Discover how technology is changing the role of the procurement function, with key insights from industry leaders at DPW Amsterdam.
There’s one topic that took centre stage at DPW Amsterdam this year: how people and technology can work together to transform procurement. It made its way into nearly every conversation, from tightly focused sessions around supply chains and digitalising tail spend, to broader discussions on the wider industry.
Our Chief Solutions Officer, Prerna Dhawan, joined other procurement leaders to discuss this topic in depth in a compelling panel discussion.
During the session, the panel explored exactly how digital transformation and AI will change the roles of procurement teams, how businesses can get started, and what to keep in mind during the journey. Here are some of the main takeaways.
Panel attendees:
- Maria Villablanca, Co-Founder and CEO, Future Insights Network
- Prerna Dhawan, Chief Solutions Officer, The Smart Cube
- Luca Bolcato, Head of Procurement, ING
- Ralf Garczorz, VP Supply Chain Procurement, Johnson & Johnson
Leaders need a new mindset for digital transformation
One key point highlighted in the session is that every business has a different perspective on digital transformation – whether it’s the definition, how it should be driven, or its value.
Prerna pointed out that many leaders see it as an opportunity to convert analogue processes to digital – but really, it’s much more than that. “Digital transformation is an opportunity to reimagine and rethink anything you’re doing in the business today,” she explained. “What’s the point of moving to digital if you just want to take the analogue processes with you?”
“I think it’s often a real misunderstanding of the capabilities of digital technology – people think it’s a magic bullet to solve all their problems,” added Maria. “All our processes are really a lot more complex than that.”
This idea of shifting mindsets around key processes in the business resonated with other leaders too. As Luca explained: “It’s about enhancing people’s capabilities to become more efficient…I think tools like AI will give procurement the bandwidth to take a more strategic role in the organisation. Any operational activities left behind we can expect to be covered by AI.”
Successful transformation requires finding the right use case
After establishing a common understanding of digital transformation, the leaders began sharing their advice for where businesses should start making changes.
For Luca, when implementing tools such as AI, it’s all about getting support from the wider business from the beginning. “You need to have a long-term view, which requires proper buy-in from your leadership to make those investments,” he explained. “I think it’s also important to identify a proper use case and a clear definition of the objective you want to achieve.”
Prerna took this point one level further – beyond just finding the right use case, it needs to be one that demonstrates genuine value, fast. “For me, it’s a balance between finding use cases or projects that are significant enough, yet doable in a certain timeframe,” she explained.
“It’s also about making sure these use cases link to broader organisational goals. If you link your initiatives to the business as a whole, then your procurement team will be aligned with your marketing team, your R&D team, and so on.”
Digital transformation should be a continuously evolving process
Towards the end of the discussion, the panel set their minds to the future and explored what’s possible in procurement over the next ten years.
“I’d love to see an AI-driven solution that can go into all your systems and extract the information you really need to focus on your procurement role,” said Ralf. “Being able to free up the time that’s currently spent on less valuable tasks would be great.”
Prerna took a rational perspective on digital transformation, explaining that it’s more of a process of evolution that should continually happen within the organisation. And a key part of that will involve evolving the roles within the procurement team.
“We say that AI is about augmenting the humans in the business, but many businesses really haven’t configured the role of a category manager in this new environment,” she said. “We need to look at how AI helps to bring out the more human elements in these roles – such as forming stakeholder relationships – and how these roles can be adapted alongside new tools.”
We’ve only captured a snippet of what the leaders covered in the session. Watch the full discussion on demand to get the leaders’ complete insights, including personal advice from their own experiences driving transformation.