Zycus CEO Unveils Unique Source-to-Pay Innovation Roadmap at HORIZON 2015

PRINCETON, NJ OCTOBER 21, 2015 – Zycus, a world leader in Procurement Technology solutions across the source-to-pay cycle, announces the successful conclusion of its fourth annual HORIZON procurement leadership conference which gathered 200+ high-level procurement executives, practitioners, analysts, academics, journalists, and other industry experts on October 4-6 at the Ritz-Carlton, Reynolds Plantation in Greensboro, GA. The event was sponsored by Nitor Partners (platinum sponsor), Paladin Associates (associate sponsor) and knowledge partners- Institute for Supply Management (ISM).

Headlining the event was Stephen J. Dubner of Freakonomics fame. With an extended example of how leading U.S. hospitals achieved radical improvements in hand-washing behaviors among physicians and other healthcare workers, Dubner entertainingly illustrated for CPOs the critical importance of using hard data and empirical evidence to plan and drive behavioral change initiatives in corporate enterprises.

Other major themes to emerge at HORIZON 2015 included:

• Expansion and transformation of the CPO’s primary role from cost to corporate investment and growth manager.
• Imperatives for procurement technology enablement and process and information integration across the entire source-to-pay cycle.
• Challenges of attracting and retaining top procurement talent.
• And the continued rise of risk management – in particular, cyber security and protection of data and brand reputation throughout extended global supply chains – as key areas of future focus for CPOs and their teams.

Zycus founder and CEO Aatish Dedhia unveiled the company’s unique long-term vision for enabling intelligent, integrated, and empowered management of corporate source-to-settle processes. While noting that 40% of Zycus’ workforce is dedicated to R&D focused solely on procurement and supply management, Dedhia provided a sneak peek into how Zycus intends to empower tactical buyers with powerful intelligence, supplier and product search, and rapid e-sourcing capabilities. Dedhia also revealed plans for making it much easier for all suppliers (not just the largest) to digitalize PO and invoice transactions without incurring unwanted fees plus early plans for extending Zycus P2P to encompass travel & expense (T&E) management. 

Zycus HORIZON 2015 featured multiple networking opportunities; one-to-one process and performance benchmarking sessions, and culminated with the Zycus Annual Awards presentation and fireworks party. The following awards were presented:

• Enterprise Impact Award of the Year for improved processes, achievement of KPIs, and maximum return on investment (ROI) from Zycus solutions – a two-way tie between Coca-Cola Refreshments USA, Inc. and Sprint Corporation.
• Ace Organization Adoption Award for driving strong enterprise-wide usage and expansion of Zycus solutions – Rockwell Automation, Inc.
• Strategic Partnership Award for exceptional collaboration and intellectual contribution in helping Zycus to innovate and transform ideas into product features that benefit the entire global procurement community – TE Connectivity.
• Rising Procurement Hero Award for outstanding first-year customers jumpstarting ROI and value creation by implementing Zycus solutions in exceptionally short time spans – a two-way tie between Jawbone and QBE Insurance Group Limited.
• High Performing Procurement Leader Award for leadership excellence in driving organizational change, procurement process improvement, efficiency, innovation, and improved bottom-line performance – Paul Duff, Global Operations Sourcing Governance & Analytics Leader, General Electric.

As a member of the awards judging panel, SIG CEO Dawn Tiura stated: “When I read the nominations for this year’s awards, I was blown away by the companies and the content. It told me Zycus is not for immature sourcing organizations. Zycus is phenomenal.”

“Each year at HORIZON,” says Zycus founder and CEO Aatish Dedhia, “we are thrilled to observe the rapid pace of innovation taking place in corporate procurement functions all over the world. The intelligence and talent represented at this year’s event was truly impressive, and we were excited to reveal our comprehensive future vision for source-to-pay technology enablement to this esteemed group of business executives. As always, we were paying close attention to what was said in each session and through networking with thought-leading procurement leaders. We will use the intelligence gathered to help guide our future product roadmap. We are already planning and very much looking forward to next year’s event to be held in Arizona.”