Zycus, in collaboration with ISM and Microsoft, recently hosted ProcureNxt, a landmark event showcasing the transformative power of Generative AI (GenAI) in procurement. This blog post takes you on a journey through the event’s key highlights, providing insights from industry leaders and a glimpse into Zycus’ groundbreaking GenAI solutions.

Procurenxt Unveils GenAI Platform: Setting the Stage for GenAI in Procurement

The opening remarks by Richard, the host, emphasized the collaborative spirit of the event and positioned Zycus’ GenAI platform as a cornerstone for innovation in the procurement space.

Following this, Patrick Reymann, Research Director at IDC, delivered a thought-provoking presentation titled “Navigating the GenAI Wave in Source to Pay.” Patrick’s insights explored the vast potential of GenAI and its impact on procurement processes.

Here are some of his core insights:

• • Almost 35% of enterprises will have mastered GenAI usage by 2025 and will proactively use it to co-develop digital products/services to boost return on investment and surpass the competitors.
  • 2024 Procurement GenAI Themes will primarily focus on user experience and transparency

• • Patrick then discussed a few critical GenAI use cases in procurement. The following snapshot gives an insight into a few important ones:

• ProcureTech 3.0 is about democratization, automation, and workflow-centric applications, focusing on intake-specific applications.

An audience member’s question about actionable advice for CPOs facing GenAI disruption sparked further discussion, highlighting the event’s interactive nature.

Responding to the query, Patrick shared to rely on a bottom-up driven activity model leveraging GenAI for specific problems.

Aatish Dedhia Unveils the Power of GenAI Innovation

Aatish Dedhia, Founder & CEO of Zycus, took center stage with his keynote address, “GenAI Innovation Unleashed for Procurement.”

Aatish, renowned for his relentless pursuit of innovation, outlined GenAI’s groundbreaking possibilities and how it is reimagining Source-to-Pay (S2P) processes.

Some valuable metrics shared by him include:

• Gartner predicts that almost 80% of new enterprise procurement apps will rely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) by 2025
• While McKinsey and Company predicts the unlocking of approximately $1Tn worth of procurement savings by 2025, emphasizing the transformative economic impact of GenAI

He also covered some significant capabilities of Generative AI (GenAI):

1. 1. Pattern Recognition: Analyzing and extracting key and valuable insights from vast data pools
   2. Learning & Reasoning: Self improves over time, creating a continuously evolving system that gets smarter with each task
   3. Problem-Solving: Applies the dynamic duo of knowledge and creativity to overcome unprecedented challenges and set new benchmarks

He also emphasized how Generative AI (GenAI) can be a game-changer for procurement leaders.

Here’s a quick overview of three factors that make it possible:

1. 1. Enhanced User Experience: This involves:
      • Transitioning from traditional interfaces to conversational AI
      • It’s the dawn of intuitive conversational intake management
      • Leveraging historical data and user preferences, conversational chatbots to Generative AI to offer tailored recommendations to enhance decision-making and provide quick resolution
   2. Efficiency and Productivity: This aspect talks about:
      • Reducing processing time from hours to minutes and seconds
      • How GenAI reshapes the landscape, offering relevant tools for intelligent supplier engagement, automated RFPs and RFQ generation, and rapid contract analysis
   3. Compliance and Governance: Here, Aatish talks about:
      • GenAI’s role in compliance and governance is transformative, and the new approach is proactive and precise instead of reactive.
      • Guided buying shifts users to compliant decisions
      • Risk assessment and mitigation becomes anticipatory rather than responsive
      • Automated compliance monitoring ensures every transaction aligns with internal policies and regulations

His visionary approach and launch remark of the world’s first Generative AI-powered S2P Suite painted a picture of a future where procurement is streamlined, intelligent, and driven by data-powered insights.

Download eBook: Harnessing Generative AI for Source to Pay

Towards the end of his session, Aatish acknowledged the limitations of GenAI in the Procurement space, presented the core principles of Zycus’s partnership with Microsoft Azure, and gave an insight into what makes Generative AI the torchbearer of the Future of Procurement.

Real-World Success: Heineken’s AI Procurement Journey

Hervé Le Faou, CPO & Sustainability Leader at The HEINEKEN Company, shared Heineken’s success story with AI-driven procurement. He presented a compelling case study titled “Brewing Success with AI in Source to Pay.”

