Zycus Horizon 2022: Recap

As the world maneuvers its way from one crisis to another, whether it was the pandemic in 2019 and 2020, or the recent geopolitical conflicts, inflationary trends and material shortages, procurement has had its fair share of battles. Despite these uncertain times, organizations continue to pursue growth and spearhead green shoots of recovery.??

?To celebrate that spirit and to facilitate knowledge sharing across the procurement, finance and legal communities, Zycus hosted the 16th edition of its flagship event, Horizon. Carrying the baton of success from 2021’s virtual Horizon, 2022’s Horizon was poised to be a grander success, and it delivered! An overwhelming 1800+ participants from 65+ countries representing 1100+ companies, attended and left with insights and an experience of a lifetime.

As attendees entered the event, they were greeted by a vast virtual arena, created with enthralling graphics. The introduction video led attendees through various booths & activities they could participate in, leaving them in the ‘Lobby’ from where, they could access all that Horizon had to offer - exciting launches, insightful expert tracks, real customer transformation stories, virtual experiences & demos.?

The agenda focused on AI-led digital transformation as an enabler of ‘Unlocking Growth Amidst Uncertainty’ for procurement, over 25 sessions and 15 interactive workshops & demos.?

Curtain Raiser

Horizon 2022 started off with a session involving Gartner’s Vice President and Distinguished Analyst, Whit Andrews, and Zycus’ VP of Corporate Development, & Presenter, Richard Waugh.?

The session laid the foundation for learnings to come, with Whit and Richard exchanging thoughts on the role of AI in procurement, and why organizations should not fear others who possess the first mover advantage.

With a wonderful personal anecdote, Whit also cautioned procurement professionals who were planning to implement AI, to identify areas where AI would actually benefit their organization, free up time for strategy, etc., and not to rush in, and let AI do everything for them.?

?His parting words of advice - ‘Get started small, be thinking big. A third of organizations are using AI. A third of those are doing it strategically. There’s still time!’?

CEO’s Address

?Founder & CEO of Zycus, Aatish Dedhia elaborated on why ‘Unlocking Growth Amidst Uncertainty’ was a particularly apt theme for Horizon 2022.?

An excerpt from his session -??

“The Chinese had a proverb - May you live in interesting times. This was considered a blessing and a curse. These are interesting times. We have huge growth opportunities but also multiple challenges and uncertainties.”

In the foreground of this uncertain world, Aatish laid out his vision for Zycus’ future and the direction of travel for procurement. He also unveiled key initiatives that he and Zycus believe will catalyze growth in organizations and help them get past these uncertain times.??Chief among them were augmentations to Merlin for Contracts and Merlin for eProcurement - AI Council-led initiatives. Notably, Merlin AI Assist - an AI chatbot for eProc was launched in beta. Merlin AI Assist simplifies the process of procurement for everyday users, and provides an experience akin to talking to your smartphone AI assistant.?

Zycus also announced its re-incorporation with Ultria to create a Contract Management powerhouse, thereby also offering greater synergy with its core procurement suite of solutions.?

Zycus launched its must-read book ‘Cognitive Procurement: Discover How to Embark on Your AI Journey’ co-authored by NC State University Professor Robert Handfield.?

Mainstage Sessions?

After a comprehensive session capturing the future of procurement and the role Zycus intends to play in shaping it, Horizon moved on to feature some real-life transformation cases and stories from procurement professionals representing some of the leading organizations in their industries.?

Starting us off were Heineken’s Chief Procurement Officer, Hervé Le Faou and Director - Procurement Enablement, Ruth Bromley, taking us through their journey of implementing procurement digitalization across 60+ countries.?

Zycus and Heineken have had a long and fruitful relationship, and after opting for and piloting specific modules over a few years, Heineken decided to implement a complete Purchase To Pay suite across 60+ countries over the next 3 years.?

Of note, was the 3-step change management model that allowed Heineken to prepare for, manage and make changes stick ensuring a smooth and successful procurement transformation.?

