living in Moscow, Russia, when the Russian invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. His role at KAZ Minerals had seen him lead a team of 30 contract managers and specialists to deliver major construction, off-site infrastructure, engineering, IS&T and mining contracts to support an $8 billion greenfield copper mining project in Siberia. But the conflict ultimately cut his time there short.

“The project was pushed back significantly to re-engineer the serious impacts of sanctions,” he tells us. “We’d already completed mine and infrastructure design aligned with significant contracts being in place for Komatsu autonomous mining fleet, maintenance and repair services, and large construction contracts. All of a sudden, sanctions immediately reduced the available market to predominantly Russia or China. Tier 1 OEM agreements for processing equipment and all related technology also had to be revisited and sourced via the available market. Whilst we could’ve stayed in Moscow, a city and people we absolutely loved, and continued on the project, we made a family decision to leave because of the uncertainty of the situation. We chose to leave and go to Zimbabwe, some would say from the furnace into the fire, where my wife was originally from and to reassess what was next.”

It is in stark contrast to how the year began. Russia entered 2022 with optimistic ambitions. Russian backers even drew up plans for two new copper mines at an investment of $15 billion. But the resulting war meant foreign companies sought to withdraw their influence in Russian mining. Ultimately, the European consumer response has been to look elsewhere and drove continued interest in places such as Australia, South America, Canada and African regions which had acceptable risk profiles.

It was a turbulent time to be living and working in Russia to say the least. Cox explains the importance of being agile and thinking on your feet in such situations. “It was challenging because we had to terminate contracts immediately, implement new ones, being extremely familiar and aware of the ever-increasing sanctions list and ever-reducing approved financial institutions list. Due diligence in all forms of risk, security, written and verbal communications was paramount in order not to breach these sanctions,” he explains. “We had to find solutions to the sanctions we were dealing with which were continually expanding. It was a highly unique situation but incredibly stimulating at the same time.”

For Cox, it wasn’t the first time he had to problem solve. Two years prior and like the rest of the world, COVID-19 was wreaking havoc on people’s lives and business operations. In the case of Cox, he was completing a three-year expat contract in Mongolia with Rio Tinto on the Oyu Tolgoi Project managing a circa $1 billion contract for shafts, underground development and construction. Having gone on holiday to the Maldives in March 2020, Cox and his family couldn’t get back into Mongolia as a result of national and global lockdowns. 

“My three years were almost up so it meant I had to finish the contract remotely,” he explains. “We chose to go back to Australia foolishly and got stuck in the aggressive calamity that was Melbourne, Victoria’s lockdown for several months.  That was tough after living an international lifestyle which wasn’t horribly over policed in Laos, Madagascar and Mongolia. This then led us to Russia which we loved but ultimately ended prematurely too.”

Mining’s perception

In the past, mining has quite often been regarded by some in the general public as an old-fashioned industry stuck in its ways. Boston Consulting Group previously estimated that the mining sector is between 30% and 40% less technologically mature than comparable industries. As such, there is a significant opportunity to generate value by adopting technology proven in other industries. But Cox is keen to squash that old mentality and stresses mining is an exciting place to be.

“That perception mainly comes from those who see it purely as an extractive industry,” he reveals. “There’s probably an ignorance of how much goes on behind the scenes and in the corporate and technical offices to ensure that’s all happening in a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable manner. The corporate background behind big, multinational mining companies is substantial and, in most cases, leading edge. If you haven’t worked in the mining industry, it’s harder to understand that.”

One of the biggest buzzwords of the past 18 months has been generative AI and how it can be used effectively in processes to scale efficiency and achieve cost savings. Cox recognises the potential new technology and AI can have in mining but believes that it is important to use caution when thinking about implementing new systems. “I guess the challenge with mining when you’re talking about analytics, product analysis, critical data and negotiation, the critical success factor before progressing has always been ensuring your data, processes, architecture and assumptions are clean and tested prior to any transition. You must have confidence in these factors if automated decisions and potentially external communication are then going to be artificially generated. There are still some unknowns in this space, so the tactical selection of the most suitable business improvements is critical.”

While the potential advantages are clear to see, the risk of not being able to fully trust the decisions of chatbots is still evident. In mining, failure to do proper due diligence and use inaccurate information can have devastating consequences. “If AI was to give you questionable information and you make production, commercial, technical decisions, or release that information to the market, it could significantly affect a company’s value and integrity,” explains Cox. “In the procurement world, data cleansing for historical and forecasted materials and bulk commodity requirements is very mature and software solutions optimising and automating decisions have been in place for many years. In procurement, it’s about streamlining and automating processes to become more efficient and agile to manage a much more volatile global environment since COVID, all while continuing to ensure ethics, integrity and approvals are maintained.”

Embracing change

Alongside not being particularly tech-driven, another tag that mining is often labelled with is being too male-orientated. In the face of talent shortages, particularly in procurement, encouraging tomorrow’s generation into the workforce is vital – and that includes appealing to both genders to bridge that gap. While progress has been made, diverse talent remains underrepresented across all levels within mining companies. Cox believes mining is actually at the forefront of diversity and inclusion management.