Hervé’s presentation showcased the tangible outcomes Heineken achieved through their AI adoption, serving as a testament to the real-world impact of these technologies.

Here are some of the outcomes he shared:

• Heineken manages €17 billion of spends with 40K suppliers
• It’s the only multinational company with decent priced business model – every business unit is independently powered, encouraging speed and agility
• Why Heineken chose Zycus? – It was simple, came with the right business functionalities, drove the highest adoption rate
• Heineken is now rolling out the P2P Zycus platform, did 19Cr last year, and is holding out on an additional 14 Cr this year. By year-end, the brand will touch 32 Cr, of which 70% will be off-spend, driving efficiency and effectiveness.
• Hervé Le Faou then gave a sneak peek into what GenAI use cases Heineken is focusing on as a brand.

Watch Webinar: How Generative AI Can Set Procurement Leaders up for Success

Here are a few use cases he shared:

• Order taking and virtual assistant to make S2P more user-friendly for customers and stakeholders, gamifying the processes
• Auto-fetching of relevant information right away using Business Intelligence without performing a deep search of data within the system
• Summarizing documents, contracts, policies, etc., and expecting GenAI to understand the underlying queries faster
• Policy and process compliance automation – making films, speeches, etc., applied to commerce stakeholders
• Coding is another possible use-case Hervé Le Faou believes GenAI can assist with – by creating item APIs to facilitate inter-system communication

Towards the end, Hervé Le Faou shared some of the best practices for getting started with S2P transformation and leveraging GenAI’s massive potential for the next steps.

Zycus GenAI: Unveiling Security-Centric Solutions with Microsoft

The excitement intensified as Tejit Mithal, AVP – Product at Zycus, and Ahmed Kaddour, Azure Solution Area Leader at Microsoft, delivered a live demonstration titled “Zycus GenAI – Powered by Microsoft.”

This session offered a deep dive into the functionalities and security features of Zycus’ GenAI solutions.

Ahmed shed some light on how Microsoft is prioritizing security to safeguard customer data and relying on their responsible AI framework to build an AI system based on the following 6 principles:

Finally, he also shared how Microsoft Azure OpenAI service with Zycus procurement innovation enables enterprises to pivot quickly, responsibly, and securely to stay ahead of the curve and create exceptional and secure AI-powered procurement experiences for everyone.

Real-World Application: SIRVA Achieves Sourcing Efficiency with GenAI

As we delve into the transformative impact of Generative AI, it’s crucial to highlight real-world examples of organizations leveraging these advanced technologies for significant benefits. SIRVA, a leading global moving and relocation services provider, is one such example.
Discover how SIRVA transformed its procurement processes and achieved remarkable efficiency gains by adopting Zycus’ GenAI-based solutions. Watch the video below to learn more about their journey and the significant improvements they experienced.

 
Download eBook: Master the Generative AI Revolution in Procurement

Charting the Course: An Interactive Panel Discussion

The informative and engaging panel discussion, “Charting the GenAI Journey,” brought together industry veterans to exchange ideas.

Moderated by Jon W. Hansen from Procurement Insights, the panel included:

• Vijay Yalamanchili (Partner at EY)
• Chris Loveland (Global Procurement Operations Leader from Belden)

The discussion explored the practical considerations, challenges, and triumphs associated with GenAI implementation in procurement, offering valuable insights to the audience.

Chris highlighted key challenges faced by Belden like:

• Manual Procurement Processes: which were time-consuming and inefficient
• Data Fragmentation: data was spread across different ERPs and spreadsheets, which led to inconsistencies
• Limited Visibility: procurement activities like supplier performance, spend analysis, and contract management suffered as there was no proper system in place

By implementing the Zycus S2P solution, Belden improved its operational efficiency and decision-making capability and generated better outcomes across its procurement processes.

Chris believes in:

Running towards the challenges and embracing them head-on instead of running away from them.

Vijay Yalamanchili (Partner at EY) also shared his input on seeing massive traction on GenAI across their clients in the procurement space.

As per him, many clients are still grappling with GenAI incorporation. However, EY clients primarily focus on category management, category intelligence, spend analytics, supplier risk, negotiation contract execution, supplier management, etc.

