Episodes

  • Episode 022: Unlocking Value Through Business Accelerators with Klaus Fischer
    Oct 8 2025
    Guest: Klaus Fischer – Board Advisor, Nitor Partners and ConvergentIS Host: Erik Derenne – Director, Strategic Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & Spend Host: Justin Morse – Vice President, Solution Advisory, SAP Americas, Finance & Spend Host: Sarah Nelson – Senior Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & Spend Is your organization still operating in silos? In the lack of transparency and collaboration between the offices of the CFO and CPO preventing the business from achieving the types of value outcomes that executives and shareholders expect? What roles can technology, data and AI play in driving impactful business transformations? Our guest today is Klaus Fischer, a former long-time leader at SAP and current board advisor for two valued SAP partners – ConvergentIS and Nitor Partners. Klaus has been an avid and passionate champion for helping customers transform and achieve positive business results in procurement, supply chain and finance. Having joined SAP 35 years ago in Waldorf, Germany near his hometown, Klaus has filled many roles from Engineering to Consulting, Solution Advisory to Strategic Sales and most recently as the Head of North American Center of Excellence helping customers drive real value outcomes across all SAP solutions. Klaus even played a significant role in SAP’s decision to acquire Ariba in 2012 and combine SAP ERP with the Ariba Network and Ariba’s strong cloud-based source-to-pay capabilities. Today, Klaus continues to be an advocate for helping companies drive impactful business outcomes as a growth and board advisor to two excellent SAP partners that specialize in the finance and procurement solutions at SAP. So, let’s dive in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Erik Derenne, and you’re listening to The Future of Procurement Podcast. ----- Follow SAP: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap/ Follow SAP Ariba: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ariba/ Follow Nitor Partners: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nitor-partners/ Follow ConvergentIS: https://www.linkedin.com/company/convergentis/ Follow Klaus: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/klaus-fischer-a970a26/ Follow Erik: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erik-derenne/ Follow Justin: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmorse/ Follow Sarah: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/swnelson12/ Please like, share, and subscribe! Send feedback and questions to: TheFutureOfProcurement@sap.com
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    45 mins
  • Episode 021: Procurement Year in Review and Welcome to a New Co-Host
    Sep 25 2025
    Host: Erik Derenne – Director, Strategic Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & Spend Host: Justin Morse – Vice President, Solution Advisory, SAP Americas, Finance & Spend Host: Sarah Nelson – Senior Solution Advisory, SAP Finance & Spend Justin and Erik celebrate the one-year milestone of The Future of Procurement by reflecting on the first 20 episodes. Looking back on the growth and learning, some of their favorite and most memorable guests, and recalling some of the interesting things they learned along the way. Not to be forgotten, they also show special love to the Flex and the City segment that ran several times throughout the year with a unique focus on services procurement and the flexible workforce. Next, Erik and Justin welcome a new voice to the podcast, Sarah Nelson, a fellow Finance & Spend Solution consultant. Sarah joins the podcast for year two as a third co-host who brings a fresh voice, great new ideas and a desire to keep the podcast fun and accessible to all listeners. Sarah shares her procurement origin story with us, gives us a sneak peek at some of the fresh ideas she’s bringing to the podcast, and dives in headfirst with her perspective on what the future of procurement will look like…and it’s not the obvious answer. So, let’s dive in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Erik Derenne, and you’re listening to The Future of Procurement Podcast.
