“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 closing out the year and planning ahead for what’s to come in 2025, taking a moment – even a brief one – to reflect on some of the ‘bigger picture’ issues impacting procurement can be a valuable way to make sure your strategy is reflective of where procurement, the business, and the global economy are headed.
In this podcast episode, Kelly Barner and I took a look back at Mastermind LIVE 2024, one of AOP’s popular digital events of the year. Hundreds of procurement professionals from around the world came together for six interactive sessions, and the insights shared by our featured speakers and guests helped us to better understand how procurement should be adapting their operating models, tech stacks, skills development, strategies, and mindsets to set themselves up for success in the year to come.
Here are a few insights from the event that we discussed in more depth on the podcast:
Deepening Procurement’s Reach with Orchestration
Orchestration was a theme that came up quite a bit during Mastermind LIVE. While the way procurement defines or implements orchestration can look different from company to company, in its best form and with the right technology in place, orchestration significantly improves the stakeholder experience and provides a user-friendly and truly guided buying experience.
10x-ing Procurement’s Impact Through Small, Incremental Change
Large-scale transformation projects have their place in the business, but we’re also seeing much more conversation around small, incremental changes having big, out-sized effects on driving key procurement outcomes. While vision-setting and long-term planning are essential, procurement is realizing that to reach that 10X goal they have to invest in making a consistent impact – even in small increments – that accumulates and builds over time.
Procurement Is Getting More Comfortable with Risk
In what we think is a real sign of progress within the culture or mindset of procurement, we spoke about procurement’s newfound willingness to take more measured risks, to try something new even if we know it might not succeed by traditional measures. We see this through some of the technologies being piloted or approaches being changed, and it’s nice to see procurement recognize that sometimes not trying something new is actually worse than trying and failing.
2025 Could Be a Wild Ride for Procurement
In one Mastermind LIVE session, we focused on macroeconomic factors impacting procurement. Taking a birds-eye view of how the economic, political, and technology landscapes are changing was a good reminder that procurement and supply chain teams need to make a conscious effort to stay aligned with the business as conditions shift in real time.
Procurement’s Operating Model is Everywhere, All at Once
As Kelly discussed in a session she led in Mastermind LIVE, procurement shouldn’t look at their operating model as a disembodied framework that can be tweaked or adjusted independently of procurement’s day-to-day. As Kelly reflected, “everything is the operating model” and everything procurement does is inherently a part of that operating model, so when changes are made to people, processes, tech, or governance, procurement’s operating model will be responsive to those adjustments.
