The Way We Source

The Way We Source

By Kodiak HubBusinessManagement
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The Way We Source episodes

  • 23. Winning the Game of Procurement w/ Christian Paul, Managing Director at nnamu

    Christian Paul is an expert in game theory and Geschäftsführer (or “Managing Director”) of nnamu, the German ProcureTech solution that utilises game theory algorithms to improve sourcing strategies and negotiations.

    He joins us to discuss his journey from Procurement consultant to startup founder, how nnamu helps its clients, and what Procurement teams can learn from game theory in their strategies and negotiations.


    Timestamps:

    (01:30) — What does Sourcing & Procurement mean to Christian?


    (03:18) — What are Christian and nnamu trying to achieve in Procurement?


    (05:01) — How is nnamu different from Procurement solutions of the past?


    (06:46) — What is game theory and how does nnamu use it within Procurement?


    (09:56) — What does winning look like within Procurement?


    (12:31) — Does the current level of maturity in Procurement match nnamu’s offerings and the use of game theory?


    (14:45) — What type of businesses are mature enough to use game theory in Procurement?


    (16:04) — What’s the reason behind the name “nnamu”?


    (18:40) — What made Christian leave consulting to launch his own venture?


    (21:06) — How did Christian end up working in Procurement?


    (24:01) — Does Christian ever get lonely as a founder?


    (29:08) — What are Christian’s tips for other ProcureTech founders?


    (33:05) — What does Christian wish that he knew at the beginning of his career?


    (36:00) — Kodiak Moment: Christian answers our quick-fire round of questions

    40 min
  • 22. Authenticity, ESG, & Innovation in Procurement w/ Alex Gosney, CEO of Nutral

    Timestamps:

    (01:22) — What does Procurement & Sourcing mean to Alex? Alex talks about how Procurement has changed in recent years.


    (03:20) — What made Alex decide to work in Procurement?


    (04:43) — What made Alex found his company Nutral?


    (05:47) — What is the gap in the market that Alex and Nutral are trying to fill?


    (08:32) — Why did Alex decide to become a founder?


    (10:28) — What lessons did Alex take from his career as a Procurement practitioner into his career as a founder?


    (13:19) — Why do founders have a tough time talking about losses and failures?


    (15:52) — Can Procurement function with complete authenticity and openness within a Buyer-Supplier relationship?


    (19:23) — How does Alex believe that Procurement teams can become a force and a friend to the wider business?


    (22:29) — What are companies currently getting right (or wrong) about ESG?


    (24:38) — How can multinationals be convinced to make the sustainable choice when it’s also the more expensive choice?


    (27:38) — What’s one thing that Alex wishes he would have known at the beginning of his career?


    (29:40) — Kodiak Moment: Alex answers our quick-fire round of questions

    34 min
  • 21. Lessons from the Defense Industry w/ Petra Sjögren, VP of Procurement at Saab Aeronautics

    (01:32) - What does sourcing & procurement mean to Petra and what makes it so central to a business?

    (03:25) - How Petra decided to start working in Procurement

    (05:42) - Petra describes her role at Saab and its business areas

    (07:31) - Petra talks about the importance of Procurement in the Defense industry and its unique challenges

    (10:04) - Does Saab reflect on the social and geopolitical ramifications of the Defense solutions that it produces?

    (11:27) - What are the similarities and differences of Procurement within the Defense and Telecom industries?

    (14:45) - How does Saab segment their suppliers?

    (16:18) - How has Saab grown closer to their strategic partners and suppliers?

    (17:42) - How has the role of Procurement within the Defense industry shifted over the years?

    (19:13) - What is Petra’s advice for Procurement teams to get ahead of risk?

    (20:27) - What is one thing that needs to change within Procurement?

    (21:37) - What does Petra know now that she wished she knew at the start of her career?

    (22:38) - Petra’s quick fire round of questions


    Links:

    Petra Sjögren Linkedin

    Saab Aeronautics

    27 min
  • 20. The Evolution of ProcureTech w/ Stephen Day, CPO at Kantar.

