P&SC LIVE New York: Keynote with Mike Schanker, Coupa

July 26, 2024

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P&SC LIVE New York: Conquering Today's Confidence Crisis: Using AI to Manage Through Uncertainty and Change

Mike Schanker, EVP of Strategy at Coupa, shares insights during Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE New York

Mike Schanker, Executive Vice President of Strategic Insights at Coupa, addressed the virtual audience at Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE New York.

In his keynote, "Conquering Today's Confidence Crisis: Using AI to Manage Through Uncertainty and Change," he discussed how AI can revolutionise procurement amid uncertainty—if applied correctly.

Mike, with more than 20 years in enterprise software, supports Coupa's go-to-market strategy, product marketing, and customer marketing teams.

His career, beginning in finance, has consistently focused on leading new market categories and creating customer value through technology.

Margin multipliers key to overcoming uncertainty

In his speech, Mike addressed the "confidence crisis" faced by modern organisations due to inflation, economic disruptions, and geopolitical challenges affecting supply chain and procurement professionals.

"With all this change going on, what we see in talking with a lot of our customers is that this combination of external pressures and internal inefficiencies erodes margins," he said.

While AI is often suggested as a solution, Mike argued it’s necessary but not sufficient alone. "My advice is to look for margin multipliers...you need to think about comprehensive action across your organisation, meaning across your supply chain, procurement, and finance functions."

He cited companies like Novo Nordisk, Proctor & Gamble, Onsemi, and Microsoft as examples of how integrated strategies have led to savings, operational efficiencies, enhanced resiliency and sustainability improvements.

Breaking down silos across supply chain, procurement, and finance is crucial to maximise impact and drive business growth amidst uncertainty and change.

AI's role in evolving procurement processes

Mike highlighted AI's role in evolving procurement processes, using Coupa as an example. Coupa leverages $6 trillion of historical spend data to provide robust AI-driven insights.

"AI should be embedded in the processes throughout the platform and throughout the application layer because that's where your business processes lie, and your AI should be embedded within your business processes," he said.

He stressed that AI-driven end-to-end AP automation results in significant efficiency gains for customers with previously cumbersome manual processes. AI integration in business processes is crucial for operational efficiency and cost control.

Applications of AI in business processes include improving procurement efficiency, automating accounts payable processes, and enhancing fraud detection. AI enables productivity gains and helps manage risks across the supply chain.

Mike also emphasised leveraging AI for sustainability, compliance and risk management, especially with new legislative mandates like the EU Corporate Due Diligence Directive.

His closing message was clear: "Use technology as an enabler to break down silos across your organisation, but if any vendor tells you your technology is going to solve your problems, they're underestimating the change management that's involved."

To watch Mike Schanker's full keynote at Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE New York, click here.

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