On this episode, host Sagi Eliyahu talks to Freya Hurwitz, Director of Procurement at Tripadvisor. Freya shares how she brought a product management mindset to procurement and helped digitize and streamline internal processes from the ground up. She also breaks down the tension between automation and culture, the limitations of AI in negotiation and how procurement leaders can evolve into strategic business partners.

Key Takeaways:

(04:43) Use product management thinking to improve internal workflows.

(05:38) Digitize contract processes before introducing new technology.

(09:51) Reduce resistance by giving teams better process visibility.

(13:51) AI tools can’t yet replace human negotiation skills.

(15:40) Expect AI to reshape, not replace, procurement roles.

(20:08) Strategic procurement requires moving upstream in decision-making.

(23:30) Traditional sales roles are fading in software procurement.

(27:04) Tech advances faster than most teams can adopt.

(31:51) Stay flexible — career paths and tools will keep evolving.

Resources Mentioned:

Freya Hurwitz

https://www.linkedin.com/in/freyahurwitz/

Tripadvisor | LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/company/tripadvisor/

Tripadvisor | Website

https://www.tripadvisor.com

This episode is brought to you by Tonkean.

Tonkean is the operating system for business operations and is the enterprise standard for process orchestration. It provides businesses with the building blocks to orchestrate any process, with no code or change management required. Contact us at tonkean.com to learn how you can build complex business processes. Fast.

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