Zycus Horizon 2023 – A Recap

Highlights from the 17th and hitherto, biggest edition of Zycus’ procurement, legal, and finance conclave – Horizon 2023!

• 2000+ Delegates from 100+ Countries representing 1500+ companies!
• 50+ speakers, across 25+ sessions over 3 days including an exclusive in-person chapter of Horizon at Paris, France!
• Aatish Dedhia, Founder & CEO, announces the development of a Scope 3 Carbon Analyzer, in the wake of sustainability emerging as a critical focus area for global organizations
• Exciting developments announced in the roadmap of Merlin Assist, an AI-enabled chatbot that drives frictionless business user experience.

The agenda of the event focused on Cognitive Procurement and intelligent AI usage as the pillars of digital transformations and procurement excellence, over the course of 30+ sessions, expert tracks and demos:

• Keynotes and fireside chats on best practices featuring customers & leaders from around the globe including Heineken, Dow Chemical, La-Z-Boy, Sirva, Spirent, Belden, Public Transport Authority of Western Australia, and Fannie Mae.
• Expert panels & industry overviews from leading analysts including Gartner, Forrester & The Hackett Group,and thought leaders – Jon Hansen, Editor and Lead Writer, Procurement Insights, Canda Rozier, President, Collabra Consulting, and Ari Kaplan, Legal Industry Analyst, Ari Kaplan Advisors.
• Case presentations featuring real transformation stories from Zycus’ distinguished clientele bringing regional nuances including Delta Air Lines, Westfield Insurance, Hapag-Lloyd AG, DRB-HICOM, Tata Play and Regeneron.
• 4 sessions in an all-new crash course format, taught by experts from ISM, WCC, IOFM, and E&Y.
• Global sponsoring associates including Changemakers Accenture, EY and Infosys, Regional Leaders Letsema, Tech Champions Certinal, Education Partner SIG, and Knowledge Partners ISM and IOFM.
• Zycus leadership featured new AI-led product innovations and launched their annual flagship research report, ‘The Pulse of Procurement 2023’and a session by members of the AI Council, a cohort of pioneering C-suite leaders coming together to ideate & brainstorm AI-led use cases to solve complex business problems and contribute to the community.
• Zycus also launched the first-of-its-kind ‘Cognitive Procurement Specialization Program (CPSP)’in association with Procurement leaders and their teams can benefit from this program by gaining a comprehensive understanding of the potential benefits and applications of cognitive procurement. The program provides insights into how artificial intelligence can improve procurement processes, including reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and improving supplier relationships. It also covers the practical aspects of implementation, including pre-requisites for adoption and post-implementation best practices. Resources include case studies, whitepapers, eBooks, interactive tools, and the state-of-the-art Merlin AI Experience Center – a sandbox environment to simulate AI for procurement.

Other notable highlights of the event included an Ideas Contest – aimed at discovering the next biggest innovation benefiting the procurement, legal, and AP community, and an enthralling performative tribute to procurement professionals, by Daniel Stryjecki. The event delighted audiences worldwide and received an overwhelmingly positive response from attendees. The Zycus leadership also used this platform to announce the winners of the prestigious Zycus Awards and the winners of SIG’s Certified Sourcing Professional (CSP) Scholarship Raffle.

• Heineken were awarded The Enterprise Impact Award– recognizing organizations that have elevated the role of procurement, embodying Zycus’ core belief – ‘Procurement is meant for more’.
• Nissan Motor Corp.were awarded the Leading through Innovation Award – recognizing them as beacons of change in the procurement industry.
• Delta Air Lineswere awarded the Strategic Partnership Award – that recognizes the organization that developed a strong strategic relationship with Zycus, contributed to product ideas, and leveraged Zycus’ solutions to achieve their procurement goals.
• Jean-Yves Krummenacher, Global CPO, Danonewas awarded The High Performing Leader Award, recognizing his 25+ years of experience in procurement, leadership and excellence.
• Zachary Engels, Leader – Operational Procurementof Westfield Insurance was awarded The Young Achiever Award – recognizing his agility and innovation.
• Ernst & Young won the Agile Collaborator Awardfor being epitomes of collaboration and demonstrating shared corporate values of providing agile support to customers.
• This year, Zycus appropriately introduced a new award category – Sustained Growth Partner Award.’ It was awarded to Accenturefor their remarkable contributions to the body of knowledge around ‘Sustainable Business Performance.’

3 lucky winners were also chosen to receive complimentary access to SIG’s prestigious Certified Sourcing Professional (CSP) program. Developed by practitioners, academics, and subject matter experts, the CSP program is the most well-rounded curriculum available in the market for those seeking additional sourcing expertise. We look forward to hosting the procurement community once again, with renewed insights & vigor, very soon. Keep an eye on the Horizon!