Author

Andrew Woods

Published

25 November 2025

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Guests at Zip’s AI Summit – The Future Of Agentic Orchestration, CPOstrategy hears from Zip co-founder Lu Cheng, Director, Enterprise…

Guests at Zip’s AI Summit – The Future Of Agentic Orchestration, CPOstrategy hears from Zip co-founder Lu Cheng, Director, Enterprise Advisory, Michael Rooney, and their customers from Lighthouse and Flow Traders

When Lu Cheng, Zip’s Co-Founder and CTO, takes to Amsterdam’s TOBACCO Theater stage, there’s a sense of conviction that comes from having built something genuinely unique. Founded in 2020, Zip didn’t simply build another procurement tool. It created a brand-new category.

“My Co-Founder Rujul (Zaparde) and I started Zip around the premise that spend had decentralised,” Cheng explains to the sold-out crowd. “There were more requesters in purchasing than ever before, and procurement had become one of the most complex workflows in any business. We wanted to create one front door for employees to engage with procurement, giving visibility and control across the entire purchasing process.”

That vision became the foundation of procurement orchestration – a central layer that connects procurement, finance, legal, compliance, IT and other business functions through a single intake process. It’s a design that has since helped hundreds of enterprises simplify complexity, accelerate decision-making and drive measurable outcomes – attracting large enterprise customers across a range of industries, from AI leaders like OpenAI and Anthropic, to Prudential, Arm, AMD, and more

Across Zip’s customer base, the platform has delivered average annual savings of 3.6%, reduced cycle times by over 5%, and doubled compliant purchases. But for Cheng, the true differentiator lies in Zip’s approach to user experience and scalability. “We’ve seen over 50 million comments posted within Zip in the past year,” he notes. “That shows us it’s become a true collaboration space for procurement.”

The AI orchestration frontier

Zip’s next frontier is artificial intelligence and Cheng’s enthusiasm is palpable when he describes the company’s ambitions. “The orchestration layer is the perfect place to embed AI,” he tells us backstage, following his presentation. “All the data, systems and people are connected in one place, so our AI can make better, faster decisions.” Read the full story here!

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

Estimated Read time

5Mins

What does this year’s DPW 2025 theme – ‘Put AI to work’ – mean to you, and how does that…

What does this year’s DPW 2025 theme – ‘Put AI to work’ – mean to you, and how does that resonate within your organisation?

Tatjana Ozgoren, PepsiCo

I’m leading digital transformation in procurement, so clearly AI resonates very much. We’ve seen a tremendous evolution of artificial intelligence over the years, starting from traditional to generative. Now agentic AI is the talk of the town. I was just reading a research paper recently that was suggesting that up to 50% of what procurement professionals will do over the next five to seven years will change due to agentic AI. And I think we can argue different ways whether that would truly materialise or not. But the fact is, artificial intelligence is here in different forms, shapes and agents, and as a matter of fact, it’s very popular.

Marloes Strik, Zeiss

Oh, it’s the future, definitely and the future is happening now. And that’s also why I did my MBA thesis on this. The research concerned how mid-size companies can adopt AI? And I see a lot of companies still struggling with it, yet it brings so much value and not just for procurement. It brings value to the whole organisation. And that’s exactly the narrative we should have. It brings more reliability towards your customers. It gives brand protection and a faster time to market for your product.

Ashish Tiwari, Aptiv

AI is happening and the technology is evolving very fast. I think we (Aptiv) will give a little more ability and flexibility to AI when exploring new areas where the rule-based method is not needed, meaning AI will define its own rules and be able to deliver the outcome. I think it’s a simple scenario. When you start riding a bicycle, you don’t start straight away with a big bike, you start with a smaller bike and you have sliders. Then you get confident so you remove the sliders and you eventually get to the bigger bike. I think that’s the way it’s going to be. You will need an army of agentic AIs in your organisation. And over a period of time, when someone lays out their organisational structure, and they mention the name of the people, their role and their location, you will see agentic AI written out there with their location and the role they’re performing. 

