Cover of The Future of Procurement

The Future of Procurement

The Future of Procurement

By: SAP SE
Listen for free

Season's Savings | 0.99 €/month for 3 months

5.99 €/month thereafter - terms apply. Cancel monthly.
Summary
 Cutting-edge thought leadership, trends, and insights in Procurement, served up in casual, coffee-chat style conversationsSAP SE
Episodes
  • Episode 039: Finding Success During Implementation and Adoption with Sumeet Kulshrestha

    Episode 039: Finding Success During Implementation and Adoption with Sumeet Kulshrestha
    22 Oct 2026

    SAP Delivery VP Sumeet Kulshrestha shares valuable lessons on what derails procurement implementations and how to course-correct before, during, and after go-live.


    Guest: Sumeet Kulshrestha – Delivery Vice President, SAP Customer Services & Delivery

    Host: Erik Derenne – Director, Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & Spend

    Host: Sarah Nelson – Senior Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & Spend

    Host: Jon Williams – Director, Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & Spend

    Why do so many procurement implementations fail to deliver on their promised value? Is change management just a matter of issuing a policy and expecting compliance? What happens when procurement moves forward without considering the impact on finance, AP, and HR? And if your go-live is behind you but results still haven't followed, is it too late to course-correct?

    Our guest today, Sumeet Kulshrestha, found his way into the procurement world through Ariba's acquisition of Softface and has spent over twenty years sitting across the table from customers in crisis, building the frameworks that get organizations back on track. As Delivery VP for SAP Customer Services and Delivery, he leads the teams called in precisely when something feels off.

    Sumeet is direct that the most expensive thing a customer can do is buy a solution and not use it. Before a single workshop is scheduled, he urges organizations to recognize that procurement touches far more of the business than most expect, including finance, AP, and HR. Customers who overlook those connections often find something broken the moment they go live. His prescription is to bring all affected stakeholders in early and establish a governance structure with a committee that has real authority and the mandate to make decisions and keep things moving.

    Sumeet advocates for fit-to-standard processes as the default, noting that most procurement activity does not represent true competitive differentiation. Even where configuration makes sense, customization done for the right reasons can drive broader innovation: one of Ariba's most widely adopted features, invoicing against a contract, started as a customer customization that product engineers later standardized. The key is distinguishing configurations that solve a real strategic problem from those that simply digitize an old process. For organizations nervous about adoption, a phased rollout can help. Start with receptive users, build proof points, then bring along the holdouts.

    Perhaps Sumeet's most counterintuitive insight is that ninety-five percent or more of the problems he sees occur after go-live, not before. Go-live is not the destination; it is where the real work begins. For organizations not getting expected value, his advice is simple: contact your account executive or CSM, request a health check, and work through SAP's three-step process of assess, stabilize, and optimize. Sumeet acknowledges that AI inevitable, but it’s not a replacement for people. The three-legged stool of people, process, and technology will not lose a leg; it will gain a fourth, preserving the human judgment that makes procurement matter.

    So, let’s dive in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Erik Derenne, and you’re listening to The Future of Procurement Podcast.


    Follow SAP: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap/

    Follow SAP Ariba: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ariba/

    Follow Sumeet:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumeetksh/

    Follow Erik:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-derenne/

    Follow Sarah:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swnelson12/

    Follow Jon:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-williams121/


    Please like, share, and subscribe!Send feedback and questions to ⁠⁠⁠TheFutureOfProcurement@sap.com
    Show more Show less
    51 min
  • Episode 038: Field Notes – Insights from Procurement Leaders in the Consumer Products Industry at World Procurement Congress

    Episode 038: Field Notes – Insights from Procurement Leaders in the Consumer Products Industry at World Procurement Congress
    29 Sep 2026

    Global VP of Research at SAP, Gordon Donovan sits down with procurement leaders from Nestlé, Kraft Heinz, and Heineken at the recent World Procurement Congress.


    Guest: Jacob Busk Nielsen – Chief Procurement Officer, Nestlé

    Guest: Janelle Aydin – Chief Procurement and Sustainability Officer, Kraft Heinz

    Guest: Hervé Le Faou – Chief Procurement Officer, Heineken

    Special Host: Gordon Donovan – Global VP of Research, SAP – Procurement

    Are you curious what making chocolate, ketchup and ice-cold beer have in common?

    Well from an ingredient and production standpoint, probably not a whole lot…

    However, when it comes to building a resilient and strategic procurement function, there is actually quite a bit of similarity.