“Rio Tinto and other large mining companies are leading most organisations and industries when it comes to diversity,” he says. “Diversity is important and needs to happen. But for a long time, mining was perceived as a bit of a boy’s club. It’s now extremely pleasing to see the diverse nature of boards, and executive teams and this cascading through all levels of the business. Where career progression opportunities may now be more limited for certain genders, we may start to see extremely experienced mining professionals across all disciplines looking outside of their present organisations and potentially the mining industry.” 

Looking ahead, Cox is full of enthusiasm for the future of mining and is excited about what the next few years for the industry could hold. “There’s mining and there’s mining,” affirms Cox. “I’ve been extremely fortunate to have worked for some great tier-one mining companies. And the reason that I do is because their upstream feasibility is phenomenal, collaboration is second to none, processes, policies and documentation are incredibly mature, and the quality of your colleagues ensures you’re always learning and developing across all areas of the business.

“I’ve also been fortunate to witness many very successful mine closure and rehabilitation projects which benefit local communities for many years to come. Sustainability and innovation are always absolute priorities with unwavering environmental consciousness and extremely diligent reporting. I’d say moving forward it’s important for all companies, not only mining, to invest more heavily in sustainable procurement resourcing and audits which has a presence, but the surface is only just being scratched. 

“There looks to be a lot of movement and portfolio diversification amongst the larger players now in mining with volatile commodity markets suggesting it will be an extremely interesting next few years. This running in parallel with a much larger global microscope on environmental compliance and AI implementation where sensible to do so makes mining an extremely attractive industry to be part of moving forward. I have recently agreed to join another Tier 1 International Mining company in a senior leadership role which will now see me move to a new country and again embrace the unique challenges and benefits these fantastic opportunities present.”

Procurement has undergone a meaningful transformation over the past several years. Driven by global economic, political, and environmental instability procurement has transitioned from its traditionally transactional back-room role, becoming an increasingly strategic value orchestrator for the business as a whole. A recent report by McKinsey observes that “to succeed in the new environment, organisations are currently embedding agility, technology, and innovation into every aspect of their value chains.”

Nowhere is this more true than in the procurement sector, with CPOs becoming drivers of sustainable practice and digital transformation, while simultaneously taking on more and more responsibility for resilience in the value chain and, of course, cost-containment. 

With procurement often responsible for as much as 50-60% of spend within the organisation as a whole, saving money has always been (and will always be) a key responsibility of the function. However, as the discipline becomes more strategic, and factors like supplier relations, carbon emissions, and brand value are also taken into account, we thought it would be useful to take a look at some of the ways a modern procurement function can create value for the business beyond the bottom line. 

5. Ensuring compliance

Much of the risk when it comes to remaining compliant often stems from the organisations your company interacts with, and how those interactions are handled across international borders. Procurement has a critical role to play in ensuring that company spend is not in breach of compliance, and that effective steps are being taken to reduce risk of fraud, waste, and abuse, as well as legal and reputational risks.

4. Increasing resilience in the value-chain 

Much of the strategy surrounding how and from where goods are sourced has changed in the wake of the pandemic, when global supply chain disruption led to spiking logistics prices, resource scarcity, and massive delays. The global source to pay process has restructured itself in the last few years, placing greater emphasis on resilience and adaptability than the last-minute, lowest possible price pre-pandemic approach. 

However, that volatility isn’t going away, despite the waning effects of the pandemic. Climate instability, political upheaval, and continued economic strain felt around the world aren’t going anywhere, and organisations that can learn to thrive amid the chaos will fare better than those who try to resist it. McKinsey’s recent report on the changing nature of the procurement process notes that “Thriving in the future will mean embracing volatility, so that procurement can become a truly predictive function that anticipates price increases, captures downward price movements, and creates value from uncertainty.” A purely risk-averse approach will leave an organisation less prepared to face disruption than one that prioritises adaptability. “Volatility in the markets is at a level we have not seen before,” a pharma CPO told MicKinsey. “Procurement’s ability to adapt to these changes and monetize that volatility will be absolutely crucial for success.”

3. Managing the supplier ecosystem 

While corporate rhetoric has for years been pushing the idea that our value-chains have transitioned from a transactional, legacy approach to a world of strategic partner relationships, many organisations have, it seems, been talking the talk without walking the walk. 

Criticisms were levelled against fast fashion companies in particular this year. It was found that, while a McKinsey survey found that “brands say their relationships with suppliers have depend”, a survey of suppliers by the Better Buying Partnership Index found no change. Reporters for Vogue Business also uncovered partnerships that follow “an exploitative blackmailing model, where brands use the partnership as a guise to pressure suppliers into lowering costs, providing discounts or refusing orders.” 

Procurement is the primary point of contact between many enterprises and their supplier ecosystems, and buyers have a disproportionate amount to power to set the tone and practices in a relationship. Procurement has the potential to make meaningful changes throughout the value-chain with selective buying, favouring qualities beyond just cost, and the tender process.

2. Create transparency and brand trust throughout the value-chain 

The modern consumer and client is increasingly politically aware, environmentally conscious, and assiduous when it comes to identifying empty rhetoric, greenwashing, and corporate spin. Stakeholders, regulators, and consumers are demanding more in terms of environmental impact reduction, starting with transparency throughout the supply chain. 

