Art of Procurement

Procurement's biggest measurement problem isn't that "savings" is incomplete. It's that "savings" has become a substitute for truth.
In the first Buy: The Way…To Purposeful Procurement episode of 2026, co-hosts Philip Ideson and Rich Ham unveil the first of the show's new procurement "Buy-laws." It's the one that almost every serious practitioner agrees with, but very few organizations are ready to operationalize: replace savings with defined value.
That doesn't mean adding a few extra KPIs in addition to savings. It means removing the word entirely and replacing it with a primary metric that includes verified spend reduction and revenue generation, plus company-specific priorities like emissions reduction, process improvement, resilience, risk reduction, and anything else the business actually cares about. 
To help map what this kind of "value" can and should include, Phil and Rich are joined by Omer Abdullah, co-founder of The Smart Cube and co-author of Risk and Your Supply Chain: Preparing for the Next Global Crisis. Omer has spent decades close to the function, advising teams, building intelligence services around procurement decisions, and now working at the intersection of startups, go-to-market strategy, and what he calls a "post-AI" future for procurement.
The idea of "post-AI" matters more than it sounds. Omer isn't talking about a world where AI fades away. He's talking about the moment when AI becomes a hygiene factor – embedded, expected, and no longer a differentiator. The result is uncomfortable: once AI takes the transactional load, procurement doesn't automatically become "more strategic." Not unless leaders define what that actually means, what outcomes it should produce, and how to measure those outcomes without defaulting back to the simplest (and most misleading) number on the page.
The conversation also goes straight at one of procurement's most corrosive incentives: short-termism. The function keeps making long-term sacrifices for short-term wins because the system asks it to. Rich calls it a "scourge," and Omer lays out what a healthier alternative could look like. He recommends a scorecard that includes in-year expectations, multi-year outcomes that reflect how value compounds over time, and a controlled level of discretionary evaluation to capture the contributions that matter but refuse to sit neatly inside a spreadsheet cell. 
Underneath all of this is a truth that the episode doesn't dodge: none of it works without executive support. The CFO and CEO have to buy into procurement's expanded definition of value. Procurement can't wait to be understood; they have to be sold. Procurement is a business within a business, and the C-suite is its most important customer. If leaders don't see the function's potential, it's on procurement to advocate, educate, and prove (through better definitions and better scorekeeping) that the status quo isn't merely outdated. It's actively harmful.
Links:
Omer Abdullah on LinkedIn
Rich Ham on LinkedIn
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"Procurement is what you make of it. It can be a bargain basement function at some firms, but it's also becoming more strategic. We have to take a more holistic, integrated view of things and try to understand the big business problems we can help solve and then offer a business solution, not just a procurement solution." – Amit Saronwala, VP, Global Indirect Supply Management, Medtronic
Procurement leaders in healthcare are feeling the heat: innovation cycles are tightening, supplier bases are vast, and new pressures on cost and cash flow are here to stay. So how do you build more agile, high-performing procurement teams without adding complexity or burning out your people?
In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Amit Saronwala, VP of Global Indirect Supply Management at Medtronic, and Jeremy Lappin, CEO of Candex. Amit draws from his clinical experience and deep commercial expertise to share how Medtronic is recasting procurement's role by focusing on smarter supplier segmentation, business-centric metrics, and technology that makes friction disappear. Jeremy adds perspective from supporting global procurement teams at scale, revealing where automation and analytics can create breathing room for strategic work.
This conversation takes a candid look at how one of healthcare's biggest names is making indirect procurement a critical lever for business value and what it takes to bring suppliers and stakeholders on the journey.
In this episode, Amit and Jeremy discuss how procurement can:
Set a clear line for strategic vs. transactional suppliers… and stick to it
Speak "business" (not just "procurement") to increase influence with stakeholders
Automate low-risk, high-volume purchases to free up valuable talent
Choose tools that require little or no change management for smoother adoption
Redefine procurement's core skillset for the next five years
Links:
Amit Saronwala on LinkedIn
Jeremy Lappin on LinkedIn
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"Now with agentic AI, RFPs are becoming and will become even leaner, and they'll cut to the chase a whole lot faster. There'll be a lot less fluff." - Barri Horn, Director of Product Marketing for AI for SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass' strategic procurement portfolios
AI is reshaping the RFP process, but smart procurement leaders know they have to think beyond speed or efficiency drivers and, instead, reimagine the value they deliver. As teams turn to AI to break free from past challenges, the question isn't if change is coming, but how to capture its advantages while managing risk, trust, and adoption.
In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Barri Horn, Director of Product Marketing for AI for SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass' strategic procurement portfolios, to dig into what's truly changing in the world of RFPs, why agentic AI is different from yesterday's tools, and how procurement can use new technology without losing stakeholder trust. 
Expect practical, leader-level guidance for running better RFPs and rolling out AI that sticks.
Barri discusses workflows, pitfalls, and organizational mindsets that separate successful AI adoption from failed pilots:
How to streamline repetitive RFP tasks with AI so teams can focus on insight
Asking smarter, market-driven questions without overwhelming suppliers
Aligning AI "autonomy" with procurement's risk comfort level
Building trust and credibility through transparency and foundational training
Resetting and rebooting change programs to support adoption
Links:
Barri Horn on LinkedIn
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"There is a limit on how much you can save, but there is no limit on how much you can make." - Sergio Martin
Procurement is evolving fast. The true differentiator now is how the function can become a partner for growth and resilience. That means reimagining "customer experience" at every touchpoint, not just inside the business, but with suppliers as well.
In this episode, procurement advisor and former procurement and supply chain executive Sergio Martin explains what it takes to deliver that value. Sergio shares practical stories from his experience at companies like Burberry and Dyson, explores what it means to move beyond "cost control," and reveals why empathy, expertise, and credibility are non-negotiable.
In this episode, Sergio discusses:
Defining the idea of a "customer" for stakeholders and suppliers
Shifting procurement's mindset from savings to growth
Building credibility through continuous expertise
Becoming the customer of choice for innovation and resilience
Links:
Sergio Martin on LinkedIn
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"Persuasion is about your intent. If your intent is solely to win at the other person's expense, that's manipulation. If you want the other party to also benefit from the conversation, then that's collaborative, and that's ethical persuasion." - Martin John
Procurement leaders know that success often depends on more than just negotiating skills or cost models; it demands the ability to influence people at every level. 
But what does it take to move from presenting facts to truly persuading suppliers, stakeholders, and executives to take action? This is a question that's more urgent than ever in today's complex business environment.
In this episode of Art of Procurement, Philip Ideson speaks with Martin John, a seasoned procurement pro and licensed ethical persuasion trainer. Martin shares tools and science-backed frameworks that chief procurement officers and their teams can use right away. He pulls back the curtain on Cialdini's principles, real-world negotiation stories, and how to avoid crossing the line into manipulation.
In this episode, Martin discusses how to:
Recognize the thin line between ethical persuasion and manipulation
Build trust and rapport faster using evidence, not guesswork
Move beyond data to engage the emotions and subconscious drivers of decision-makers
Translate behavioral science into everyday procurement
Links:
Martin John on LinkedIn
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