    In this special episode, Gordon Donovan sat down one-one with procurement leaders Jacob Busk Nielsen at Nestlé, Janelle Aydin from Kraft Heinz, and Hervé Le Faou of Heineken to learn how each of these companies approach the procurement office as a strategic function and how they are preparing for the next major transformative disruptor, Agentic AI.

    Despite the diverse product portfolios, geographies and corporate cultures among these major companies in the Consumer Products industry, one common thread all three leaders share is curiosity as a core procurement skill. This curiosity mindset helps these companies adapt to supply volatility and embrace emerging trends faster than their competition and keeps their businesses at the forefront of procurement innovation. These leaders have figured out how to turn disruption into a competitive advantage as opposed to a handicap.

    With AI offering the promise of immense potential but also the threat of extreme disruption, Jacob, Janelle and Hervé are tapping into their curiosity to make the right investments. They are leaning into their procurement teams to ask the hard questions, build resilient processes that capitalize on the strength of AI, and define their procurement strategy of the future that will keep them at the top of their industries for years to come.

    So, let’s dive in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Erik Derenne, and you’re listening to The Future of Procurement Podcast.


    Follow SAP: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap/

    Follow SAP Ariba: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ariba/


    Follow Jacob:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-busk-nielsen-204620/

    Follow Janelle:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janelle-aydin-0816563/

    Follow Hervé:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hervé-le-faou-9048642/

    Follow Gordon:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gordon-donovan-6305b13/


    Please like, share, and subscribe!Send feedback and questions to ⁠⁠TheFutureOfProcurement@sap.com
    Show more Show less
    1 hr and 2 min
  • Episode 037: Taking Procurement from Gatekeeper to Advisory with Mitch Myers

    Episode 037: Taking Procurement from Gatekeeper to Advisory with Mitch Myers
    24 Sep 2026
    SAP Value and Solutions Advisor, Mitch Myers guides us through his process for matching business value with process improvement to defend the case for procurement transformation.Guest: Mitch Myers – Director, Solution and Value Advisory, SAP Finance & SpendHost: Erik Derenne – Director, Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & Spend Host: Sarah Nelson – Senior Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & SpendHost: Justin Morse – Vice President, Solution Advisory, SAP Americas, Finance & Spend What does a successful procurement transformation really look like? Is it just a matter of implementing the right technology and waiting for the savings to roll in? Is the loudest voice in the room always pointing you in the right direction? And when the implementation wraps up, are you really done? Our guest today, Mitch Myers, brings a rare combination of perspectives to the table. With over 25 years working with SAP and SAP Ariba solutions — spanning roles as a technology consultant, a management consultant at McKinsey, and Global Process Owner at Takeda Pharmaceuticals where he oversaw approximately $16 billion in annual transactions across SAP solutions — Mitch has seen procurement transformation from every angle. Now at SAP as a Director of Solution and Value Advisory, he shares the hard-won lessons he's carried from industry into advisory. Mitch challenges the common assumption that process improvement alone is enough to deliver transformation results. Instead, he advocates for evaluating every process change through the lens of business value and applying the 80/20 principle to focus on the improvements that actually move the needle. He cautions against the perfectionism trap where chasing every complaint or polishing every process to 100% means neglecting the next high-value opportunity. Better to time-box your priorities, lay out a clear roadmap, and accept that transformation is a continuous journey of iteration, not a project with a finish line. On building the business case, Mitch describes an outside-in to inside-out approach — walking customers through how the numbers are derived so they can refine the model until they own it. He also reinforces that successful transformation requires all three P's to be aligned: People, Process, and Platforms. Miss any one of them and the effort will stall, regardless of how capable the technology is. Sustained value comes from ongoing maturation, adoption, and what he simply calls keeping the plant watered. Finally, Mitch offers a compelling framework for where procurement is headed. Procurement has historically played the role of gatekeeper — the function that controls, constrains, and approves. The best organizations have elevated it to business partner, collaborating proactively with finance, R&D, and other functions. But the ultimate destination — made possible as AI absorbs more transactional and lower-level activities — is procurement as a true advisory function. One where stakeholders seek out procurement by choice, not obligation, because they know it will bring strategic value they can't get anywhere else. So, let’s dive in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Erik Derenne, and you’re listening to The Future of Procurement Podcast. Follow SAP: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap/Follow SAP Ariba: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ariba/ Follow Mitch: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/myersmitch/ Follow Erik: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-derenne/ Follow Justin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmorse/ Follow Sarah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swnelson12/Please like, share, and subscribe!Send feedback and questions to ⁠⁠TheFutureOfProcurement@sap.com
    Show more Show less
    44 min
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet