In the business world, it has been impossible to ignore procurement’s functional evolution since the turn of the century. As new tools emerge to support the more strategic, value-unlocking role of procurement, we are growing used to constant change and transformation. Witnessing a modern progressive procurement function created from scratch, with no legacy systems and established processes, is fascinating. While procurement at TII has evolved in recent years, much of the team’s work has been focused on its genesis.
The Abu Dhabi-based Technology Innovation Institute (TII) is a leading global research institution ‘dedicated to pushing the frontiers of knowledge’. Its teams of scientists, researchers and engineers work in an open, flexible and agile environment to deliver new and disruptive breakthroughs in the fields of advanced materials, directed energy, AI and digital science, propulsion and space, autonomous robotics, quantum technology, biotechnology, renewable and sustainable energy, cryptography, and secure systems.
Procurement, from the ground up
As a brand-new research institute in 2020 at the cutting edge of technology and science, TII had to build a procurement function to support its pioneering work from the ground up. Buying decisions were being made on the fly, with no centralised function in the modern sense. It would be two years before the senior leadership team could develop a robust, progressive procurement function.
Juan Pelayo leads this development as Head of Procurement, bringing experience as an industrial engineer and providing essential expertise and organisational know-how during rapid growth. “The growth has been tremendously fast,” he says.
“The teams worked in parallel, but historically they weren’t well-coordinated. It meant we had a vast supplier base for our volume,” Pelayo explains. “Managing and leveraging that from a procurement perspective requires significant effort. So, the model’s evolution started from a decentralised position before we moved to maturity: having certain visibility, tools, and processes to accomplish our goals regarding category management and aggregating value from a scattered base of suppliers.”
The highly experienced Adina Corburean joined TII as Procurement Excellence Manager in August 2022, joined by fellow new appointee Natasha Silva as Procurement Manager. The two joined a nascent department with green shoots of progress under Pelayo’s tutelage. “The engine had already started before we joined,” Corburean explains. “Based on the leadership’s guidance, support and motivation, we built upon the foundations already laid once we joined. Our commitment when we came in was to bring value and excellence, build and tailor the procurement function.”
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