Join us for this 20-minute Fireside Chat with Nina Kivioja, VP, Indirect Sourcing at UPM, the global forest industry leader known for its successful diversification and development. Nina outlines how UPM is navigating the "New Era of AI-Driven Procurement," detailing how the technology is currently reshaping procurement processes and highlighting the biggest opportunities it brings to strategic sourcing and supplier management. Crucially, she addresses common pitfalls, like the high failure rate of AI pilots, explaining the methodical steps UPM took to ensure they identified a genuine problem to solve, preventing AI from becoming a "trinket, not a tool." The discussion explores the critical balance between AI-driven insights and human decision-making, detailing how much human supervision is in place and the structure of governance and accountability. Nina shares measurable examples of where AI has unlocked significant value and addresses the challenges and risks encountered during implementation. A key focus is on data: she explains the vital role of data quality and integration, outlining how UPM aligns internal data sets and leverages supplier data effectively to maximise AI’s impact. Finally, Nina offers advice on preparing teams to work alongside AI, tackling the skills gap, and summarising the future trends defining AI in procurement.