405: Seven ‘Next Generation’ Procurement Skills w/ Christoph Flöthmann

“A lot of procurement managers think, ‘I have my process. It will be digitized, but I'm still in control of the process and it will remain with procurement.’ But digitalization is one step further where you really question everything.” 

Procurement has been focused on digital transformation for so long that we accept the change it will have on our work and team structures. That said, none of us is certain how emerging technologies such as RPA and AI will be incorporated into existing platforms, where we should start the process of automating procurement tasks, and what the future implications will be. To find out, akirolabs worked with Cognitive Corporate Consulting to apply the scientific method to different types of procurement tasks to capture the efficiency impact of automation.

Christoph Flöthmann is one of four co-founders at akirolabs, a new and growing procurement collaboration tool focused on helping procurement professionals develop and execute more impactful supply and category strategies. His experience includes time at organizations such as Bayer, The World Bank, DB Schenker, and KPMG. 

In this episode, Christoph joins Host Philip Ideson to discuss: 

• The methodology used by Cognitive Corporate Consulting and akirolabs to research the task-level impact of automation on the future of procurement and what they learned
• What he sees as the seven ‘next generation’ skills for strategic procurement professionals and teams
• Some of the actionable insights uncovered by their research and shared in their new whitepaper