“Everybody’s trying to simplify. Everybody’s trying to make the process better and the end-user experience for buying better” - Jeremy Lappin, Co-founder and CEO, Candex
Procurement teams know tail spend is rarely simple.
Supplier onboarding, compliance checks, and local regulations can drain resources, with high effort for small returns. When things go wrong, as they often do, what should have been a simple transaction suddenly becomes an administrative project involving procurement, finance, compliance, and supplier management. In a world where speed and efficiency matter more than ever, removing this friction from tail spend is now a boardroom priority. In this Provider of the Week conversation, Jeremy Lappin, CEO and Co-Founder of Candex, speaks about why these seemingly small purchases often create outsized complexity for large organizations. He discusses the realities of managing thousands of low-value suppliers, the importance of removing friction without compromising control, and why making existing procurement processes work better can sometimes be more valuable than introducing another technology platform.
What does Candex do today, and how has the solution evolved over time?
"Large enterprises work with thousands of small, one-time suppliers across dozens of countries - and managing and paying them across multiple jurisdictions and currencies remains complex, time-consuming, risky, and expensive. Candex solves this by serving as a tech-based master vendor, a single intermediary that enables companies to onboard and pay thousands of suppliers in a fast, easy, and compliant way.”
What differentiates Candex from other solutions in the market?
“One of my favorite customer quotes is, ‘It was so easy, I thought I did it wrong.’
I think that is what really differentiates Candex. We sort of perceive our role as getting rid of the complexity that traditionally exists with procurement technology and making sure it does not show up for the user. We work within the systems and Procure-to-Pay processes companies already have, rather than asking them to change the way they buy.
The hard part is solving all of the edge cases behind the scenes. In payments, if you do not solve those edge cases really, really well, and in an automated and systematized way, it becomes very difficult to achieve significant adoption.
For the user, though, it should feel incredibly simple.”
What capability are you most excited about right now?
"One of the additions that's getting a lot of traction right now is what we call ‘programs.’
A program is a non-PO-based payment. We might connect to a system that keeps track of time for people guarding a lobby, or we might power a charitable contribution program where companies match charitable payments from employees, or an incentive program for marketing expenses.
What advice would you give organizations looking to implement a solution like Candex?
"The most common approach is covering a broad swath of categories and letting users use it where they need it. Another approach is starting with a smaller number of categories that have a really big, urgent need and making that successful immediately.
Once you decide to roll out Candex, it takes about 12 weeks to get it active and live. We call it a mini project.
The hardest part is always change management. You have to do the initial training, find the larger users where it will really help them, and target them. Then they succeed with it, they love it, and it spreads."
What opportunities do you see for procurement technology over the next 12-24 months?
"Clearly, AI is the wave in software in every department, including procurement.
There's a new group of companies in orchestration coming into the procurement world.
As people figure out new ways to do sourcing and new ways to find vendors, it will drive even more of a need for a provider like Candex that helps manage tail spend and make it faster."
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