Ilona Piekoszewska, Givaudan

AI speaks a lot to me. We’ve been discussing AI for many months or years now to say how do we really implement it? We have a successful story to tell because over the last 12 months we were able to deploy five different tools to help us resolve some of our major problems. The category strategies needed to be more dynamic, and so, this is where we deployed another tool. AI and digital are all about the good data. Data for me, is a crucial thing. We can’t imagine our team members in the future working seven or 10 tools. I think they are great separately, but how do we orchestrate that in the future? And this is what we are looking at together as a team to find a solution: one source of interaction for our teams and our internal customers. 

Tom Kniveton, Rolls Royce

As a company we have some restrictions around how we can use AI and where we can put our data and how our data is used. But fundamentally, we’ve started to use some of the capabilities around agentic AI that we see here at DPW. It’s allowed us to do a lot more. We know that procurement is growing all the time. We’re asking the same teams to do more and more and more. The scope’s growing. So, it’s just allowing us to pick up some of the work that perhaps people don’t feel like they can get to. We’re trying to see how it can work alongside people. That’s part of the challenge. But we’re making that step. 

Lars Bettermann, Bridgestone

The opportunities with AI are enormous, but success depends on how we apply it. Technology is only as good as the people behind it. As leaders, it’s our job to hire the right talent, build skills, and empower teams to use these tools effectively. There’s no way around AI; our stakeholders, management and suppliers all expect it. The question isn’t if we’ll use it, but how – and that’s exactly the challenge and opportunity facing procurement today.

Read the full story here!

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

Estimated Read time

2Mins

At the forefront of procurement transformation, Zip is pioneering a new era of orchestration and AI-driven efficiency. Co-founder and CEO…

At the forefront of procurement transformation, Zip is pioneering a new era of orchestration and AI-driven efficiency. Co-founder and CEO Rujul Zaparde speaks to CPOstrategy about redefining intake-to-pay workflows, empowering procurement to focus on strategic value, and the company’s bold ambition to process one billion AI-assisted reviews by 2030…

When Rujul Zaparde, Co-Founder and CEO of Zip, reflects on his time at Airbnb, he remembers the frustrations that sparked a new category in procurement technology. “Lu (Cheng) and I were both in engineering and product,” he recalls, “and every time we needed to make a request, we had to go through a fragmented procurement process – legal, IT, risk, privacy, and so on. It was a black box.” 

That “black box” became the inspiration for Zip, a platform designed to orchestrate procurement intake and automate the complex workflows that sit between departments and systems.

Founded just five years ago, Zip has grown at lightning speed, now serving over 600 enterprise customers across industries from tech and financial services to oil and gas and manufacturing. For Zaparde, that diversity is proof of how universal the problem really is: “Every enterprise in the world has this challenge.”

The depth beneath the surface

While the concept of orchestration might seem simple, Zaparde stresses that the success of Zip lies in its depth. “The challenge is everything under the iceberg,” he says. “It’s all the details – auditability, user management, permissioning – that have to work perfectly to make orchestration successful.”

He points out that many procurement leaders underestimate the technical and organisational complexity involved. “To get value from orchestration, you need to deploy it across a broad base of employees. It’s a high-impact, high-risk change. So when you do it, it has to really work.”

Zip’s uniqueness, he explains, lies in its enterprise scalability and end-to-end capability. “We’re the only company in the world that does intake to procure to pay – and can actually handle the downstream for you over time.” Read the full story here!

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Unite’s enterprise sales manager, Bob Van de Laar, on transforming indirect procurement through transparency, efficiency and trust… As European procurement…

Unite’s enterprise sales manager, Bob Van de Laar, on transforming indirect procurement through transparency, efficiency and trust…

As European procurement faces unprecedented complexity, indirect spend remains one of its toughest challenges. Fragmented supplier bases, compliance pressures and the growing weight of sustainability reporting continue to stretch teams already asked to do more with less. 