This month, the European Union introduced legislation banning the use of terms such as “climate neutral” or “climate positive” that rely on carbon offsetting—a widely criticised method of reducing climate emission figures while continuing to pollute. By 2026, inaccurately claiming to be “climate neutral”, “climate positive”, “environmentally friendly”, “natural”, “biodegradable”, “climate neutral” or “eco” without sufficient evidence could carry heavy sanctions. 

Procurement teams have a significant role to play in the process of drawing down carbon emissions, but these steps can’t be taken without first creating the necessary transparency to identify and report Scope 3 emissions accurately. Doing so will not only pave the way for companies to reduce their emissions through supplier and material selection, but will also increase brand trust—and therefore value—in the eyes of an increasingly critical public and regulatory landscape. 

1. Driving emissions reductions in the value-chain  

Taking all the emissions tied to a modern company into account, sometimes fewer than 10% emanate from within its own operations. Scope 3 emissions are a tremendous source of environmental impact, and need to be meaningfully tackled in numerous different ways to avert the worst effects of the climate crisis. 

Increasing efficiency to reduce consumption, transitioning to renewable energy (as well as cleaner sources like nuclear, not to mention advocating for energy mix restructuring at a governmental level), embedding more circular economic practices, and voting with the budget are all key strategies for reducing emissions, and procurement has a huge amount of power to drive their adoption. 

Business relationships can be easy to find but challenging to retain. 

It takes both parties being aligned and willing to work through hurdles together for the relationship to thrive long-term.  

Trustmarque knows this very well. Founded in 1987, Trustmarque is a trusted partner to customers and technology vendors with its advice and technical know-how helping customers acquire and adopt innovative technology to deliver real-life impact.  

And one of Trustmarque’s most important relationships is Coventry Building Society. Having developed the alliance over the past seven years, Trustmarque plays an influential role in propelling the Society toward growth and innovation. Wez Worland is the Chief Delivery Officer at Trustmarque and helps oversee the relationship. He is full of praise for how the partnership has evolved and stresses Coventry Building Society is one of his organisation’s most strategic customers.  

“We love working with Coventry Building Society because as we invest in them, they also invest in us,” he reveals. “I’ll always remember a conversation I had with the Chief Information and Digital Officer Jayne Showell, and she mentioned we solve problems together, we’re honest, transparent, and we work through our issues. I thought this was a powerful and refreshing way to move away from that kind of blame culture. This way of working has allowed us to move forward as one and resolve issues as quickly and as efficiently as possible.” 

Trustmarque has embedded itself within CBS’s procurement processes and driven operational efficiencies through challenging circumstances – even resulting in a £135,000 saving on software tail spend in the past 12 months. Having been involved in the first-ever workshop with Coventry Building Society in 2017, Worland believes one of the highlights was working with the Society on its joint implementation of Microsoft 365 services. “This enhanced their colleague experience, helping their users adopt the latest technology, making them more efficient and helping develop that secure posture internally, but ultimately helping users get a more positive experience.” 

Shared values are an important ingredient to every partnership that can stand the test of time. For Worland, he believes this is where the Trustmarque and Coventry Building Society relationship shines. He recalls sitting down for dinner with Coventry Building Society’s CEO Steve Hughes where Hughes explained how he personally met every single new starter that joined and how communities were supported. “It was from there where I could see we aligned perfectly and had those shared values which are so important,” says Worland. “We’ve always worked on the mantra that trust is hard to build but easy to break. We’ve had to make sure over the years that we’ve maintained our trust.” 

Looking ahead, Worland is enthusiastic about the future of the alliance. “I’d love the relationship to be even more symbiotic,” he says. “We would love to be supporting the Society on their future roadmap and vision because we want to be an extension of them. From a technology perspective, we want to be seen as a thought leader to Coventry Building Society in the areas of data and AI. As Coventry Building Society would say, ‘All together, better’.”  

Click here to read more about Coventry Building Society’s journey towards operational transformation, ESG leadership, and positioning procurement as a creator of social value and community engagement.

In the past few years, major strides have been made to level procurement’s gender playing field.

While women are still under-represented at the top of the c-suite, steps forward have been made in terms of general gender diversity. A recent report from research firm Oliver Wyman surveyed 300 CPOs across Europe, United States and Asia and found the total number of women working in procurement to be increasing.

Around 60% of CPOs surveyed revealed that the number of women working within their procurement functions was a higher total than three years prior. Those interviewed confirmed they were feeling the benefits with 76% reporting “more creativity and innovation” within their teams as a result of the presence of women.

However, there is still a significant disparity when it comes to female representation in leadership positions. Today, the proportion of women in leadership roles sits at around 25% which signals more work is still to be done in this area.

In this exclusive article, we hear insights from leaders who give us their viewpoint of what the future for women in procurement could look like.

How to bridge the gap

Clare Harris, Chief Operating Officer at Proxima, believes both genders must work together in order to reach parity. Harris explains while there are promising signs, there is more work to do, and it must not fall solely on women leaders to drive change. “It is incumbent on all those who can make a difference to step up and continue to actively push for more diversity and inclusion in the industry,” she explains. “The future of procurement promises to be exciting, and those organisations preparing to face the challenges ahead with diverse teams will undoubtedly have a competitive advantage.”