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    27 mins
  • Episode 020: Bringing Finance and Procurement Together with Blackline
    Aug 28 2025
    Guest: Stuart Van Houten – Chief Commercial Officer, Blackline Guest: Riyaz Samnani – SVP of Presales & Value Engineering, Blackline Host: Justin Morse – Vice President, Solution Advisory, SAP Americas, Finance & Spend Have you ever noticed that the functions of procurement and finance are often siloed and disjointed at companies? That often their goals and initiatives are not always in sync with each other, and that time-consuming, manual processes are required to reconcile spend and finance data at the end of the month, quarter, or year? As procurement and finance are evolving to become more strategic, how can technology help break down these silos? Our guests today are Stuart Van Houten, Chief Commercial Officer of Blackline, and Riyaz Samnani, SVP of Presales & Value Engineering at Blackline. Stuart is passionate about driving sustainable growth and long-term success and brings over 30 years of experience leading high-growth technology organizations, most recently having led North American sales and business development initiatives at SAP. Riyaz, brings his enthusiasm for building best run solution demonstrations and value-based business cases to his customers with over a decade leading procurement and finance teams at SAP, Coupa and Basware prior to joining Blackline. An SAP Partner and a leading AI-enabled financial operations engine, Blackline helps customers accelerate their record-to-report and invoice-to-cash activities which eliminates delays, strengthens controls, and delivers trusted data throughout the organization. Stuart and Riyaz bring their procurement acumen to their new roles at Blackline to uncover how smart businesses are joining their financial operations and data with procurement data and initiatives to drive the next generation of technological transformation…with AI and data and the center. So, let’s dive in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Justin Morse, and you’re listening to The Future of Procurement Podcast.
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    32 mins
  • Episode 019: Preventing Vendor Payment Fraud with Trustpair
    Aug 6 2025
    If you’ve ever fallen victim to payment fraud in your personal life life, you know that it can be expensive, time-consuming and leaves you feeling very vulnerable. Unfortunately, fraud is not simply limited to the consumer. It also impacts thousands of companies each year to the tune of millions of dollars in losses. So, what can be done to protect your business and prevent fraudulent activity? Our guest today is Baptiste Collot, CEO and co-Founder of Trustpair, a best-in-class fraud prevention platform. Baptiste began his career working in the treasury department of a multinational company, when he had an epiphany about why they were losing money on vendor payments. All signs pointed to the data journey from vendor onboarding across the entire procure-to-pay chain and through various systems in finance, AP and procurement. Enter Trustpair, a platform that uses technology to help companies better trust their data by securing the entire procure-to-pay process. Baptiste explains the evolution of fraud in the vendor payment space, why it is such a growing concern, and how solutions from companies like Trustpair and SAP can help prevent fraud at the ultimate source…the data. So, let’s dive in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Erik Derenne, and you’re listening to The Future of Procurement Podcast.
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    35 mins
  • Episode 018: Insights into Procurement Priorities with Gordon Donovan
    May 22 2025
    Once thought of as simply a cost management function, procurement today is tasked with juggling a plethora of competing priorities…quality, sustainability, diversity, security, compliance, and AI just to name a few. So how does a CPO determine which of the latest procurement trends deserve the most attention?
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    46 mins
  • Episode 017: Exploring ESG and Sustainability Trends in Procurement with Japen Hollist – Part 2
    May 6 2025
    ESG and Sustainability are topics at the forefront of business these days with C-suite executives setting guidance and maneuvering organizations to comply with ever-changing global regulations while also meeting the expectations of their customers and shareholders.
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    32 mins
  • Episode 016: Exploring ESG and Sustainability Trends in Procurement with Japen Hollist – Part 1
    Apr 29 2025
    ESG and Sustainability are topics at the forefront of business these days with C-suite executives setting guidance and maneuvering organizations to comply with ever-changing global regulations while also meeting the expectations of their customers and shareholders.
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    32 mins
  • Episode 015: Flex and the City with Maritza Morris from Monument Consulting
    Mar 5 2025
    In this episode of Flex and The City, hosts Amanda and Lindsey welcome Maritza Morris, VP of Business Development at Monument Consulting. Maritza shares her journey into the flexible workforce industry, from landing her first job with Insight Global to finding her dream role at Monument. She dives into what makes Monument Consulting a leader in contingent workforce solutions, MSP services, and advisory support, helping companies navigate the complexities of external talent management and services procurement.
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    19 mins