For Unite, formerly known as Mercateo, tackling those challenges has been its mission for over 25 years. Building on its roots in European procurement, Unite now enables compliant, ESG-driven, and audit-ready procurement aligned with EU frameworks, such as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), German regulation for public procurement below the EU threshold (UVgO), and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive(CSRD) – promoting responsible, transparent, and fair business practices. As a trusted European alternative to global marketplaces, Unite champions a model built on trust, compliance and long-term partnership.

Today, Unite marks its next evolution – from marketplace to procurement partner – empowering procurement teams to achieve measurable performance built on efficiency, transparency and trust.

Van de Laar explains that procurement teams are being asked to juggle multiple priorities and want to focus on strategic initiatives. Still, indirect procurement often takes up a disproportionate amount of their time. Unite’s role, he says, is to simplify that through one environment that delivers efficiency, transparency and compliance without compromising control.

From marketplace to procurement partner

Unite operates as a platform that combines a marketplace with procurement services. across 12 countries, serving over 40,000 customers with access to over 100+ million products from thousands of pre-vetted suppliers. This provides organisations with broad choice while enabling procurement teams to maintain full oversight.

Traditionally, Unite’s strength lay in creating a single, digital buying environment for catalogue-based goods. But as markets mature and digitalisation deepens, the company has evolved into something more sophisticated: a procurement performance partner. Read the full story here!

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Without accurate supplier data, even the most ambitious digital transformations are doomed to fail. At DPW Amsterdam, Boston Consulting Group’s…

Without accurate supplier data, even the most ambitious digital transformations are doomed to fail. At DPW Amsterdam, Boston Consulting Group’s Tyler Vigen and TealBook’s Alex Denomme discuss why getting the basics right is the smartest move a CPO can make…

At this year’s DPW Amsterdam, amid a sea of stands proclaiming the virtues of artificial intelligence, automation and digital transformation, two procurement experts made a simple but crucial point: none of it works without reliable supplier data.

For Tyler Vigen, Managing Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Alex Denomme, Solutions Engineer at TealBook, the message is clear. Procurement’s grand ambitions for AI and automation are meaningless unless the foundation – supplier data – is clean, connected and current.

Garbage in, garbage out

“Just about every booth downstairs has AI on the back of it,” says Vigen, “but you can’t do AI unless you have the right data to feed it.”

Within procurement, BCG advises global enterprises on optimising operating models, integrating digital tools, and creating sustainable value through advanced analytics and AI. With experts such as Tyler Vigen at the forefront of digital procurement strategy, BCG is shaping how large organisations reimagine source-to-pay in an era defined by data and automation. Vigen advises clients across the US on procurement operating models and digital transformation. He’s seen time and again how poor supplier data can quietly cripple progress. “When a procurement leader tells me their team spends 30% of their time manually fixing supplier records, that’s a clear sign there’s a breakdown in the process for collecting that data,” he reveals. “It means you’ve either expanded your scope without resetting your data foundations or you’re working with inconsistent processes.”

Those inconsistencies ripple through the business. “If you’re spending that much time on manual data entry, your process probably isn’t deterministic,” Vigen adds. “Different people are producing different results depending on how they interpret things. You end up with inconsistent records, which causes chaos down the line.”

Entity Resolution: A persistent blind spot

One of the most persistent issues in procurement data management is entity resolution — the process of accurately identifying and linking supplier records to the correct legal entity, even when names, identifiers, or formats vary across systems. “Most organisations can’t tell how many unique suppliers they’re doing business with, or which ones share the same legal entity,” says Vigen. “That creates huge challenges. If a supplier knows more about how much you’re spending with them across divisions than you do, they have more leverage in negotiations. You’re also missing opportunities for consolidation and risk management.”

Read the full story here!

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

Estimated Read time

2Mins

With their latest venture, Levelpath, Scout RFP founders Alex Yakubovich and Stan Garber are rebuilding procurement from the ground up….