“...we’re really pleased with the partnership and it has been an exciting journey so far, and many exciting things to come.” - Hervé Le Faou, CPO

With all the insights from the Heineken sessions still brewing in the attendees’ minds, the action moved on quickly to a Procurement Transformation Victory panel consisting of Adrian Oyekanmi, Senior Vice President - Strategic Sourcing, Radisson Hotel Group, Daniel Braune, Head of Procurement, Hapag-Lloyd AG, and moderated by Dr. Thierry Fausten, Founder -Informed Decisions GmbH, & Country Partner, CIPS Switzerland.?

An interesting question posed to the panelists by Dr. Thierry impelled them to discuss the proverbial sparks that trigger a transformation journey.?Adrian emphasized on the lack of visibility, lack of consistency, and the lack of a common tool/mechanism (in this case, for rebates) across business units as the primary reasons.?In Daniel’s experience, the need for savings and efficiency in a global capacity is what triggered the transformation journey at Hapag-Lloyd. The session contained many more pearls of wisdom and procurement insights that were well-received by the audience.?

After that scintillating session, Amanda Branley, Tendering and Contracting Manager from Public Transport Authority, Western Australia regaled the audience with a live case of PTA’s forward-looking procurement transformation initiative.??

PTA had several incentives to change - The Procurement Act 2020, PTA’s impending expansion of rail networks, the pandemic and its consequences, border closings in Western Australia, among others.?

“We wanted to make sure we were optimizing systems where we could, (using) good technology and good modern practices. We also wanted to make sure that as the procurement branch, we were delivering value to the organization. …Zycus was selected following a very competitive process.”?- Amanda Branley, Tendering and Contracting Manager, Public Transport Authority, Western Australia

The event then branched out into several ‘Expert Tracks’ sessions covering diverse topics from the world of procurement, finance and law.

There was a bit of something for everyone, with sessions extensively discussing Cognitive Contracting, Digital Transformations, Merlin in S2P Digitalization, Supplier Management and Value Creation, Procurement Diaries - A Roundtable of select success stories, and more!?

Of these, 2 sessions stood out - ‘Ideate to Incubate’ - a panel discussion by members of the Procurement AI Council, and Women in Action - an all-women panel discussing Procurement-Supplier Synergies.

In the former, moderator Richard Waugh, VP - Corporate Development, Zycus and panelists Rajeev Karmacharya, Head - Strategic Sourcing & Category Management, Fannie Mae, Brian J. Roche, Chief Procurement Officer, Westfield Insurance, Rohan Ranadive, Head - Third Party Risk Management, Truist Financial, Steve Hughes, Ex-Chief Procurement Officer, The College Board, discussed the future of AI in procurement, democratizing AI innovations for procurement use cases, and the role of Zycus in empowering procurement professionals.

In the latter, Canda Rozier, President of Collabra Consulting deftly asked Kim Castellucci, Associate Director Corporate Procurement, Daiichi Sankyo Inc., Lisa Leemans, Third Party Risk Management Leader – Procurement, Westfield, Stefanie Givens-Wilson, Director of Indirect Categories, La-Z-Boy Incorporated, about their experiences working with suppliers, how organizations can build synergies with suppliers and how both parties stand to benefit from a true collaborative approach to procurement.?

Invigorated by a day full of knowledge-sharing, networking and trading best practices, attendees were greeted by the most-awaited session of the night - The Entertainment. As is custom, deserving procurement professionals, industry experts & key partners were first honored for their outstanding contributions in the prestigious Zycus Awards.

Congratulations to The Dow Chemical Company , Alexion Pharmaceuticals, TECOM Group, Insignia Financial, Tata Play, Erik Van Dulmen of Ahold Delhaize, Bram Heijblom of International Flavors and Fragrances, PTA Western Australia, KPMG, and Ernst & Young on emerging as worthy winners. Soon after the awards, renowned magician and mentalist, Tom Pesce awed the audiences with his dazzling displays and tricks, and even taught a few for those watching from home.

Full of curiosity and intent, attendees then chose 1 of 4 product demos helmed by Zycus’ best and brightest, as they were treated to innovative and cutting-edge procurement solutions, and embarked on the first step towards cognitive procurement!?

Thus concluded yet another, yet unique, successful Horizon. We at Zycus, hope to host the global procurement community with renewed vigor, more innovation and insights very soon. Keep your eyes on the Horizon!