CPO Crunch: CPOs Demonstrate Their Adaptability, Switching From Crises to Prizes
Procurement Leaders’ 2026 World Procurement Awards showcased CPOs’ pride and achievements. Just days earlier, the same leaders joined a CPO Connect session on the Gulf crisis, discussing workforce well‑being, oil prices hovering around $120 per barrel, and strategic shifts toward regional supply chains and friendshoring. The dialogue highlighted CPOs’ capacity to flip from emergency response to long‑term planning while protecting their own mental health. Access to a peer community proved essential for resilience and inspiration.
CPO Crunch: Managing the Complexity of ‘Mega Deals’
The Financial Times reported a record 22 mega‑deals worth over $10 billion each in Q1 2026, pushing global M&A volume to $1.2 trillion. The headline transaction is Unilever’s merger with McCormick, creating a $65 billion food giant. Procurement is slated to deliver 80% of...
New Research – AI-Powered Procurement: Building the Agentic Future
Artificial intelligence is moving beyond reactive generative models toward agentic systems that can reason, plan, and execute procurement workflows with minimal human input. Agentic AI promises to automate routine, time‑consuming tasks, allowing procurement teams to concentrate on strategic initiatives. To...
CPO Crunch: Unleash the Best in Your Team
Vertex Pharmaceuticals' Chief Procurement Officer Connie Walters argues that procurement teams should be treated as business leaders rather than mere support functions. She emphasizes cultivating deep business insight, strategic commercial acumen, execution focus, relational intelligence, and an AI‑first mindset. Walters...
CPO Crunch: Stoking Procurement’s Creative Fire
The upcoming Procurement Leaders CPO‑only retreat, Ovation, will spotlight "Creative fuel, visionary futures," giving chief procurement officers dedicated time to explore right‑brain thinking alongside geopolitics, AI and resilience. Speakers include the LSE president and a creative‑agency CEO, underscoring a push...