With their latest venture, Levelpath, Scout RFP founders Alex Yakubovich and Stan Garber are rebuilding procurement from the ground up. Their mission? To make the buying experience not just faster and smarter, but genuinely delightful…

Alex Yakubovich and Stan Garber, co-founders of Levelpath, take their seat, sporting identical ‘Delightful procurement’ bomber jackets. They spar with each other like a well-versed double act. After all, between the pair, they’ve already built and sold one procurement success story. Their first company, Scout RFP, was acquired by Workday for nearly $540 million in 2019. And, after leading Workday’s procurement practice, they walked away with a clear mission: to start over and rebuild procurement for the AI era.

Rebuilding procurement from the ground up

“After Workday, we wanted to start from a clean slate,” CEO Yakubovich explains. “Everything we’d learnt pointed to one conclusion – the world needed a completely new procurement platform, built AI-native from day one.” Levelpath’s entire premise rests on that idea. Where others are layering AI onto legacy systems, Yakubovich and Garber built theirs around it. “We built it from the ground up,” details Yakubovich. “That means every workflow and every process has AI embedded from the start, not added later.”

Garber, Levelpath’s President, adds: “It’s platform focused. We’re not a single app doing one job – sourcing, supplier management or contracting – we’re the framework that connects them all. The AI can tap into any part of the system at any time. That’s how software should work, but rarely does.”

The art of ‘delightful procurement’

Behind the technology lies a simple but powerful philosophy: procurement should be delightful, as endorsed by the branded bomber jackets. “Everything we do starts with that idea,” says Garber. “How do we make the experience delightful for everyone involved? The business user, the procurement professional, even the supplier.”

“We’ve had customers tell us they didn’t know procurement software could actually be enjoyable,” says Yakubovich with a grin. “That’s the whole point. The technology should get out of your way and let you focus on strategy.” Read the full story here!

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

Estimated Read time

3Mins

When BT Sourced’s procurement team took a closer look at tail spend, they found an ideal partner in Candex, aligned…


When BT Sourced’s procurement team took a closer look at tail spend, they found an ideal partner in Candex, aligned in their focus on simplicity and speed. Together, they’ve made buying, paying, and partnering smoother and more efficient, replacing complexity with digital ease. CPOstrategy took a chair with Diarmuid O’Donoghue, Head of the Digital Procurement Garage at BT Sourced, and Jeremy Lappin, Co-founder and CEO of Candex, to find out more…

Diarmuid O’Donoghue is Head of the Digital Procurement Garage at BT Sourced and his remit is clear: digitise procurement for one of the world’s most iconic technology companies. “My role involves scouting, piloting and implementing technologies across our ecosystem,” he reveals. “BT Sourced was set up to revolutionise how we do procurement. Building trust was vital – not just with our stakeholders, but with our suppliers too.”

When BT Sourced decided to reimagine how procurement operated across its global business, one of the earliest challenges it tackled was tail spend – that long, tangled list of low-value suppliers that quietly eats up time, energy and resources. This motivation led BT Sourced to Candex. “Tail spend management is messy,” O’Donoghue recalls. “It isn’t a true enabler for the business. We had thousands of small suppliers making up a small percentage of spend. We needed a solution that was compliant, simple for our users and global in nature. Candex ticked every box.”

A startup’s breakthrough

Since its founding in 2011, Candex has been redefining how enterprises manage their long tail of suppliers. What began as a solution to procurement’s long-standing challenge – handling countless small, low-value transactions – has evolved into a trusted platform for the Global 2000 that makes it effortless for companies to buy from any supplier, anywhere. Behind the vision are Co-founders Jeremy Lappin, CEO, and Shani Vaza-Wahrmann, Chief R&D Officer, who set out to bring simplicity and speed to every supplier relationship.

“We were out there hustling,” recalls Candex CEO and Co-Founder Jeremy Lappin. “We met with executives, searching for those first pilot partners who could help us prove the technology’s value. To BT Sourced’s credit, they’re an innovative team, and they recognised the potential and had the courage to take a chance on us.” Read the full story here!

