866: How Digital Masters Are Preparing for an AI-enabled Future W/ Deloitte
Release Date: 05/18/2026
EP 07: Procurement as Ecosystem Builder in the Age of AI W/ Saurabh Gupta
Art of Procurement
“Procurement has to become an ecosystem builder for the enterprise, because no enterprise can do everything by itself in today’s world.” - Saurabh Gupta Procurement leaders are feeling the pressure to “be AI-first,” yet most struggle to get past the hype and deliver real business value. With AI reshaping buying categories and challenging process norms, now is the time to rethink procurement’s role. In this ProcureTech Insider episode, Saurabh Gupta, President of HFS, joins Jyothi Hartley to talk candidly about how AI is forcing procurement to confront old habits and rethink...
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866: How Digital Masters Are Preparing for an AI-enabled Future W/ Deloitte
Art of Procurement
“Digital masters aren’t just deploying technology. They’re changing the way procurement runs.” - Chris Riley, Partner - Supply Chain and Procurement, Deloitte As AI-enabled tools shift the landscape from efficiency to true strategic impact, CPOs are tasked with making sense of new operating models, changing expectations, and how to redeploy talent toward higher-value work. In this episode, Deloitte’s Chris Riley, Ryan Flynn, and Jocelyn Mayfield join Philip Ideson to break down the findings of Deloitte’s latest CPO and AI surveys. They reveal what sets digital masters apart, how...
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BTW EP 31: The Fellowship Against Fake Savings with Alan Veeck
Art of Procurement
“Isn't it true that everybody talks about supplier management, but nobody does it?” This observation from Summit Procurement CEO and Founder Alan Veeck captures the delta between procurement's aspirations and the reality on the ground. It’s a gap, he says, that AI might finally help close, but only if organizations resist the temptation to simply slash headcount when AI-powered efficiencies arrive. In this episode of "Buy: The Way...To Purposeful Procurement," co-hosts Philip Ideson and Rich Ham speak with Alan Veeck to explore what it might look like if procurement was unleashed...
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865: Confidence, Cost, and Compliance: Insights from the Economist Impact Report W/ Gordon Donovan
Art of Procurement
“Right now, procurement needs to define their future role in the business. Procurement needs to drive that for themselves, because if we don't, then someone is going to drive it for us, and that could drive us out.” - Gordon Donovan, Vice President Research - Procurement & External Workforce, SAP Business models are being disrupted, and so is procurement. This year’s Economist Impact report reveals a sharp drop in C-suite confidence, a dramatic return to basics on cost and compliance, and AI taking center stage as both opportunity and challenge. Amid these changes, how can CPOs...
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EP 06: Startup of the Week: Zinit W/ Stan Moskovtsev
Art of Procurement
It’s no secret: procurement teams are under increasing pressure to deliver savings, handle more work with leaner teams, and modernize outdated processes… all at once. While software solutions have flooded the market, much of the daily reality still involves spreadsheets and emails, especially for indirect or non-strategic spend. Stan Moskovtsev, co-founder and U.S. CEO of Zinit, wants to solve this. Drawing on his years leading digital procurement at McKinsey, Stan built a SaaS-enabled B2B marketplace that addresses these day-to-day pain points. In this ProcureTech Insider Startup of the...
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864: Benchmarking Procurement: Lessons from $1.4 Trillion in Spend W/ Sammeli Sammalkorpi
Art of Procurement
“Don’t speak about category savings because that’s procurement lingo. We need to speak about gross margin expansion at the end-product level.” - Sammeli Sammalkorpi, Co-Founder and CEO, Sievo Spend analytics has moved well beyond spreadsheets, but most organizations are still guessing about what ‘good’ performance looks like. When Sievo analyzed $1.4 trillion of procurement spend, the findings were both confirming and, in some places, eye-opening. With the business landscape changing rapidly, adaptation backed by data is more important than ever. In this Art of Procurement...
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BTW EP 30: The Talent Shift No One in Procurement Is Ready For W/ Friddy Hoegener
Art of Procurement
AI is already changing procurement, but, for many, the bigger and more difficult question is what will happen to people in the process. Procurement has long been constrained by capacity: too much data, too many transactions, and not enough time to step back and think strategically. Now, with AI accelerating analysis, automating tasks, and reshaping workflows, that constraint is starting to loosen. But more capacity doesn’t automatically create more value. In this episode of Buy: The Way…To Purposeful Procurement, Friddy Hoegener, co-founder of Scope Recruiting and a former procurement...
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863: The Agentic Shift in Procurement: The Rise of Autonomous Processes
Art of Procurement
“Procurement now gets to decide where to play, who does the work, and how much of that work is done by humans versus agents.” - Viji Doraiswamy, VP Product Marketing, Coupa Senior procurement leaders are under pressure to deliver much more than just savings. The next advantage lies in the intelligent orchestration of processes, where agentic AI not only automates intake, but enables teams to truly focus on value and strategy. In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Viji Doraiswamy, VP of Product Marketing at Coupa. Drawing on hands-on experience with large-scale clients, Viji explains...
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EP 05: Provider of the Week: Prewave W/ Harald Nitschinger
Art of Procurement
In a world defined by volatility, procurement leaders need more than gut instinct to navigate supply chain risks. From regulatory pressure to sudden trade disruptions, organizations can’t afford blind spots. This is why risk intelligence and AI-powered efficiency are climbing the CPO agenda. This week, Harald Nitschinger, co-founder and CEO of Prewave, joins the ProcureTech Insider podcast to discuss how their platform helps organizations move beyond basic supplier visibility to real-time, actionable risk insights. Built with both ESG compliance and resilience in mind, Prewave’s approach...
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862: AI, Talent, and the New Shape of Procurement in India W/ Dr. Swapnil Dubey
Art of Procurement
“In the AI regime, things are going to be disrupted. So be ready to be disrupted.” - Dr. Swapnil Dubey In a market as complex and fast-changing as India, procurement’s role has transformed from tactical to strategic… and fast. As global manufacturers shift operations and Indian firms chase world-class performance, the need for advanced procurement leadership has never been greater. In this Art of Procurement podcast episode, Philip Ideson speaks with veteran procurement leader Dr. Swapnil Dubey, whose four-decade career spans India’s procurement evolution, from the early days of...
info_outline“Digital masters aren’t just deploying technology. They’re changing the way procurement runs.” - Chris Riley, Partner - Supply Chain and Procurement, Deloitte
As AI-enabled tools shift the landscape from efficiency to true strategic impact, CPOs are tasked with making sense of new operating models, changing expectations, and how to redeploy talent toward higher-value work.
In this episode, Deloitte’s Chris Riley, Ryan Flynn, and Jocelyn Mayfield join Philip Ideson to break down the findings of Deloitte’s latest CPO and AI surveys. They reveal what sets digital masters apart, how top teams link digital investments to business outcomes, and what it takes to move from process efficiency to business advisor.
Whether you’re rolling out AI for the first time or redesigning your operating model, this conversation dives deep into practical lessons and next steps for forward-thinking procurement teams.
In this episode, Chris, Ryan, and Jocelyn will discuss:
- What “digital masters” do differently
- Why operating model design now has existential importance for procurement
- The real opportunity (and challenge) in reskilling for the AI era
- How cultural change and reward systems drive sustainable transformation
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