While Emma Mottram, Director of Operations at Efficiency North, affirms women must act as trailblazers for one another and show a way is possible. “It’s looking incredibly strong, although we need to do more as a sector to attract women into procurement jobs,” she explains. “It’s important that women currently in the industry pave the way for other women to see what can be achieved – all organisations thrive with new faces and fresh ideas.”

But Shamayne Harris, Head of Procurement at Pagabo, believes the future of procurement for women varies depending on the industry. “Take the construction industry for example, it’s typically male-dominated, however, there are a lot of positive initiatives to create opportunities for women in the sector,” she says. “When it comes to women in procurement, the challenge here often relates to a legacy issue due to traditional family dynamics, which is a general issue and not procurement-specific. Procurement can play an important role in gender equality by embedding social objectives into procurement processes.”

Women’s rise in procurement

And Laura Smith, Vice President of Sales at Ivalua, believes there has never been a better time for women to be involved in procurement. “In the not-too-distant future, I see women playing an equal role in helping organisations to manage their spending power and turn vendors into partners in their diversity, equity, inclusion, and sustainability initiatives,” she explains. “This will have a real impact on the world and drive firms to be even more socially responsible. Change is already happening, and procurement is at the forefront, as we’re seeing more women making their mark on our industry. In fact, a survey by Gartner reveals that women now make up 41% of the supply chain workforce.”

Smith believes the rise in women in procurement is down to several changes in the industry on the back of COVID-19 and a global drive towards more diversity. “Flexible workplace environments following the pandemic have allowed working mothers with young children to remain in the workforce; there are more communities for women in business; and there’s been an increased investment in diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within organisations,” she discusses. “But, while we’ve come a long way, and female representation at the executive level in procurement has never been better, we’re still making progress and I’m excited to support this to help pave the way for others.”

Procurement’s change

However, Libby Burn, Senior Manager, Life Sciences at 4C Associates, believes it is important that women shouldn’t forget the importance of having the correct skills while stressing women shouldn’t just be given a role to become a statistic. “There is still a level of accountability that remains with women to be worthy of this future and invite support instead of criticism,” she says. “While we should undoubtedly be able to expect corporate cultures, (including employee policies and mentoring programmes) that are progressive, open to diversity, and supportive of a level playing field, women should not forget the need for credibility and talent. Then the future for women in procurement (and indeed any function) will be as open to us as our talents and commitment warrant it to be.”

It’s clear that procurement is changing, and that transformation is bringing an evolution in the workforce too. As the function and indeed the wider world is encouraging greater diversity, procurement will richly benefit from a fresh perspective, varied leadership abilities, and an organisation-wide drive to adhere to ethical practices which are all contributing to positive change. Working alongside their male counterparts, women have a big part to play in procurement’s future which will mean the function will be an even stronger force to be reckoned with within the c-suite.

Change isn’t for everyone.

Humans are naturally creatures of habit, but businesses can’t afford to remain stagnant and not evolve.

In recent times, the procurement function has been through quite an evolution. Embracing change has been a necessity rather than something optional. Given the backdrop of geopolitical challenges and with the world still reeling from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, being agile and lean to the latest innovations in digital transformation and ESG has been critical to a CPO. “The reputation of procurement continues to increase year on year,” says Jack Holmes, Procurement and Fleet Director at OCS. “During Covid, procurement moved from a word that nobody outside of business even understood to a headline on the news. Suddenly it’s in everybody’s head and slowly it’s becoming more of a standard word within our vocabulary but also through an organisation and business it’s become more strategic.”

OCS expansion

Having started his career purchasing in New Zealand, upon moving back to the UK in 2007 Holmes set about a career in procurement. After moving from an FMCG organisation to procure valves and fittings, he quickly realised procurement in engineering wasn’t for him. “It was an interesting move because it definitely opened my eyes to strategic sourcing rather than materials requirement planning,” explains Holmes. “After that, I moved to facility services and found my way to OCS where I also completed my CIPS qualification. Since then, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind.”

That it has.

Over the past few years, OCS have been through several mergers and Holmes returned to the UK & Ireland team in 2021 after working in the USA for two years. There he integrated four acquired entities across the states and centralised their procurement function. The pace has been fast but it’s one that Holmes has relished.

“It’s a real area for competitive advantage,” he explains. “This is especially true in facility services. No day is ever the same. Facility services versus other organisations in terms of category spend is extremely vast. You can imagine the number of indirect and direct spends we have, and the number of stakeholders which in procurement is a big challenge. It is larger than any other organisation where you’ve got a factory downstairs where you can see everybody. There is more of a challenge and such an acquisitive organisation does bring challenges, but procurement people should love merges and acquisitions (M&A) activity. It brings new opportunities, new leverage, and also new opportunities for procurement to shine. It’s really exciting to work for a company like OCS.”

Procurement’s transformation

Holmes believes procurement’s challenges don’t seem to decrease but become increasingly prominent. “They just seem to evolve and grow legs, but procurement is growing in strategic importance, and it’s being seen as a differentiator in the industry,” explains Holmes. “We’re now looked upon to find solutions, create value, reduce risk, but increasingly we are also seeing procurement have a seat at the table and part of the core business strategy. It’s a really exciting time to be a procurement professional and I don’t think it’ll get any easier over the next few years, but it will just change and become different.”

