“Change is about first having an awareness. Once you have that awareness, then that other party that you're trying to drive that awareness has an understanding. And when that understanding is there, then they're motivated to take action.” Pratik Patel, Director - Category Management - Labor/North America Technology Spend, Mastercard

Services procurement can be a rewarding field, but it also has some unique (and fairly complex) challenges that require procurement to develop a strong approach to spend and performance management.

In this episode, Philip Ideson speaks with Pratik Patel, Director - Category Management - Labor/North America Technology Spend at Mastercard, about his own experience transforming technology services procurement from a decentralized, inefficient process into a streamlined, data-driven program that delivers unprecedented business value.

Pratik walks listeners through:

• Four key requirements for successful outcome-based contracting
• How to use lean methodology to identify pain points in the procurement process and build buy-in for transformation
• Steps to build scalable services procurement processes that create efficiency, stakeholder trust, and value for the business

Links:

• Pratik Patel on LinkedIn
• Business Waste: The Silent Value Killer W/ Pratik Patel
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement
• Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube

Procurement 6 is a short podcast from Art of Procurement that publishes in the Art of Procurement feed every Friday morning at 6am US Eastern Time.

Presented by a member of the Art of Procurement team, each episode has 6 short segments that summarize the week in procurement.

Segments range from procurement tips to podcast summaries, from details of events to news or overviews of blog posts that capture our attention.

"I’m a big believer in market intelligence, where we educate the business on the providers and the levers to pull. It's not about just pricing; it's understanding the market." - Amy Fong, Partner, Sourcing and Vendor Management, Everest Group

Service categories are experiencing unprecedented change driven by generative AI, which is shifting workforce models and evolving commercial structures across the business.

Procurement has to be continuously focused on how these changes are affecting the business. For procurement leaders managing these services categories, navigating this transformation requires new ways to think about areas like contracting, relationship management, and value measurement.

In this episode of Art of Procurement, Philip Ideson speaks with Amy Fong, Partner, Sourcing and Vendor Management at Everest Group, about the rapid evolution of business services sourcing. Amy brings unique insights from analyzing thousands of contracts and observing what leading companies are doing to adapt their sourcing strategies and their approach to output- versus outcome-based contracts.

In this episode, Amy explains:

• Why outcome-based contracting remains an aspiration, not a reality, for many companies (and how to change that)
• How generative AI is fundamentally changing service delivery models and what that means for performance measurement and cost structures
• What procurement teams must bring to the table to earn their place in strategic make-or-buy decisions

Links:

• Amy Fong on LinkedIn
• Get $100 off the super early bird ticket for Engage with code AOPFRIEND
• Subscribe to This Week in Procurement
• Subscribe to Art of Procurement on YouTube