Fotograaf: Daan Jeurens

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

Estimated Read time

2Mins

askLio CEO and co-founder Vladimir Keil explains how his company is leading the transformation toward agent-operated procurement and empowering teams…

askLio CEO and co-founder Vladimir Keil explains how his company is leading the transformation toward agent-operated procurement and empowering teams to focus on strategic impact over operational grind…

The world of procurement is in the midst of a profound transformation; one that moves beyond automation and analytics into a new frontier of collaboration between humans and intelligent agents. Few companies are pushing that frontier further or faster than askLio, the San Francisco-based start-up redefining how enterprises think about operational efficiency, scalability and value.

Founded by a team of AI engineers with backgrounds in Silicon Valley and SAP, askLio has created what it calls the ‘agent operating system’ for procurement; a platform that allows organisations to deploy a digital workforce capable of handling the heavy operational lifting, freeing procurement professionals to focus on strategy, collaboration and innovation.

For Vladimir Keil, askLio’s CEO and Co-Founder, the mission is simple yet radical. “Procurement teams are drowning in repetitive, transactional tasks, leaving no room for strategic work,” he tells us, in our media suite above the bustling crowd of DPW Amsterdam. “Even with all the amazing tools available, many employees still find procurement frustrating. We asked ourselves: is this really the best impact procurement can make? That’s where askLio comes in.”

Born in the age of agentic AI

askLio isn’t an older platform retrofitted with AI features; it is AI-native, built from the ground up at the same moment that large language models and agentic systems began reshaping enterprise technology. “askLio was born in the era of agentic AI,” says Keil. “We didn’t have to ‘make it AI-ready’ – it was designed that way from day one. Procurement is an incredibly text-heavy and unstructured space. For us, generative and agentic AI were the missing puzzle pieces to finally unlock automation that actually works.”

Read the full story here!

Fotograaf: Daan Jeurens

Author

Nell Walker

Published

13 May 2025

Estimated Read time

2Mins

DPW is set to hit New York for the second year in a row, bigger and better than in 2024, and with an extensive list of experts set to speak.

After the success of last year’s DPW NYC Summit, Digital Procurement World is making the event bigger and even better for 2025. DPW New York 2025 will take place at the extremely stylish ZeroSpace Brooklyn on the 11th and 12th of June. The theme this year is ‘Put AI to work’, focusing on the practical applications of artificial intelligence, and the opportunities for innovation across procurement.

The speakers have not yet been finalised and more may be added, but the event will include:

  • Brian Solis, Head of Global Innovation, ServiceNow
  • Jennifer Moceri, CPO, Google
  • Al Williams, CPO, Invesco
  • Eva Choe, CPO, The Chlorox Company
  • Kat Devlin, Head of Procure-to-Pay Operations and Travel & Expense, OpenAI
  • Oliver Gall, CPO, Prudential Financial
  • Maria Jesús Saénz, Director Digital Supply Chain Transformation Lab, MIT
  • Victor Miller, Chief Compliance Officer, Honeywell
  • Noah Eisner, Founder & Advisor, Coupa/Rebar Advisors
  • Bawana Radhakrishnan, SVP Global Supply Chain Digital Transformation, Colgate-Palmolive
  • Chris Duffey, Head of GenAI, Adobe
  • Elouise Epstein, Partner, Kearney
  • Sarah Luisi, VP Group Strategic Sourcing & Operations America, LVMH
  • Tony Filippone, Chief Research Officer, HFS Research
  • Lauren Hymen, VP Strategy & Transformation, PepsiCo
  • Adam Brown, Global Director Procurement Technology Platform, Maersk
  • Mitchell Toomey, VP Sustainability & Responsible Care, American Chemistry Council
  • Stefanie Fink, Head of Global Digital Procurement, Kraft Heinz
  • Carlos Hernandez, Head of Procurement Excellence & Framework, Sanofi
  • Rosalia Snyder, Director Source-to-Pay, Microsoft

DPW New York is set to be a hub of inspiration and insight, with a broad range of figures sharing their knowledge and experiences with guests. After developing the concept of DPW in 2019, Founder Matthias Gutzmann’s event has grown into something that entices procurement professionals from all over the world. 2024 saw the DPW team putting on an intimate, invite-only New York event. This year, DPW is scaling up – and we at CPOstrategy to be there on the ground floor.