As companies race to adopt digitalisation into their processes in a bid to scale efficiency, Holmes explains that within the OCS, it is a time of opportunity where transformation and procurement digitalisation must integrate across other areas of the business. “I think getting that part right is really key and extremely challenging,” he discusses. “A lot of Project Management Office (PMO) support is about making sure that we’re running in conjunction with where the organisation wants to go with our digitalisation which is really important. It’s not just jumping headfirst into new technologies or new advancements. We have to have a technology strategy that we follow that needs to be agile and we need to blend it with any kind of change in the macro environment or any change in the business space.”

Embracing change

However, transformation must deliver value. Companies who leverage and introduce digital processes without a strategy or purpose and do it simply because their competitors are doing it are unlikely to be successful long-term. “Technology is a way of value creation, but we should be seeing it as an opportunity to leverage the benefit of procurement, the business and the industry rather than keeping up with our competitors,” says Holmes. “I think we talk about sustainable procurement and normally that’s through our inputs or our supply chain, but transformation needs to be sustainable too. It doesn’t always need to be overnight or because our rivals are doing it.

“I think it’s important at the outset to understand why we’re trying to implement this new technology and following that throughout the whole process that we are still aligning to those goals and objectives. Then at the end of implementation, as we continue to review the lessons learned from that transformation, it’s about asking if it delivered what we were trying to achieve. If we’re not future-proofing any kind of transformation, then suddenly what you’ve got is old tech a year down the line.”

Procuretech boom

The latest buzz in procurement is generative AI. Chatbots such as ChatGPT are causing quite the stir – promising cost savings and efficiency – music to a procurement practitioner’s ears. On the other side of the coin, there is a fear from some sections of the workforce that robots could one day replace jobs. However, Holmes is adamant about welcoming change with open arms and finding the best ways to leverage technology that works for the end user.

“It’s just another form of change and procurement always needs to be at the forefront of being changemakers and delivering change management to improve efficiency,” says Holmes. “I think we need to understand where it fits into the organisation, what’s suitable from it and what isn’t suitable. It’s not just about utilising every bit of AI and machine learning that we can find, but it should be seen as exciting. It is an opportunity to improve our analytics, reduce processing times, streamline eSourcing, and allow us as procurement professionals time for relationship enhancements. I’m a really strong believer that long-term productive procurement supply relationships are built on relationship building. This is where a procurement leader can really differentiate itself. AI and machine learning can’t go for a coffee with you.”

But change isn’t easy for everyone. There are changemakers like Holmes who like to empower others to take up more efficient ways of working and there are those who like legacy systems and familiar operations. Holmes explains that in order to effectively deliver a change management strategy it is important that all the different stakeholders are considered.

“OCS has a huge number of stakeholders and there are other organisations as large as ours, but perhaps have fewer stakeholders that they have to deal with in terms of that change management,” he reveals. “But I think it is crucial to begin taking people on that journey. And I think that’s the internal team and stakeholders. It all starts at home in terms of the procurement department. You’re never going to deliver change or get buy-in if the department doesn’t believe in it. I really believe in allowing my team members to be that champion of change, ensuring that we are actually developing procurement professionals to know how to deliver change, be it through training or through sharing experiences within the organisation or from outside.”

Future-proof

Looking ahead, Holmes is anticipating continued growth and development of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and digitalisation. In his mind, creating a robust ESG strategy will act as a company’s competitive advantage particularly in today’s disruptive and tumultuous world.

“I think it will continue to become more strategic with a greater influence board level,” he says. “I believe that digitalisation acceleration does support ESG initiatives. It’s about enhancing visibility in our supply chain which is incredibly key in risk reduction. With procurement generally, I think we will continue to be leaders for innovation in our supply chain. We are the main touch point for our suppliers who are the experts in their areas and it is about ensuring that we realise that collaboration with those suppliers is seen as such a significant opportunity. It’s an exciting area for professionals to get into and is gaining in popularity. While we still certainly have a skill shortage in procurement, it’ll be really exciting to bring more people into our world.”

Procurement has had some catching up to do. 

As a function traditionally kept out of the limelight, the space is almost unrecognisable today given the scale of the transformation it has undergone. 

And Dr Thorsten Makowski has had a good view of the evolution. With more than two decades of experience in procurement, he believes the function has a lot to offer the C-suite. Makowski affirms that while procurement is now an entity that is a key component of boardroom discussions, there is still a legacy perception from some sections of the workforce. “Some people still think procurement is just buying, and relate it to their individual experience of buying such as going into a supermarket and buying beans or something like that,” says Makowski. “They assume it’s simple. But as we know it’s definitely not the case and it can cause a lot of confusion. I would say for people who are starting their careers now, it’s the perfect timing to get involved because people are beginning to realise the potential of procurement.”

In 2024, procurement is a living, breathing organ and an essential component to making an organisation successful. Referred to as the ‘rockstars’ of an organisation by some within the industry, it is a clear indication that change is afoot. Makowski is well aware of this shift and explains that while great progress has been achieved, it’s not without its challenges.

“10 or 20 years ago, procurement was about making small incremental improvements, like reducing cost in projects over 2% for a specific category by a tender or a renegotiation or something like that,” he discusses. “Now, it’s like the storm just hits in your face and you just need to adapt to that. What we are seeing is some people really thrive in this environment and procurement is for people who have kind of a flexible mindset and a more general perspective on things, while people who are more introverted and analytical it is much trickier and they struggle.”

