“I think there is an element of mastering your own destiny, a sense of showing up and being engaged in the conversation about what the change should be and the nature and how you do it.” - Aaron Addicoat, Director at AlixPartners
In a session at Mastermind Live 2024, Kelly Barner spoke with Aaron Addicoat, Director at AlixPartners, to examine the ways procurement can adapt their operating model to achieve business objectives - and do so with the right attitude.
Aaron’s passion for procurement and all it encompasses was apparent as he shared his thoughts on:
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“I think there's this dichotomy of two things that we always have to keep in mind in procurement. We don't want to create friction. We want frictionless procurement. At the same time, we want to be seen as the people who have ideas, who could come up with something that could be innovative and have influence in the business.” - Constantine Limberakis, CEO and Owner of Liberis Consulting LLC
In a session at AOP Mastermind Live 2024, Kelly Barner sat down with Constantine Limberakis, CEO and Owner of Liberis Consulting LLC, to discuss the macroeconomic concerns and trends that procurement will certainly need to keep an eye on in the coming year.
During the session, Constantine combined his Masters Degree in public and international affairs and more than 20 years in procurement to give his perspective on:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
"Procurement organizations that are able to master knowledge around their workflows and categories, and bring that intelligence on demand into their processes and tech, are going to really be able to get that 5x, 10x, 20x kind of performance advantage. It’s a game-changer.” - Pierre Mitchell, Chief Research Officer and Managing Director, Spend Matters
Procurement technology is a fast moving target, and well-known industry analyst Pierre Mitchell is one of a handful of highly experienced people who can provide a nuanced perspective on the evolving landscape of procure tech, both looking back at what’s been accomplished while simultaneously predicting the trends that will drive us into 2025 and beyond.
In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Pierre, who is the Chief Research Officer and Managing Director at Spend Matters, about the critical factors impacting the procure tech market, how to avoid data paralysis, the road ahead for procurement and generative AI, and how procurement leaders can wade through a crowded, fragmented, (and still growing!) procure tech landscape.
They also discuss:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“For procurement, now is the time to raise your hand and sit at the table where your company is deciding on AI use cases, because that is going to transform your trajectory in the industry and the company.” - Mary Purk, Co-Author of "Growing Up: Navigating Generative AI’s Early Years – AI Adoption Report" by AI at Wharton
It’s been two years since ChatGPT democratized AI technology access and became the most rapidly downloaded consumer application in history. Since then we’ve seen a steep acceleration of AI-driven innovation, opportunity, and concern.
Just like every other area of the business, procurement has their own unique story about the way AI continues to change the way they function and create value.
In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Mary Purk, co-author of the recently published AI adoption report “Growing Up: Navigating Generative AI’s Early Years” by AI at Wharton and GBK Collective. The report provides data on AI adoption trends within businesses and across functions and the impact that AI is having and will have in the future.
Mary and Philip discuss:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“If you want to be a customer of choice, it's not going to come down to the contract, it's going to come down to the relationship, even at the individual level.” - Oliver Jones, Director (Procurement) for H&Z Management Consultancy
Procurement may be a highly tech-driven function – and growing ever more so by the day – but at its core, the quality of procurement’s relationships with internal stakeholders and suppliers ultimately determine their success or failure for the business.
In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Oliver Jones, Director (Procurement) for H&Z Management Consultancy, about why the “relationship” part of supplier relationship management (SRM) is vital for procurement’s ability to deliver value to the business. He also shares his perspective on how procurement can overcome some of the more common obstacles to creating strong relationships, but why, in the end, it’s well worth the effort – for procurement, for suppliers, and for the business in general.
They also discuss:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“Every procurement journey is unique, and now we have the tools and technologies that allow us to be a lot more flexible in how we build procurement operating models so that we can truly adapt to exactly what the business needs.” – Philip Ideson, Founder and Managing Director, Art of Procurement
In the hustle and bustle of end-of-year reporting, wrap ups, and planning for the year to come, it’s important for procurement to take a pause – even a very brief one – and think about how they should be reacting to some of the ‘bigger picture’ forces impacting the function and the business in general.
In this episode, Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner take a look back at the recent Mastermind LIVE 2024, one of AOP’s most popular digital events of the year, where we considered some of the most important, even challenging, issues facing procurement today. They debrief each of the 6 sessions and tease out the most important insights, surprising and unexpected moments, and tactical call outs that procurement should keep in mind as they plan for 2025 and beyond.
Kelly and Philip add their own perspectives to the session topics, including:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“There are not many functions, if any, other than procurement that sit in a position to both positively and negatively have such an impact on organizations, on strategy, on direction.” - Gordon Donovan
In an era of increasing uncertainty and existential angst over AI, Gordon Donovan has a refreshingly optimistic view of procurement’s future. In fact, he says, procurement might just very well save the world.
While this may be a hyperbolic statement, it’s not that far off the mark, as Gordon explains to Philip Ideson in this episode of Art of Procurement.