Join us at the 2025 event by buying your tickets here.

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

9 October 2024

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Findings of a DPW survey point to AI adoption set to grow 187% in the next year, but just 20% of teams currently use AI at scale.

DPW Amsterdam, one of the procurement and supply chain sector’s leading events, has released the findings of its new 10X Procurement study. The study is a collaboration between DPW and Professor Remko van Hoek from the University of Arkansas. Its research draws insights from over 200 global procurement leaders, and claims to have found a “staggering disconnect” between the appetite for digital transformation among procurement teams and their ability to actually execute those transformations.

As businesses grapple with rapid changes in the market, the findings underscore the urgent need for procurement to evolve and drive meaningful change.

“Technology is advancing at the speed of light – but procurement leaders are struggling to drive change at the same rate,” said Matthias Gutzmann, Founder of DPW. “There’s a disconnect between the ambition to transform and the readiness to make it happen.” Gutzmann adds that the 10X Procurement study demonstrates that “while procurement is on the brink of something groundbreaking, teams are ill-equipped to harness that potential.” 

DPW: preparing procurement to capitalise on technological advancement

DPW aims to provide procurement teams with the insights, technology, and partnerships needed to “think and act ten times bigger than their current capacity.”

Key findings from the DPW 10X Procurement Study include:

1. Skills Gap Widens the Divide Between Vision and Execution

Procurement technology providers are sounding the alarm on a widening skills gap, citing a 30-35% shortfall in critical capabilities such as change management, openness to AI, and digital acumen, threatening the success of procurement’s digital transformation efforts.

2. Tech Adoption is Rising, But Underutilization Hampers Progress  

Despite AI making waves across industries, just 20% of respondents are adopting or scaling AI within their procurement functions, and procurement processes remain only 50% automated on average. This lack of adoption represents a significant missed opportunity to streamline operations and drive innovation, putting procurement at risk of falling behind on the digital transformation movement.

3. 2025 Set to Drive a Digital Revolution in Procurement

Looking ahead, respondents predict a dramatic 187% increase in AI adoption and scaling in 2025 across procurement processes and tech stacks. This points to a shift from operational technologies to more strategic, relationship-driven solutions.

4. Culture Lag Holding Back Digital Transformation Despite Clear Roadmaps

While many procurement teams boast clear roadmaps for digital transformation, DPW’s report finds that the culture required to embrace and sustain this change remains underdeveloped. Respondents rated their organisations’ readiness to drive the kind of sweeping transformations required to stay competitive as low.

5. New Playbook Requires Agility and Innovation Over Cost Savings

A large number of respondents were found to put cost savings before other objectives. In contrast, organisations that emphasise agility and resilience consistently see better results than their peers. This underscores the urgent need for procurement to redefine success metrics and shift away from rigid cost-saving goals toward more innovative, relationship-driven strategies that drive more resilience.

The findings of the study will be highlighted at the DPW Amsterdam 2024 conference currently underway in the Netherlands, featuring sessions led by industry experts designed to empower procurement teams and technology innovators in navigating the path toward 10X Procurement. 

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

20 October 2023

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Global research and advisory giants Deloitte and DPW has announced a partnership to bring procurement innovation to organisations.

Deloitte and DPW has announced a partnership to bring procurement innovation to organisations.

Under the terms of this strategic alliance, DPW LABS, the consulting arm of DPW, and Deloitte will work together to refine the boundaries of innovation in procurement.