    This episode, we’re joined by Stephen Day, CPO of Kantar and an accomplished international executive with expertise in operations management, supply chain purchasing, and multi-country transformation and change. Stephen shares with us the lessons that he’s learned in his 30-year career in Procurement at organisations such as Rolls Royce, Phillips, T-Mobile, and Vodafone, and how he’s witnessed the evolution of ProcureTech and its impact on creating end-to-end value for businesses.


    (01:59) - What exactly does Sourcing & Procurement mean to you?


    (02:35) - Is Procurement & Sourcing always valued in the business as a value-adder?


    (03:17) - Any tips for someone starting out in a leadership position in Procurement?


    (05:35) - What made you decide to work in Procurement?


    (08:20) - How does your role at Kantar differ from your previous roles in Procurement?


    (12:08) - Have you seen Procurement technology shift during your career?


    (14:00) - What’s something you know about ProcureTech today that you wish you knew earlier in your career?


    (15:53) - How can a Procurement leader best encourage an org to adopt new technology?


    (20:00) - What’s the process of going from a new business without any ProcureTech in place to where you are today?


    (22:26) - What was it like to implement Procurement transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic?


    (23:30) - Steve on diversity in Procurement and the Growth Mindset


    (24:35) - Steve on the lessons he’s learned as a Procurement leader


    (27:14) - How did your team face the challenges of maverick spend and redundant suppliers?


    (29:20) - Have you seen a shift in diversity & inclusivity within Procurement? And has this resulted in more inclusive spend?


    (32:28) - Steve’s Kodiak Moment quick-fire round

    36 min
  • 19. Bridging the Gap Between Tech & Procurement w/ Joël Collin-Demers

    Timestamps:

    (04:34) How do we bridge the gap between IT & Procurement?

    (06:59) Do's & Don'ts in Digitalisation projects of Procurement

    (09:59) Why do Many Tech Implementations Fail?

    (13:38) Process or Tech First?

    (17:40) Does he see a difference in clients from North America vs EMEA when adopting & buying Procurement Tech?

    (20:24) Unexplored areas of Procurement & Sourcing that new tech can make an impact on

    (23:23) The mark for when Technology has been successfully implemented


    Links:

    Joël Collin-Demers Linkedin

    Pure Procurement

    31 min
  • 18. How Procurement can Make an Impact on Sustainability w/ Daniela Osio at Kloopify

    Life of a Founder

    • “Businesses can’t afford to react to what their customers want; they need to anticipate their needs.” ~ Parker Harris, co-founder – Salesforce; as Founder, you have a continuous responsibility to ensure Kloopify’s product is delighting your customers. How do you make sure this is the case? 

    • As they often say - the job of being a founder is typically a lonely one, even with co-founders. Do you ever feel this loneliness? If so, why? If not, how do you avoid those feelings? 

    • What’s one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you founded Kloopify? 

    • Do you have 2-3 concrete tips for any ProcureTech founders out there listening - starting their own journeys? 

      • Sustainability - How can Procurement Make an impact

      • With the fact that Kloopify’s solution is so laser focused on sustainable procurement, why is it that you position yourself as a ProcureTech solution rather than a SustTech solution?

      • How do you believe the Procurement Function can best aid a business to reach it’s sustainability goals?

      • What are Procurement Teams getting wrong when it comes to sustainable procurement? What are they getting right?

      • Do you have 2-3 concrete tips for procurement teams that is looking to evolve in their sustainable impact?


      • Daniel Osio Linkedin⁠

      • ⁠Kloopify Website⁠

        • 31 min
      • 17. How SRM can Impact ESG & How to build a Procurement Excellence function w/Stephane Morel at Fresenius Medical Care (ex. Novartis)

        Timestamps:

        (03:10) Is Procurement becoming a more Strategic Function?`

        (06:37) What is VUCA world? And what are some of key topics Procurement needs to address in this new VUCA world?