The journey

Makowski reflects on the beginning of his career and his journey to working within procurement. According to him, procurement was a slow burner and didn’t immediately interest him to begin with. However, once hooked he couldn’t leave the space and hasn’t looked back since.

“The joke that everyone in procurement falls into the space by accident is true for me as well,” reveals Makowski. “At the beginning, procurement didn’t really seem super interesting to me. But it just took me a couple of months to find there were some aspects which are really cool. I would say the most interesting one for me is that even at the beginning of your career, you are allowed to optimise the category, and then you’re responsible for millions of dollars or euros and, and where else in your career are you able to be responsible for that amount of money? It’s a cool position to be in.” 

Despite the draws, Makowski is quick to reveal some challenges that come with operating within procurement. “Not everyone understands how important and valuable procurement can be for companies,” he explains. “Sometimes you have to explain to people how you can really make more of procurement and why it is becoming more important. Fortunately, to some extent, the crises that we had in the last few years have made our life in procurement easier because people were just realising how dependent they are on supply chain and procurement.”

Are we living in a VUCA world?

As a world driven by volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA), procurement is an ever-changing space. But Makowski maintains that procurement has always had its challenges and today isn’t necessarily different to the past. “Typically, I’m quite sceptical because sometimes it’s just a fad or new trend,” he explains. “You’ve got to look at a couple of drivers for this volatility. One of the biggest that we’ve seen in the last years has been catastrophes. A flooding in Thailand or a volcano erupting in Iceland. But is this increasing? I would say no. But what we do also have are political changes, wars, conflicts, trade wars. Are we currently in the situation where this is at a peak level? I would say it has increased over the past years.” 

Another key driver is technology given the ever-increasing influence it is having on how procurement lives and breathes. For Makowski, he views technology as a double-edged sword.

“On one hand you can say it gives us so much more opportunities and competitive edge. But if you look at past data, the typical outcome of an investment in technology was negative. Technology investments and mergers and acquisitions are the only two things that on average are destroying value. In today’s world, we are in a very interesting situation where the importance and the potential value gain from technology is increasing, but it’s also very difficult to implement.

“For most companies, there’s an easy strategy to deal with technology, and that’s what I would call the second mover advantage. You consider what technologies might work for you, you look at your peers and when you realise that they tried it and failed, you are lucky because you’re not involved. When you realise they tried it and are successful with it, you try to copy it as fast as possible. For most companies, that’s a great strategy.”

Empowering the talent of tomorrow

Procurement lacks talent. In truth, many other industries probably do too. But procurement’s skills shortage is a well-known priority to many in the industry. A professor at SKEMA Business School in France since March 2021 and having served as a lecturer for much of the past two decades, Makowski is passionate about encouraging the next generation of talent into procurement’s workforce.

“The talent shortage isn’t new, we’ve always had one,” he explains. “When we talk about operational and strategic procurement, I would say operational procurement for most companies hasn’t ever really been a problem from a talent perspective. But strategic procurement typically always has. One of the problems is that a lot of business schools haven’t got the coolest perception. It doesn’t have the sexiest sounding careers like investment banking or consulting. But it’s changing. Secondly, the world of procurement is surprisingly complex. It’s not just about buying. A CPO needs to understand how to deal with suppliers, people and entities from different cultures.”

Makowski reflects on his own day job and recognises the role he can play in getting procurement more visible in business schools. “One of the really shocking things is that a lot of business schools don’t even offer a degree in procurement,” he explains. “It’s only something like five or 10% of good business goods in the world do offer it. That creates a situation where it’s very hard for a young person who wants to learn more details about what a career in procurement would look like. It’s hard to find a university that has a high-quality programme for you. So that’s another real challenge in that area.”

With an eye on the future, Makowski admits the future is unpredictable. But he offers his opinion on the direction of travel the space over the next few years. “I think it’s very difficult to know for certain but sustainability, VUCA world and technology will still be three major trends in procurement,” he discusses. “We’re lucky that these topics will not change and disappear. The interest in volatility, technology and sustainability will increase. But who wins? Which area will have the most focus on it? That’s uncertain. The typical CPO we have today is a male in his mid-40s – this will change. We will see younger CPOs and more females in these positions which is great for the profession. You need to have a strong personality to react quickly, especially to these three focus topics.”

Procurement’s talent shortage isn’t new information.

Demographic shifts, the Great Resignation and strong competition have meant significant gaps in the workforce for not only procurement but industries beyond too. Although the Covid pandemic is now four years old, its effects are still being felt. Despite signs of stability over the past 12-18 months, Forbes reported last year that turnover rates and inflation remains high while large percentages of employees remain disengaged and interested in making a move.

Procurement’s talent shortage story

It all comes back to demographic shifts. You see, the large Baby Boomer generation have nearly all retired in recent years. This has meant the equally large Millennial generation has moved past entry-level roles and is now filling mid-level ranks. But the smaller Generation Z isn’t big enough to meet the number of entry-level roles. Generation X, while also comparatively small to Baby Boomers and Millennials, isn’t large enough either to fill the leadership gap left by the Boomers.

