Proc-N-Roll : Your guide to practical procurement!

In this week's Proc n Roll, we are joined by procurement legend John Dixon, whose 40-year career includes serving as Chief Procurement Officer for global giants like AstraZeneca, GSK, Diageo, BP, and Rolls-Royce.

John drops some serious truth bombs about the current state of our industry. He explains why procurement is facing a "perfect storm" of risk, cost, and AI, and why leaders need to completely drop the cliché of asking for a "seat at the table". Instead, he breaks down how to actually earn credibility by speaking the business's language, stopping the endless fights with the CFO over cost savings, and establishing simple, effective baselines. Finally, John issues a warning about the saturated procurement tech landscape —urging leaders to engage in "discretionary learning" so they truly understand AI rather than blindly buying platforms.

Timestamps

(00:50) – Intro: Welcome John Dixon, 40-Year Procurement Veteran & Global CPO(02:10) – The "Perfect Storm": Why Procurement is at an Inflection Point(03:55) – The Myth of the "Seat at the Table" & Earning Real Credibility(07:13) – Clashing with the CFO: Savings vs. True Business Value(10:53) – How to Establish Simple Rules and Baselines with Finance(19:04) – Moving from Tactical Buyers to Strategic Ecosystem Managers(20:28) – The Power of Speaking Their Language: Hiring Chemists to Buy Test Tubes(25:14) – Aligning Procurement's Value Proposition with Business Goals(33:13) – Category Strategy: Your Ultimate Tool to Learn the Business(39:01) – Navigating a Saturated Procurement Tech Landscape(42:14) – Why Procurement Must "Leapfrog" in Technology Investments(46:01) – "Discretionary Learning": Why CPOs Cannot Abdicate Tech Decisions(49:49) – Looking Back: John's First CPO Role and Greatest Turning Point

About Proc n Roll

Proc n Roll is your guide to practical procurement. Join industry veterans Conrad, Zach, and Natasha as we tackle real-world challenges for procurement leaders. From building agile operating models to leveraging the latest AI and data strategies, we bring you no-nonsense, actionable insights to help you transform your organization.

You think you know your spend? Natasha Gurevich once found a company with 57 separate contracts with the same hotel chain — because nobody had visibility across entities.

In this Proc N Roll: Track, Conrad Smith breaks down the simplest data model every procurement team needs (transactions → suppliers → cost centers), Natasha reveals how fragmented visibility creates hidden waste, and together they introduce 3D Segmentation — evaluating suppliers across spend, risk, AND business criticality instead of just dollars. Natasha also shares how partnering with Legal on a volume-vs-value analysis freed up massive resources: 80% of contracts were under $150K and didn't need the full treatment.

This Track is pulled from https://open.spotify.com/episode/0Vz93Umri8VZSoA4nbKZ2G?si=eLBKlK2EQMCso6jNNclLAw

About Proc N Roll:Your guide to practical procurement, where we make procurement rock and roll. Hosted by Conrad Smith (Founder of Graphite Connect, former CPO at Adobe, and Intel), Natasha Gurevich (former CPO at Nike, Salesforce, McKesson, and IBM), and Zachary Bachir. Three procurement veterans with almost 70 years of combined practical experience, unpacking the trends, skills, and real-world lessons that shape the profession.

In this episode of Proc N Roll, the "Three Amigos" reunite to tackle the wild frontier of AI in the workplace before diving deep into the architecture of procurement operating models.

Are AI tools "employees" or just "agents"? The trio discusses the clash between tech developers and HR departments, and Conrad introduces us to James. his multilingual, highly efficient AI Chief of Staff who manages his calendar, tracks meeting action items, and holds the team accountable.In the second half of the episode, the conversation shifts to the blueprint of business: the procurement operating model. Zach and Natasha share their proven frameworks for structuring, documenting, and executing a winning model. Whether your organization needs to be centralized, center-led, or decentralized, this episode provides the practical steps you need to align your procurement structure with your ultimate business goals, and even touches on how to build a "digital twin" of your procurement workforce!

Catch up on the Operating Model subject:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lpDVChcoaCLtbsVWxYJsE?si=hdp4-qlzRtCQ-tzEbwjwkg

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3ZMyZqSVAQx9IoipQzfemS?si=5mM11orpRZGf6YqU2d9s6w

Timestamps

(01:16) – Welcome Back: The Procurement BFFs Reunite

(01:29) – Agents vs. Employees: The HR and Tech Divide

(03:58) – Meet James: Conrad's AI Chief of Staff

(07:39) – The Meeting Debate: AI Note-Takers vs. Handwritten Notes

(11:18) – The End of Self-Service: How AI is Bringing Back Full-Service Support

(15:22) – AI Security, Enterprise Guardrails, and the Mac Mini Strategy

(18:30) – The Blueprint: Transitioning to Procurement Operating Models

(20:51) – Operating Model Archetypes: Centralized, Center-Led, and Decentralized

(30:02) – The Future: Building a "Digital Twin" of Your Procurement Org

(35:45) – From Ingredients to Blueprint: How to Document Your Model

(37:41) – The "Factory of Ideas": Natasha’s Category Management Framework

(47:04) – Final Advice for CPOs: Where to Start Designing Your Model

About Proc n Roll

Proc n Roll is your guide to practical procurement. Join industry veterans Conrad, Zach, and Natasha as we tackle real-world challenges for procurement leaders. From building agile operating models to leveraging the latest AI and data strategies, we bring you no-nonsense, actionable insights to help you transform your organization.

