Ivalua NOW 2025: CEO Explores a New Era for Procurement
Procurement leaders today are under pressure like never before as they grapple with market instability, shifting regulations and the rapid pace of technological change. Generative AI and automation promise improved efficiency and smarter decisions, yet many organisations remain at the starting line, seeing only modest returns so far.
At Ivalua NOW 2025, hosted at the iconic Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, the stage is set for transformation. Under the banner Innovate to Elevate, Ivalua’s new Chief Executive Officer, Franck Lheureux, brings nearly two decades of enterprise software leadership to the spotlight.
With a career spanning JDA Software, SAS France and Soft Solution, Franck has led global supply chain transformations for Fortune 500 companies.
In this keynote, he outlines a vision that goes beyond adopting technology as he emphases the need to elevate how procurement works, thinks and delivers value.
A new era begins
Franck steps onto the stage as Ivalua’s newly appointed CEO, ready to set the tone for 2025.
He takes the helm after David Khuat-Duy, Ivalua’s Founder and Former CEO, transitioned into the new role of Chief AI Officer. According to the company, David believes this is "where going forward he can deliver the most value," pointing to the increasing role artificial intelligence is expected to play across business operations.
Franck opens his keynote acknowledging that the world is going through "tough time," and the importance of procurement has never been clearer. “We sense procurement has never been that critical to company's success,” he says, tying its relevance not only to operational resilience but also to global sustainability.
Today’s supply chains operate in unpredictable environments shaped by geopolitical tensions, regulation shifts and inflationary pressures. Procurement leaders must become agile strategists. Franck provokes: “Are you pushing ahead the horizon of planning? Or just focusing on being resilient for the next month?” He calls on leaders to do both: think long-term while mastering short-term agility.
AI as a digital companion
Much of Franck’s keynote focuses on the integration of AI as a practical tool that lightens workloads and improves decision-making.
"Your job has never been harder," he admits, describing procurement teams overwhelmed by operational complexity and ever-increasing volumes of documentation.
In response, Ivalua is promoting its AI-based tools as a ‘digital companion,’ designed to augment, not replace, human expertise.
This ‘companion’ approach, he explains, helps procurement professionals reduce their administrative load.
"Can it help and augment and bring insights that you are not aware of?" he asks, making the case for AI that streamlines tasks like contract summarisation and supplier qualification.
However, the CEO also warns that to fully harness AI, organisations need a solid data foundation.
“There is no right AI cases without a solid data foundation,” he says. Ivalua’s platform design focuses on keeping customer data private. "None of your data is going to be used to train any single LLM," Franck affirms—giving clients peace of mind around security, a major concern in regulated industries.
Procurement and people connected
The vision Franck lays out goes beyond automation. It’s about embedding procurement more deeply into the wider organisation and reconnecting it to human purpose.
Ivalua’s AI agents are designed to be fully customisable, low-code and able to interact using natural language. This makes advanced analytics more accessible and reduces reliance on technical specialists.
He draws attention to new AI-enabled features that help organisations look further down the supply chain, identifying sub-tier risks and pre-empting disruption.
"Connecting procurement to the rest of the organisation," he says, is a key priority. With features like intake management, Ivalua wants to help procurement influence functions like HR, treasury and payables.
"We reconnected humans," Franck says on the benefits of time-saving AI. This time unlocks more in-person supplier relationships, adding more value to human connection.
The keynote also includes some company milestones as Ivalua now boasts a 97% customer retention rate. According to Franck, this is "a testament to the value we deliver... through the entire lifetime" of client relationships. He underlines the importance of financial stability in a software partner, stating: "We are profitable. We have US$0 debt."
Franck closes on Ivalua’s culture of service, honesty and long-term thinking. Whether delivering AI tools, scaling implementation teams globally or pursuing sustainability awards, the company is “here for the long run,” he says. A customer still with Ivalua after 25 years was brought on stage at the firm’s Paris event to demonstrate that very point.
In his parting message, Franck offers a challenge and a promise: “Our purpose and our promise is to unlock the potential of AI... to elevate procurement impact.”
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