Indeed, a recent survey of over 100 procurement leaders from research and advisory giants Gartner discovered only one in six procurement teams felt they had adequate talent to meet their future needs. It comes as industry demands continue to grow and evolve amid digital transformation’s ever-growing grip on the function. In the report, Fareen Mehrzai, Senior Director Analyst in Gartner’s Supply Chain Practice, said: “Procurement leaders are generally confident in the current state of their talent and the ability to meet their near-term objectives. However, our data shows that chief procurement officers (CPOs) are worried about the future and having sufficient talent to meet transformative goals based around technology, as well as the ability to serve as a strategic advisor to the business.”

So, how does procurement go about solving the problem?

Procurement’s way forward

Anthony Payne, Chief Marketing Officer at HICX, believes that in order to attract talent, procurement must show it has transitioned from being the ‘spend police’. “To attract talent, Procurement must show that it has progressed away from being the ‘spend police’ and towards a more multifaceted role,” explains Payne. “Modern procurement is at the intersection between a company and its suppliers, which requires a broader skillset. The function has an opportunity therefore to attract talent from different roles, in particular technology – today’s function needs people who can combine tech savviness with procurement and commercial acumen, to get the most out of the exploding tech landscape. Supplier marketing – because companies can no longer simply insist that suppliers comply with any request, they need to engage and encourage suppliers to adopt new tools and ways of working. This will require marketing-type skills.”

While Gemma Thompson, Senior Solutions Advisor at Proxima, believes it is more important than ever before to have the right talent in place. Given the nature of today’s challenges in procurement and supply chain, educating tomorrow’s talent of the long-lasting impact they could have could be key. “These are challenges that align more closely to the younger generation entering the workforce,” she explains. “Increasing opportunities to deliver real value, make a lasting impact, and flex their natural upper hand when it comes to adopting technology. So, why the shortage? 

“Once you’re in the procurement world, you understand the strategic direction the profession, progressing from back of house to centre stage. However, it’s lesser known on the outside. Procurement still battles with its flashier counterparts, to cement its position as a true strategic business function and ultimately competes for emerging talent. The solution sits at the cross-section of the procurement capability needed by an organisation, and the career aspirations of those in the field and those considering entering.”

How can procurement become a career of choice?

Thompson adds that there are three ways to empower the workforce of tomorrow into choosing procurement as a career destination. Ultimately, in the modern world, people have greater flexibility around how and where they work while also wanting more from their occupations. 

“Align your talent strategy to your organisational objectives: determine what it is you’re seeking to achieve and therefore the capability that you need, for example, you may be consolidating supply to fewer key players and require strong supplier relationship management skills. Developing your strategy around such goals enables clarity in responsibilities and progression for team members.

“Embed adaptability and flexibility in your talent model: CPOs must embrace the increasing trend towards a hybrid procurement team, comprising in-house talent and additional third-party support, whether through a specific-skilled contractor or surge support. Widening the net enables you to access the right talent, for the right purpose, at the right time.  

“Invest in the external positioning of the function: if you are seeking leading talent, you must provide the space for them to shine. Have an openness to unique and innovative thinkers, emphasise the soft skills needed to partner with the business as well as the technical know-how, and invest in training that elevates the individual as well as the function.  

“Tomorrow’s talent demands more from a job, and it’s up to procurement organisations to offer it.”

Acquiring talent

And Omer Abdullah, Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer at The Smart Cube,  believes that acquiring talent away from the function could be the answer. “Procurement could acquire talent externally – which means organisations should implement better, and more diverse, recruitment mechanisms,” he reveals. “This includes bringing in people from other business functions. For instance, IT or marketing professionals can bring credible skills that enable strong category management in their expertise areas.

“A sizable chunk of today’s procurement community is not ready, trained or capable of dealing with the implications of tomorrow’s technology on roles, meaning we’re looking at a potential talent shortage.

“To upskill, training is one option, although this isn’t expected to be the main path to addressing this shortage. But it matters as CPOs assess how many team members can be ‘upskilled’. The key here will be training programmes that emphasise problem solving, relationship management, business acumen, and more.”

Procurement’s future

Procurement is at a sliding doors moment. With transformation rife and more opportunities than ever in 2024, the function has a chance to reinvent itself and become an attractive proposition to tomorrow’s talent. For too long, procurement has been a place where practitioners stumble upon it and end up staying. The objective now is to find a way to establish itself and become a destination of choice rather than an accident or circumstance. Over to you, procurement.

Welcome to an exciting new dawn at CPOstrategy as we introduce you to our very first Sustainability in Procurement Playbook. 

Over the past few months, we’ve worked with true leaders and visionaries from some of the world’s biggest companies and hosted conversations all centred on exploring the importance of sustainable procurement practices in today’s landscape. 

The Playbook follows on from the Sustainable Procurement Champions Index, published in late 2023 in association with ProcureTech, which celebrates the individuals who are challenging the status quo and making an impact in sustainable procurement.   

Our purpose was to create an engaging and easily consumable guide to a procurement practitioner’s journey to implementing sustainability within the procurement function.  

With this in mind, our Sustainability Playbook has been produced entirely through the narrative of 12 leaders. These leaders have been working in the trenches and have combined to provide real-life insight into sustainable procurement. It also draws from the multitude of challenges they face. However, inside these pages, there is real, actionable guidance that can help readers navigate sustainability within procurement. 