        (09:19) Is Procurement struggling with Change Management?

        (11:12) How Stephane believes Procurement can deliver on ESG in a VUCA world.

        (16:38) His views on how SRM can Impact ESG.

        (21:29) What are some of the reasons to have a Procurement Excellence role at your organization?

        (26:11) When is the right time to invest in a center of excellence or enablement in a procurement organisation?

        (27:41) Concrete tips on how to develop a procurement excellence function.

        (30:00) What Stephane wishes he knew before he started his career in Procurement.


        Links:

        Stephane Morel LinkedIn

        Fresenius Medical Care


        35 min
      • 16. How Pactum helped Walmart save millions with their AI & What the life of a ProcureTech Founder looks like w/ Kaspar Korjus, Co-Founder of Pactum

          • For our listeners out there who don’t know what you’re doing at Pactum, could you please give an intro to the business? 

          • What made you co-found Pactum? 

            • Life of a Founder

            • “Businesses can’t afford to react to what their customers want; they need to anticipate their needs.” ~ Parker Harris, co-founder – Salesforce; as co-Founder, but also CPO, you have a continuous responsibility to ensure Pactum’s product is delighting your customers. How do you make sure this is the case? 

            • As they often say - the job of being a founder is typically a lonely one, even with co-founders. Do you ever feel this loneliness? If so, why? If not, how do you avoid those feelings? 

            • What’s one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you founded Pactum? 

            • Do you have 2-3 concrete tips for any ProcureTech founders out there listening - starting their own journeys? 

              • Building Best of Class Procurement Teams

              • In Layman terms; how does Pactum’s  Autonomous Negotiation solution work in practice? 

              • What are the primary benefits of leveraging Pactum’s solution? 

              • The majority of Pactum’s customers are rather mature, or visionary in their ProcureTech stack - daring to adopt new technologies like AI - do you believe this will become more common? 

              • How can a less mature business adopt AI? Do teams need certain competencies to leverage this kind of tech? What is the barrier for more to adopt? 

              • There’s this age old idea that AI will take jobs, what’s your view on that?





                • 37 min
              • 15. How to Align Procurement Theory with Practice & What it Takes to Keep Procurement Teams happy w/ Jonathan Sims, CPO at Equans

                (05:18) Concrete tips from how Equans are working towards decarbonising their activities while having 130 000 suppliers.

                (06:51) Is there an alignment between Procurement Theory & Practice?

                (08:37) How Equans brought in academics into the business to address real practical challenges and what the outcome was.

                (10:12) If he sees any discrepancies between curriculum and practice?

                (11:36) How he believes Procurement Professionals can ensure that they continue to learn and stay relevant.

                (14:31) What are some of the biggest challenges to attract new talent as a Procurement Leader and an organization?

                (19:29) Trends in how Procurement Teams are being built, based upon the talent that you need to attract today?

                (24:18) How do you keep Procurement Teams happy as a leader?


                Jonathan Sims Linkedin

                Equans


                30 min
              • 14. Where do we need to challenge leaders in Procurement? With Dawn Tiura, CEO & President of SIG.

                Timestamps:

                (04:51) What the Sourcing Industry Group (SIG) is really all about

                (07:20) The responsibility that comes with managing 17 trillion in spend

                (09:06) How does Procurement get away from being only about Cost Savings?

                (11:39) Finding the right balance between facilitating the dialogue while also challenging it, as a network leader

                (13:38) Which areas has she felt the need to challenge Procurement Pro's in?

                (16:17) How can we get more females in leadership roles in Procurement?

                (19:29) Having a diverse staff to foster supplier diversity


                Links:

                Dawn Tiura on LinkedIn

                Sourcing Industry Group (SIG)



                26 min

              About The Way We Source

              From the publisher's feed

              A podcast hosted by Kodiak Hub SRM Software, where we interview professionals, tech vendors, researchers and people we find inspiring in Procurement, Sourcing, Supply Chain and Sustainability.