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After months of planning and following high-energy stops across Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Copenhagen, and Paris, it was finally Vienna’s moment. On November 20, 2025, I had the privilege of welcoming procurement leaders to the Ritz-Carlton Vienna for an intimate, invite-only chapter of the Zycus Procurement AI World Tour.
Standing in that beautiful venue, seeing Europe’s procurement community come together, I felt a sense of excitement that is hard to put into words. Vienna—with its blend of elegance, intellect, and innovation—was the perfect home for a conversation centered around a new reality:
Procurement now extends beyond S2P, driven by Agentic AI that connects intake to outcomes with clarity and purpose.
Keynote Perspectives: Rethinking Procurement Through Intelligence and Human Judgment
Our keynote conversations in Vienna set the perfect foundation for the evening, offering two complementary viewpoints that captured the essence of procurement’s evolution. Gundula Pally of Roland Berger opened with a compelling exploration of the shift from efficiency to intelligence. As she spoke, I could sense the room collectively acknowledging a truth many of us have long understood—optimisation alone is no longer enough; intelligence is what will carry procurement forward. Her emphasis on agility, proactive insights, and redefining how we measure value reminded me exactly why this World Tour matters: to help leaders imagine what procurement can become in an AI-driven era.
Read more: AI Analytics in Procurement: How European CPOs Can Achieve 2026 Readiness
This theme flowed naturally into the perspective shared by Oleksandr Vodotyka from SHP Group, who delved into the delicate balance between AI autonomy and human judgment—a topic especially resonant in Europe’s regulatory and cultural environment. His reflections reinforced that while AI accelerates and augments our capabilities, technology is not the hero—people are. Leadership, ethics, and human intuition remain central to responsible transformation.
Together, these keynote insights created a powerful narrative:
The future of procurement will be built not just on intelligent systems, but on intelligent leadership.
Showcasing Merlin: Where Procurement’s Future Takes Shape
The highlight for many was introducing Merlin, our Agentic AI platform. As we unveiled its capabilities—intelligent intake orchestration, autonomous negotiation, and smart localization—I watched the audience lean in, curious and engaged.
For me, it was a moment of affirmation.
All the work, all the innovation, all the belief in AI’s potential—this is where it becomes real for our customers.
Merlin isn’t just another product; it’s a shift in how procurement teams operate, collaborate, and scale value globally.
Roundtable Conversations: Shared Challenges, Collective Vision
Our roundtable session was one of my personal highlights. The openness, honesty, and strategic depth in those conversations reminded me why these intimate formats matter so much.
We explored:
- How to eliminate intake friction and elevate user experience
- Why autonomous negotiation is accelerating savings and decision cycles
- The growing importance of AI-led supplier risk intelligence
Listening to leaders challenge, support, and inspire one another made it clear that procurement transformation is not a solo journey—it’s a shared evolution.
A Room Full of Industries, Perspectives, and Purpose
What made Vienna especially memorable for me was the extraordinary diversity of industries represented. We had leaders from banking, construction, healthcare, insurance, legal and regulatory services, energy, sports technology, aviation, agribusiness, and industrial manufacturing—each bringing invaluable insights shaped by their environments.
From Raiffeisen and PORR to CMS, ERGO, Vitri (formerly VAMED), Siemens Energy, Sportradar, RHI Magnesita, Hilti Group, Nufarm, and Austrian Airlines, the breadth of expertise in the room was remarkable.
As I moved from table to table, I was struck by how similar the challenges are across sectors—intake complexities, negotiation pressures, risk visibility, and global alignment.
And yet, every leader’s story added texture and richness to the conversation.
Vienna reminded me that procurement’s evolution is universal, but its solutions must be deeply contextual.
CPO Connect: Conversations That Continue Long After Dinner
Our evening concluded with a warm networking dinner. This is my favorite part of every event—where barriers drop, ideas flow freely, and new relationships take shape.
As conversations stretched over cocktails and cuisine, I felt proud of what we had created together:
A gathering not defined by presentations, but by collaboration.
Not by technology alone, but by community and shared ambition.
Closing Thoughts: Vienna Raised the Bar
As I looked around the room one last time that evening, I felt a deep sense of gratitude. Vienna didn’t just host an event—it sparked a dialogue, connected leaders, and pushed all of us to think bigger about procurement’s future.
If there’s one message I carried home with me, it’s this:
Deep value emerges when people, process, and intelligent AI come together with purpose.
The Procurement AI World Tour continues to new cities, but Vienna will stay with me as a milestone—one defined by curiosity, brilliance, and a shared vision for the next frontier of procurement.
And for that, I couldn’t be more thankful.
For those who want to go deeper—even before the next stop—you’re invited to take a tour of the Zycus Merlin Experience Center.
It’s the most immersive way to see how our Agentic Platform reimagines procurement end-to-end, connecting every intake to a measurable outcome. You’ll get a first-hand look at how intelligence, automation, and orchestration come together to deliver greater value, sharper visibility, and tangible savings across the entire Source-to-Pay journey.
Merlin will show you what’s truly possible.
Related Reads:
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- Maximizing Procurement ROI in the Nordics: Best Practices for Cost Reduction, Efficiency & Analytics
- How Supplier Management Software in the Nordics Enables Onboarding, Performance & Compliance
- The 2025 Buyer’s Guide to Procurement Software in Belgium: Trends, Tools, and EU Compliance