The procurement talent crisis isn't a hiring problem — it's a development problem.

In this Proc N Roll: Track, Natasha Gurevich argues that as automation replaces purchasing tasks, leaders can't expect their teams to instantly become strategic thinkers. You have to build that muscle from within. She introduces the "work romance" model: pair experienced Gen X leaders who understand the business problems with Gen Z employees who grew up with tech. Hand them a complex challenge with zero instructions — and watch them solve it in two weeks. Conrad Smith pushes leaders to stop watching demos and get their hands dirty in the actual tools.

This Track is pulled from https://open.spotify.com/episode/4MNArtXXGJwUrPykWaxtcc?si=SdaicJUyQLaNt1gnxQ3BJA

About Proc N Roll:Your guide to practical procurement, where we make procurement rock and roll. Hosted by Conrad Smith (Founder of Graphite Connect, former CPO at Adobe, and Intel), Natasha Gurevich (former CPO at Nike, Salesforce, McKesson, and IBM), and Zachary Bachir. Three procurement veterans with almost 70 years of combined practical experience, unpacking the trends, skills, and real-world lessons that shape the profession.

Every procurement professional has met that stakeholder — the one who says "we're fine, thanks" and locks the door.

In this Proc N Roll: Track, Natasha Gurevich shares the exact playbook she used to break into one of procurement's hardest categories: marketing. Step one: stop threatening an RFP and start sending a one-page market intel newsletter. Step two: show them the supplier pie chart they've never seen — 4,000 suppliers, 10 of them doing 80% of the work. Conrad Smith adds a reframe from Google's procurement model and delivers one of the best analogies in the series: "It's almost impossible not to love somebody that loves your kids."

This Track is pulled from https://open.spotify.com/episode/6nXrAVjJUnjBxdpTQrXaVF?si=XP_TfoImTQuAaTsDIwQe6w

About Proc N Roll:Your guide to practical procurement, where we make procurement rock and roll.Hosted by Conrad Smith (Founder of Graphite Connect, former CPO at Adobe, and Intel), Natasha Gurevich (former CPO at Nike, Salesforce, McKesson, and IBM), and Zachary Bachir. Three procurement veterans with almost 70 years of combined practical experience, unpacking the trends, skills, and real-world lessons that shape the profession.

Welcome back to Proc n Roll! In this week's episode, Conrad reconnects with long-time colleague and procurement powerhouse Omid Ghamami to discuss a fundamental shift in how we source.

Are you spending 70% to 90% of your day firefighting supplier issues? Omid argues that this happens because procurement teams are stuck in a 1970s mindset, focusing entirely on buying "goods and services" instead of contracting for business outcomes.

Omid shares incredible stories—from the LED traffic light disaster to the $30 million payroll blunder—that illustrate exactly why focusing on activities instead of results costs organizations millions. Tune in to learn why your legal team isn't actually protecting you commercially, why "ignorance" is your greatest procurement weapon, and how to stop asking for permission so you can crown yourself as a true business leader.

Timestamps:

(00:55) – Welcome & Reconnecting 30 Years Later

04:40 – The Accidental Career: Nobody Plans for Procurement

(08:16) – Stop Parasitic Negotiations: The Hidden 18% Cost

(12:39) – Why We Buy The Wrong Things: Custom vs. Standard

(15:33) – The Brutal Truth: Why Stakeholders Don't Engage Us Early

(21:23) – The Problem with "Goods and Services" Contracts

(25:59) – Embrace Ignorance: Your Greatest Procurement Tool

(32:57) – The Know, Like, and Trust Triangle

(42:27) – The San Francisco $30M Payroll Blunder

(46:19) – Response Time vs. Resolution Time (The Baseball Game Story)

(51:05) – The Wisconsin LED Traffic Light Disaster

(55:13) – Why Legal Isn't Protecting You Commercially

(01:01:46) – Leadership Lesson: Crown Yourself

About Proc n Roll

Proc n Roll is your guide to practical procurement. Join Conrad, Zach, and Natasha as we tackle real-world challenges for procurement leaders. From building operating models to leveraging data and AI strategy, we bring you no-nonsense insights to help you transform your organization! Be sure to hit that like button, comment your thoughts, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

If procurement only speaks the language of cost savings, it will never be astrategic partner.