The stories are honest, transparent, and revealing. It is a ‘warts and all’ walkthrough with expert advice on how to achieve sustainability in procurement. 

This is your story. This is our story.

Enjoy!

Check it out here.

One of the world’s biggest and most influential tech events in the procurement and supply chain space has announced a new CEO.

DPW has revealed that Herman Knevel has stepped up to take on a more strategic role while Founder Matthias Gutzmann focuses on continuing to grow the events.

“It’s a great brand and a fantastic company. The energy in the room in Amsterdam is contagious and the people and teams that come to DPW are at the core of what we do,” explains Knevel. “We’re building a strong strategy and team now and continue to deliver a great value and experiences to our customers and community at scale.” 

DPW Boom

Being the initiator of DPW LABS, the corporate innovation programme, Knevel is already involved with DPW. He has long-standing career in global outsourcing, corporate innovation, and corporate start-up collaborations. “Throughout my career I have always been passionate about making connections meaningful and been driven by people, innovation, and collaboration opportunities,” he reveals. “That’s what LABS still is today as we thrive by the procure tech ecosystem, and that’s what I continue to do at scale as CEO of DPW. I am grateful and excited to make DPW the global number one super connector of our ecosystem and to create more value for our stakeholders year-round, an ambition that is shared and supported by the founder and team behind DPW.”

Since the launch of DPW in 2019, the conference has grown from strength to strength. In its October 2023 edition, DPW welcomed 1,250 procurement professionals with more than 2,500 virtual attendees watching along at home. Held at the former stock exchange building, the Beurs van Berlage, last year’s theme was “Make Tech Work” which focused on turning digital aspirations into a reality. The event encompassed a deep dive into discussions surrounding AI and machine learning in procurement, digital transformation strategies, sustainable procurement, supplier collaboration, risk management as well as innovation and disruption. 

Innovation drive

DPW’s topic focus for 2024 has already been determined as 10x. Knevel explains the process of deciding a conference’s theme is relatively straightforward. “If you look at make tech work, that was a really good theme last year and that resonated well with many who came to DPW, not only in Amsterdam but also online on our livestream,” he explains. “But also, what we learned from the market, and especially from the side of the startups and scale-ups, is that the technology is there and ready to solve the problem. Making tech work was an obvious thing last year, as the adoption rate is still fairly low and a pain point in the industry. The 10x mindset is something we think we should need in the industry to accelerate the base of innovation and to increase the speed of value for many.”

One of DPW’s newest innovations for 2024 is tech safaris which are guided group tours throughout the expo halls. With 25,000 ft² of exhibition space and over 120 technologies to explore, it can sometimes be hard to navigate. Based on areas of interest such as ESG or intake and orchestration management, tech buyers and investors are taken directly to exhibitors to watch live product demos, ask questions, and get insights into key trends in specific tech domains. “It all comes from feedback and listening to customers,” he explains. “Right before I joined as CEO, Matthias and I went to San Francisco and the Valley and also visited New York. Being able to listen to different customers and founders was key and meant we could listen, learn and then implement that innovation.”

Coming to America

And continuous improvement is very much part of DPW’s mantra. The organisation is gearing up for its inaugural United States event which will be held in New York on 12^th June, 2024. Although it will be a scaled-down one-day event, the aim is to spread awareness of DPW’s presence in a new market together with launching partners and start the process of expanding out of solely operating in Amsterdam. “We want to engage with the community in the ecosystem on the East Coast and the Americas,” explains Knevel. “It’s also not the same format as Amsterdam as we bring people and the ecosystem together for a day with some great solutions and customers. It’s about understanding the ecosystem there a bit better and we plan to grow over the years to come.”

DPW is passionate about bringing procurement to the top of the c-suite and making the function cool and relevant. This year, the organisation has plans to introduce a Padel tournament as a different way of connecting. “Networking through sports is a great way of getting together,” says Knevel. “It’s an informal way to connect and also lowers the bar. We know this works from experience and we wanted to bring this to DPW so it’s very exciting.”

DPW’s pull

But the main draw of DPW Amsterdam has always been the high-level speakers it attracts. Last year saw the likes of visionaries such as Dr. Elouise Epstein, Partner at Kearney, Yossi Sheffi, Director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author David Rogers deliver keynote sessions. Knevel recognises the importance of bringing in great speakers and also sees the value in outside perspectives too. “We want to bring in more CEOs for a different perspective with the right leadership experience,” he explains. “We had Guenther Steiner (former Haas Formula One team principal) who provided an interesting perspective from a different industry. This year, we’re bringing in the former CEO at Unilever Paul Polman. We’re always on the lookout for fresh speakers and they don’t just have to CPOs for them to be considered.”

With an eye on the future, Knevel is looking forward to procurement’s next few years and how DPW fits within that. “Some say we are at the beginning of a replacement cycle in digital procurement,” explains Knevel. “There’s so much happening in the coming years. Of course, it will not only be driven by technology and AI, but foremost by the people, founders and leaders. It’s people that bring innovation and make the connection. If you look through the lens of opportunity from a digital and sustainable procurement angle, there’s so much to be excited about over the coming years.”