751: Extinction or Opportunity: What is Procurement’s Destiny? with Sebastien Bals

Art of Procurement

“No matter how strong or how solid your foundations might be, the environment in which we operate is changing at such a pace that if we do not evolve with it, we will become obsolete.” - Sebastien Bals, EVP, Chief Procurement Officer at Merck Group

As technology – AI in particular – continues to transform the way we work and live, the future of procurement hangs in the balance.

In this episode, Philip Ideson and Sebastien Bals, EVP and Chief Procurement Officer at Merck Group, talk about the “two roads” facing procurement: one, defined by opportunity, innovation, and transformation, and the other marked by disruption, outdated roles and practices, and far more uncertainty.

They confront the larger, existential questions that keep many procurement leaders up at night, while recognizing that procurement’s willingness to adapt and adjust could be the very skills that keep them from traveling down the path to extinction.

They also discuss:

• Overcoming procurement’s inferiority complex and demonstrating value in new digital contexts
• How procurement can keep and leverage that long-coveted “seat at the table” they now enjoy
• Securing procurement’s future in an increasingly digitized, AI-powered world

Links:

• Sebastian Bals on LinkedIn
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement
• Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube