Art of Procurement

Recent Episodes

1. Ep 01: The Agentic Procurement Diaries: Why This Is a Once-in-a-Few-Centuries Revolution

   Sep 16, 2026

   Aatish Dedhia, Founder and CEO of Zycus, discusses the launch of a new podcast series called The Agentic Procurement Diaries, produced in partnership with Art of Procurement. Dedhia frames agentic AI as a once-in-a-few-centuries revolution comparable to the Industrial Revolution, tracing procurement's digitization journey over the past 20 years from automation through machine learning to generative AI. The conversation explores the distinction between point agents and truly agentic systems, the three-layer governance framework (system of record, agentic policy layer, human in the loop), and the three segments of procurement leaders: AI hungry, AI curious, and AI resistant.

2. 883: The CPO Agenda: Scaling AI Beyond the Pilot W/ Darshan Deshmukh

   Sep 14, 2026

   Darshan Deshmukh, President at ProcureAbility, discusses how procurement organizations can move beyond AI pilots and experimentation toward intentional digital transformation. The conversation covers AI's role in accelerating risk identification and decision-making, the distinction between generative and agentic AI capabilities, and why most procurement teams remain focused on efficiency rather than transformational outcomes. Deshmukh emphasizes starting with problem statements rather than technology, building trust through data quality and transparency, and evolving procurement's value proposition beyond cost and risk to include revenue enablement and innovation.

3. EP 016: Startup of the Week: FlockScore W/ Matthew Spencer

   Sep 9, 2026

   Matthew Spencer, Co-Founder and CEO of FlockScore, discusses how his platform builds a collective intelligence layer for supplier decisions by aggregating anonymized, real-world supplier performance data. He explains the gap that inspired FlockScore: procurement teams make multimillion-dollar supplier decisions with limited visibility into actual operational performance beyond certifications and financials. The conversation covers how peer performance data accelerates supplier qualification, addresses supply chain volatility and geopolitical risk, and complements existing procurement tech stacks through a lightweight, frictionless approach.

4. 882: Reengineering Procurement for Greater Impact W/ Polly DeSouza

   Sep 7, 2026

   Polly DeSouza, an APAC transformation leader with 21+ years of procurement experience, discusses how procurement teams can evolve from tactical, transactional work to strategic value creation as AI automates routine tasks. Drawing from 25+ transformation projects across consulting and in-house leadership roles at companies like Grab, IBM, and HP, Polly explores procurement's role as a 'guardian of resilience,' the critical finance-procurement relationship, and how to build trusted stakeholder partnerships. She emphasizes that successful transformation requires addressing people, process, systems, and governance in service of clear business value, and advises procurement professionals to adopt a growth mindset, invest in continuous learning, and articulate their strategic impact to secure a seat at the leadership table.

5. EP 015: Provider of the Week: Tradeverifyd

   Sep 2, 2026

   Mike Prorock, CEO of Tradeverifyd, discusses how the company transforms supply chain visibility into actionable intelligence. Drawing on roots in machine learning and cross-border trade data, Tradeverifyd helps procurement and compliance teams monitor multi-tier supplier networks, identify hidden dependencies, and prioritize decisions that impact the business. The conversation covers the company's evolution from risk intelligence work in government to its current focus on supply chain resilience, key differentiators around data privacy and AI-first operations, and real-world ROI examples including cost avoidance and capital investments.

6. 881: Owning Transformation: How to Successfully Lead Procurement Through Change W/ Gretchen Vance

   Aug 31, 2026

   Gretchen Vance, Vice President of Procurement at Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries, discusses her 18-year journey leading procurement transformation in a mission-driven organization. She shares how she digitized a paper-based purchasing function, took on the full procure-to-pay process including accounts payable, and strategically implements AI to enhance procurement operations while maintaining supplier relationships centered on shared values and service excellence.

7. EP 014: Provider of the Week: Sievo W/ Sammeli Sammalkorpi

   Aug 26, 2026

   Sammeli Sammalkorpi, co-founder and CEO of Sievo, discusses how his company transforms chaotic procurement data into actionable business value for Fortune 1000 enterprises. Sievo processes spend data equivalent to over 2% of global GDP annually and combines internal procurement data with proprietary benchmarking and external data sources to deliver AI-powered insights and recommendations. Sammeli covers the evolution of procurement analytics from spend classification to risk and sustainability, the role of agentic AI in automating long-tail sourcing, and how to connect procurement outcomes to broader business language like margin and revenue impact.

8. 880: The State of AI in Procurement: Who's Getting the ROI? W/ Nick Heinzmann

   Aug 24, 2026

   Nick Heinzmann, Head of Research at Zip, discusses findings from Zip's 2026 State of AI in Spend report, revealing that only 17% of organizations can demonstrate clear ROI from AI today. The episode explores what separates high-performing organizations ("builders") from laggards ("bystanders"), highlighting that depth of AI deployment and behavioral change—not just tools—drive measurable returns. Key themes include procurement's 12-18 month window to establish itself as a leader in enterprise AI governance, the shift from sequential 3-5 year transformation roadmaps to agile 6-month planning cycles, and the critical importance of AI output evaluation skills alongside democratized adoption.

9. 879: The AI Pilot Phase is Over: How to Move From AI Investment to Genuine Business Impact W/ Joseph Postiglione, Sr.

   Aug 17, 2026

   Joseph Postiglione, Sr., author of 'Protecting Expected Outcomes in the Age of AI,' discusses how organizations can move beyond AI pilots to achieve genuine business impact. Drawing on his management consulting and procurement experience, he introduces the concept of 'commercial control'—a complementary framework to traditional implementation methodologies that focuses on planning, designing, and monitoring expected outcomes. The conversation explores why business cases often fail to deliver promised results, how procurement leaders can position themselves at the table during enterprise-wide AI investments, and the competitive advantage that comes from disciplined outcome management rather than speed of adoption.

10. EP 13: Making Sense of the Procuretech Landscape: Practical Insights for CPOs W/ Samir Khushalani

    Aug 12, 2026

    Samir Khushalani, former McKinsey digital procurement leader and now Senior Advisor at Art of Procurement, discusses navigating the fragmented procurement technology landscape. He breaks down the evolution of procurement tech across three generations (ERP, SaaS, and AI eras), addresses how to avoid analysis paralysis when evaluating vendors, and explains how the ProcureTech100 program helps practitioners identify leading solutions. The conversation emphasizes the importance of focusing on business outcomes over AI features and reimagining procurement processes rather than simply automating existing workflows.