In this Phil-Ins episode of "Buy: The Way…To Purposeful Procurement," Philip Ideson, Rich Ham, and Kelly Barner reflect on their conversations with Bayer CPO Thomas Udesen, franchise procurement leader Kristine Morton, and procurement entrepreneur Jason Busch.

Despite differences in scope, scale, and sector, the through-line is unmistakable: common sense.

For example, Thomas showed how Bayer abandoned "pointless" savings metrics in favor of measures that connect directly to business outcomes, while Kristine reminded us that for franchisees, if it doesn't hit the P&L, it didn't happen. And Jason revealed how AI employees could finally make real-time validation and continuous monitoring of results possible at scale.

Taken together, these stories underscore procurement's most pressing challenge: leaving behind the dysfunctional obsession with "claimed savings" and building incentive systems that reward real impact.

Rich, Phil, and Kelly also step back to examine procurement's sense of alignment (or detachment?) from the wider business. Kelly shares vivid experiences from her own practitioner days, contrasting the urgency of grocery logistics with the abstraction of office supplies. Phil cautions against "procurement blinkers," reminding us that silos plague every function, not just ours. And Rich argues that measuring against EBITDA – profits, not projections – may finally put procurement "on the pitch" with their teammates.

This recap sets the stage for the next phase of the series: designing incentive structures that actually work. Because if procurement doesn't align with business value, AI vendors may sell that value straight to the C-suite. Links: Rich Ham on LinkedInLearn more at FineTuneUs.com