From problem and strategy definition to proof of concept and deployment, through the DPW LABS innovation capabilities and digital ecosystem and Deloitte’s global transformation capabilities, the move allows for impact to be delivered at scale.

Deloitte is a global provider of audit and assurance, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, tax and related services.

The firm, which is a member of the Big Four in professional services, currently has about 330,000 employees in more than 150 countries and territories. 

Founded in 2019, DPW stands as a global leader in procurement innovation. DPW LABS empowers organisations to identify and seize collaborative innovation opportunities with DPW’s line-up of pioneering startups, scale-ups, and tech innovation experts.

Herman Knevel, co-founder and co-CEO at DPW, said: “We are excited about this strategic partnership with Deloitte.

“This partnership will enable us to join forces and make tech work, expand and complement our impact at global scale.” 

Michiel Junge, partner of sourcing and procurement at Deloitte, added: “We are united in our mission to make procurement awesome.

“The partnership with DPW will enable our clients to tap into DPW’s capabilities and ecosystem and define their procurement future.”

The move comes after DPW welcomed over 1,250 procurement professionals to Amsterdam for its annual conference.

DPW Amsterdam has quickly made its name as a hub of innovation and collaboration. It is one of the biggest and most influential tech events in procurement and supply chain.

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

19 October 2023

Estimated Read time

3Mins

CPOstrategy travels to the Netherlands to soak in the atmosphere of one of the world’s biggest and most influential tech events in procurement and supply chain – DPW Amsterdam 2023

“You are the reason why DPW exists.

“It’s been my mission from day one to break procurement out of its silo and create what I call the end-to-end ecosystem and that is you.”

Digital Procurement World (DPW) Founder Matthias Gutzmann’s first address to the crowd gathered before the main stage had a clear tone of appreciation.

The rise of DPW Amsterdam

Today, DPW Amsterdam is one of the world’s biggest and most influential tech events in procurement and supply chain. Its exponential rise in a relatively short space of time is undeniable. Its story began with a frustrated Gutzmann having discovered a lack of procurement conferences to showcase his previous employer. This led to Gutzmann finding a gap in the market and set about solving the issue himself. He left his job in New York, moved into his parent’s 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. Under the watch of Gutzmann and co-CEO Herman Knevel, DPW’s influence and pull has only grown since.

This year’s event was located at the historic former stock exchange building, the Beurs van Berlage. Built in 1896, the building breathes character and history. Its architecture and rich past, alongside its central Amsterdam location, showcases its sense of place and being.

DPW Conference, Amsterdam 2023

Innovation

DPW Amsterdam has quickly made its name as a hub of innovation and collaboration. This year, more than 1,250 procurement professionals gathered to connect, learn and innovate, while over 2,500 virtual attendees watched along at home. The buzz and hum of chatter was audible, the sense of excitement evident. And the attendees were certainly in for a treat. This year’s theme was “Make Tech Work” which focused on turning digital aspirations into a reality. There was 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. It was all centred on ensuring the vision of digital procurement happens now and how organisations can be challenged to deliver results now instead of only concepts and theories.

Speakers across the two days included renowned experts and visionaries including the likes of Dr. Elouise Epstein, Partner at Kearney, Yossi Sheffi, Director of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author David Rogers, among dozens more. Sarah Barnes-Humphrey led superb virtual coverage of the event and allowed those unable to make it to still feel a part of such an important conference in the procurement calendar. There were book signings from Sheffi and Atif Rafiq, eye-catching tech innovations showcased on stage and even an appearance from F1 legend and Haas Formula One team principal Guenther Steiner.

DPW's founder Matthias Gutzmann

Digital future

To sum up, in comedian and host of DPW Amsterdam Andrew Moskos’ opening speech he reflected on procurement’s evolution and transformation. “Procurement used to be boring but now we’re all rockstars. We run the company, we’re in the c-suite, we run ESG, sustainability, risk, and 80% of the spend of a company goes through us.”

Change is here and procurement holds the cards. Let’s Make Tech Work.