According to Vijay:

• Supplier management will emerge as a critical area for several EY clients because of disparate data sets and the location of information revolving around contract information, performance information, risk information, etc.
• GenAI will massively transform this area and effectively collate insights from massive data sets and disparate data sources.

Answering Jon’s query on the core challenges (like disorganization and distribution of information) that CPOs face, Vijay shared – that since insights are based on data, acceleration and collating through that data forms a critical component that benefits the CPOs and encourages enterprises to invest in GenAI proactively.

Ending his talk, Vijay also touched upon two other critical challenges that CPOs often experience:

Talent Crunch

• He shared that nearly 35% of procurement leaders are worried about the impact this will have on the job market.
• How EY is requesting the clients to encourage their procurement departments to execute and achieve more, without reducing the FTEs or headcount, but convince the workforce to realize that it’s an enabler to get more outcomes and be more efficient

Budget Management

• Identifying the areas with a minimal budget to start simple
• Advising clients to narrow down on capabilities that they want to improve upon and focus on initial growth

Post-hearing panel inputs, Jon W. Hansen, quoted:

The End of the ABACUS Computer Era is Upon Us

Chris was excited to adopt GenAI within Belden to see how it can help:

• Forecasting demands and predicting market fluctuations
• Anticipating supply chain disruptions – based on historical data and external factors
• Mitigate risks, optimize inventory, and adapt strategies to be more operating resilience
• Generating contracts or proposals (based on pre-defined templates and negotiating parameters), analyzing them with GenAI to expedite contract tracking
• Identifying potential risks and optimizing negotiating strategies to accelerate contract lifecycle

Addressing the audience’s question on – what KPIs to use to measure the benefit of ROI or GenAI in procurement, Vijay responded saying that:

• KPIs haven’t changed significantly w.r.t procurement department expectations, but now certain metrics focus on the end goals and the expected targets. For example, cycle time metrics that have always been critical to ROI measurement.
• EY will now emphasize more on KPIs (based on their investment in GenAI) and will granularly track metrics like ESG risk, customer satisfaction, etc.

Key Takeaways from ProcureNxt

Here’s a concise summary of the key takeaways from ProcureNxt:

• GenAI is poised to revolutionize procurement: Industry leaders and experts unanimously agree that GenAI holds immense potential to transform the procurement landscape. The benefits are far-reaching, from enhanced efficiency and risk management to data-driven decision-making.
• Security remains a top priority: Zycus’ GenAI platform, built on Microsoft’s secure Azure cloud infrastructure, emphasizes robust data security measures. This ensures user trust and compliance with industry regulations.
• Real-world success stories are paving the way: Companies like Heineken have already achieved significant improvements through AI adoption in procurement. These success stories provide a blueprint for others to follow.
• Collaboration is vital to successful GenAI implementation: The collaborative spirit exemplified by Zycus, ISM, and Microsoft at ProcureNxt underscores the importance of partnerships in navigating the GenAI landscape.

Be an Early Adopter of GenAI

The future of procurement is intelligent, automated, and driven by data-driven insights. Zycus’ GenAI platform is at the forefront of this revolution. Here’s your chance to be an early adopter and gain a competitive edge:

• Explore Zycus GenAI solutions: Visit the Zycus website to learn more about the GenAI platform and its capabilities.
• Watch the ProcureNxt recording: Access the event recording to gain a deeper understanding of the presentations and discussions.
• Download the “10X S2P with GenAI” eBook: This exclusive eBook is a must-read for CPOs, Power users, etc., and provides valuable insights into how procurement folks are ditching clunky tools and adopting GenAI to optimize procurement and focus on what matters.

Explore Zycus’ Generative AI Platform for Source to Pay

By embracing GenAI, you can transform your procurement processes, achieve greater efficiency, and gain a strategic advantage in today’s competitive business environment. Take the first step towards a future-proof procurement function with Zycus GenAI.

Related Reads:

1. Centralized or Decentralized: Generative AI is the Key to Unlocking Best of Both Procurement Operating Models
2. Utilize the Power of Generative AI in Spend Management: A Comprehensive Guide
3. eBook: Master the Generative AI Revolution in Procurement
4. eBook: Harnessing Generative AI for Source to Pay
5. Web Story: Generative AI in Supply Chain management
6. On-Demand Webinar: Generative AI Revolution with Industry Leaders