As Gordon sees it, procurement is one of the only functions that holds the power – or privilege – to directly impact almost every corner of the business, well beyond cost. As such, how procurement approaches things like relationship building, crisis management, volatility, risk assessment, digital disruption, and strategic planning will play a huge role in determining just how successful they are in ‘saving the world.’
In this episode, Philip and Gordon also discuss:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“No matter how strong or how solid your foundations might be, the environment in which we operate is changing at such a pace that if we do not evolve with it, we will become obsolete.” - Sebastien Bals, EVP, Chief Procurement Officer at Merck Group
As technology – AI in particular – continues to transform the way we work and live, the future of procurement hangs in the balance.
In this episode, Philip Ideson and Sebastien Bals, EVP and Chief Procurement Officer at Merck Group, talk about the “two roads” facing procurement: one, defined by opportunity, innovation, and transformation, and the other marked by disruption, outdated roles and practices, and far more uncertainty.
They confront the larger, existential questions that keep many procurement leaders up at night, while recognizing that procurement’s willingness to adapt and adjust could be the very skills that keep them from traveling down the path to extinction.
They also discuss:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“The visionary leaders can see the opportunities but also recognize that, while traditional skills in procurement still remain very, very important, they need to evolve to realize the true value of technology.” - Andrew Daley, Managing Director, Digital Procurement & Supply Chain, Edbury Daley
The skills and operating models procurement prioritizes are key to their success whether they are facing a single, large-scale transformation or if they are on a steady, continuous digitization journey.
Philip Ideson recently spoke with Andrew Daley, Managing Director, Digital Procurement & Supply Chain at Edbury Daley, in-person at SAP Spend Connect Live in Las Vegas.
Along with discussing insights from a recent research report on procurement technology skills, they explore the importance of centers of excellence, upskilling, and automation. Andrew also shares his views on:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“You have to build a business case and be mindful and purposeful about your continuous improvement and your education around the art of what is possible.” Joël Collin-Demers, Consulting Principal at Pure Procurement
The rapid expansion in the procurement technology landscape in recent years has left many procurement leaders feeling overwhelmed by choice and complexity and second-guessing themselves about how to successfully take advantage of all the opportunities that technology provides.
In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Joël Collin-Demers, Consulting Principal at Pure Procurement, about why continuous improvement, rather than transformation, might be the key to successful procurement digitization.
Joël explains how the tendency to view transformation as a means to a clearly defined endpoint often leads to overwhelmed teams and unrealized value. Instead of a one-off digital transformation overhaul, he advocates for a measured, strategic approach that starts with understanding business processes and builds technology capabilities incrementally over a sustained period of time.In this episode, Joel and Philip explore:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
In the final part of this four-part special series, we compare and contrast the actual policy positions of Democratic Candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Candidate Former President Donald J. Trump.
With less than two weeks until election day, procurement and supply chain professionals must have plans in place for the eventuality of either candidate being voted into office, focusing on the areas where they agree as much as where they differ.
Listen in as Kelly Barner describes where the two major party candidates actually differ (and where they have a lot in common) based on their own campaign websites, policy platforms, and statements from publicly available interviews:
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In part three of this four-part special series, we will cover the policies and plans of Republican Candidate former President Donald Trump.
Former President Donald Trump is 78 Years old, and a former businessman/real estate developer as well as the former host of The Apprentice. He became the nominee on July 18, 2024 when he accepted the nomination at the Republican National Convention
Listen in as Kelly Barner explores his policy positions and platform:
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In part two of this four-part special series, we will cover the policies and plans of Democratic Candidate Vice President Kamala Harris.
Vice President Kamala is 60 Years old and a former Senator and Attorney General from the State of California. She became the presumptive Democratic nominee on July 21, 2024 when President Biden suspended his campaign for re-election, and the official nominee on August 22 when she accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention.
Listen in as Kelly Barner explores her policy positions and platform:
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There are two weeks to go until the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election. Interest, speculation, and tension have been building all year.
Most news coverage of the election is intended to sway voters, hyperbolic to a fault, and not tailored to the specific information needs of procurement and supply chain professionals. What we really need to know is what each major party candidate has said and what likely outcomes that would lead to.
In this four-part special series, we will cover the policies and plans of Democratic Candidate Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Candidate Former President Donald J. Trump as well as how they compare.
Listen in as Kelly Barner kicks off the series by explaining:
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Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.
Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.
Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.
“What we are seeing is companies have made the decision that they believe being more sustainable is good business. Therefore, that is the number one priority.” - Daniel Dorr, VP of Marketing at Supplier.io
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations are core components of a strong supply chain, but these initiatives can also expose the business to unexpected areas of risk.
In this episode, based on an AOP Live session, hosts Philip Ideson and Kelly Barner talk with Daniel Dorr and Laura Noonan from Supplier.io and Alexandra Di Fabrizio from Impak Analytics to discuss the findings of over 200 in-depth ESG risk assessments that provide an unparalleled look into the current risks of supplier sustainability performance.
They break down the highest risk areas associated with ESG, share mitigation best practices, and elaborate on the opportunities procurement has to strengthen their role in the business by neutralizing ESG risk.
In this episode, Daniel, Alexandra, and Laura discuss:
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