Inspiring days at DPW Amsterdam

The theme of this year's conference, "Make Tech Work," focused on how players from inside and outside the procurement industry can work together to turn technology ideas into actionable solutions and address today's biggest challenges. With a host of distinguished speakers, informative presentations and dynamic group discussions, DPW Amsterdam was a source of inspiration. Attendees, and we as experts ourselves, gained valuable insights on current trends and challenges facing the industry. 

We attended several sessions. John Schouten, Director of Product Management at ISPnext, zooms in on the highlights. ''I increased my knowledge about the possibilities of AI within the Source-to-Pay process. Such as selecting the right suppliers, automatically negotiating bids and reviewing contracts. AI promises to provide a new horizon of efficiency and optimization for organizations looking to improve their S2P processes. While we can expect the further integration of AI within Source-to-Pay processes in the coming years, it is clear that the combination between human expertise and artificial intelligence will be a powerful combination. The result will be increased efficiency and enhanced competitiveness for companies in all industries.''

In addition, supply chain sustainability and the CSRD obligation are hot topics. ''The transition to a more sustainable supply chain and the implementation of CSRD obligations will have impact on everyones business. We strongly advise companies to integrate sustainability into all their business processes.''

The expansion of Spend Analytics was also discussed. “The expansion of Spend Analytics promises deep insights into the financial health of organizations, as well as insights into spending trends. But also to make analyzes for CO2 reduction, sustainability, contract and supplier compliance. In our view it's about understanding “What is happening, why did this happen and what will happen? To gain immediate insight into what you need to do, what decisions you need to make and to translate them into concrete actions. In other words: spend data is converted into advice, action and value. This will enable businesses to be more agile and resilient.”