732: What the Research Foretells About Procurement’s Vision, Priorities, and Opportunities W/ Gordon Donovan

Art of Procurement

“Procurement is at the point where they’re trying to figure out next steps on digitization, and it will be an immediate priority for everyone in the next couple of years.” - Gordon Donovan, Vice President of Research - Procurement and External Workforce at SAP

It is Gordon Donovan’s job to read every single piece of research that’s published on procurement, the workforce, and the supply chain. More importantly, it is his job to figure out what it means. As he told Philip Ideson, “I’ve got the best job in the world.”

All of this information gives Gordon a deep and comprehensive view of the global procurement landscape and the challenges and opportunities that it presents.

In this episode, Philip draws on Gordon’s depth of knowledge to discuss the findings of SAP’s recently published Economist Impact report, as well as what the research tells us about procurement’s vision, priorities, and opportunities for the future.

Listen in to hear Gordon and Phil discuss the report, which included some surprising findings, as well as:

• Why digitization tops the list of procurement’s most important priorities
• How procurement can handle increased complexity and workloads, even as headcounts remain stagnant
• Procurement’s AI maturity journey and where they are on the path to acceptance and adoption compared to other business functions

Links:

• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement
• Gordon Donovan on LinkedIn
• Read the 2024 Sap Economist Impact Report
• Listen to Gordon Donovan in a previous episode: From C-Suite Priority to Procurement
• Unpacking SAP’s 2024 Economist Impact Report
• Strategy: Managing Risk at Scale