In this Proc N Roll: Track, former CPO Natasha Gurevich argues that real value looks different to every stakeholder — risk reduction for legal, speed to market for marketing, capacity assurance for supply chain — and that procurement leaders need to be brave enough to tell their teams, "Forget the savings number for 12 months. Just do the right thing for the business."

Conrad Smith shares how he stopped reporting savings to his CFO for nearly two years at Adobe, and the trio unpacks the three pillars required to shift from savings to value: talent, stakeholder relationships, and supplier relationships.

This Track is pulled from https://open.spotify.com/episode/7CHXHUFK1sMqA6Cct1b2iz?si=eFBJEG3sQGGKgSLzRqo_Ag

About Proc N Roll:Your guide to practical procurement, where we make procurement rock and roll.Hosted by Conrad Smith (Founder of Graphite Connect, former CPO at Adobe, and Intel), Natasha Gurevich (former CPO at Nike, Salesforce, McKesson, and IBM), and Zachary Bachir. Three procurement veterans with almost 70 years of combined practical experience, unpacking the trends, skills, and real-world lessons that shape the profession.

Procurement teams love to talk about risk. Most of them never actually manage it.

In this Proc N Roll: Track, Conrad Smith lays out the biggest failure he sees across dozens of procurement orgs every month — stopping at "awareness" and never moving to mitigation — and introduces the four-step framework that separates real programs from glorified questionnaires: Define. Measure. Manage. Monitor. Natasha Gurevich reinforces the enterprise mindset with her "20 burning platforms" principle: you can't fix everything, so pick the riskiest risks and actually work them.

This Track is pulled from https://open.spotify.com/episode/0JvE9vi3x5eYWldEvhQNWl?si=uUFbJcaTSKKuitN7utuSCA

About Proc N Roll:Your guide to practical procurement, where we make procurement rock and roll.Hosted by Conrad Smith (Founder of Graphite Connect, former CPO at Adobe, and Intel), Natasha Gurevich (former CPO at Nike, Salesforce, McKesson, and IBM), and Zachary Bachir. Three procurement veterans with almost 70 years of combined practical experience, unpacking the trends, skills, and real-world lessons that shape the profession.

Want honest feedback from your team? Stop asking people to judge you.

In this Proc N Roll: Track, pro-CPO Natasha Gurevich shares the single question that transformed how she receives feedback from direct reports, peers, and skip-levels: "How have you experienced me?" Conrad Smith and Zachary Bachir unpack why human nature resists feedback — the "mammalian brain" at work — and how leaders can build a culture where critical input becomes routine, not rare.

This Track is pulled from https://open.spotify.com/episode/1r4JLHcYnMAk6Fps0Aw5Sc?si=JKC2fPO5QaGoQY5sRcCg-w

About Proc N Roll:Your guide to practical procurement, where we make procurement rock and roll.Hosted by Conrad Smith (Founder of Graphite Connect, former CPO at Adobe, and Intel), Natasha Gurevich (former CPO at Nike, Salesforce, McKesson, and IBM), and Zachary Bachir. Three procurement veterans with almost 70 years of combined practical experience, unpacking the trends, skills, and real-world lessons that shape the profession.

In this week’s Proc N Roll, Conrad sits down with Stephany Lapierre, the visionary founder of Tealbook. They dive into the reality of modern procurement tech: why companies spend millions on "Ferraris" (expensive systems) only to fill the gas tanks with sugar and mud (bad data).

Stephany shares her journey from founding Matchbook to fixing the foundational data issues that plague modern source-to-pay processes. If you want to know why portal fatigue is holding your suppliers back, why LLMs won't magically clean your data, and how to pare down a massive vision into digestible steps to get stakeholder buy-in, this episode is a must-listen!

Timestamps:

(00:53) – Welcome & The Ferrari Analogy

(02:21) – Stephany's Journey: From Matchbook to Procurement Data

(07:15) – The "Scott" Problem: Data Gatekeepers of the 90s vs. Now

(13:42) – The Myth of the "Source of Truth"

(15:55) – The Million-Dollar Data Cleanup Nightmare

(26:41) – Entity Resolution: Which Stephanie are we actually paying?

(28:34) – Will AI Fix Bad Data? (Spoiler: No)

(31:17) – Lightning Round: Improving Supplier Onboarding

(34:11) – Leadership Lessons: Paring Down the Big Vision

About Proc & Roll 

Proc n Roll is your go-to podcast for practical, no-nonsense insights into the world of procurement. Hosted by Conrad Smith, Zachary Bachir, and Natasha Gurevich. Whether you are looking to build a better operating model, adopt the latest in AI and tech, or transform your career path, we bring you the strategies and stories that matter.