“Procurement is no longer just a transactional function, we are now bringing value to organizations,” said Tatjana Ozgoren Director, Digital Strategy & Transformation – Sourcing & Procurement from Pepsico at the inaugural edition of the Middle East Procuretech Summit & Awards 2023.

The summit took place last week with nearly 200 attendees, ranging from esteemed support partners, media partners, delegates, sponsors, and of course, the industry leaders and lead decision makers of the supply chain industry, all sharing the same agenda, seeking technological reformation and development within the procurement sector and beyond.

The success created by the summit was seen as a domino effect across all the attendees, where lively discussions erupted across the dynamic networking opportunities as well as multiple knowledgeable panel discussions. “From supply chain to procurement, to development, technology has become an integral part of any procurement organization,” said Shakti Arora, the Chief Procurement Officer of RAK Ceramics PJSC, which highlighted the primary agenda sought out by this year’s summit.

Arnaud Malardé, the Senior Product Marketing Manager from Ivalua, the platinum sponsor of the event, featured an address with retrospective statements which highlighted the reality of the supply chain industry today, “Expectations of procurement are higher now for a team to be able to provide that kind of information.” To which he prefaced “Information is power.” His words were adorned with insights from Stephen Rea, Chief Procurement Officer at Al Ghurair Investment, who highlighted the importance of the evolving factors in the supply chain industry today; “The shift in skill sets toward technological requirements is what determines the future of the talent.” The importance of Arnaud and Stephen’s perspectives rang clear at the summit as a mutual consensus was seen to be reached by all industry leaders alike.

Waleed Saeed Al Saeedi, Director of Procurement and Supply Management at the Department of Tourism and Culture Abu Dhabi, highlighted the importance of tying UAE’s sustainability with initiatives within the procurement function. “UAE is hosting COP28 by end of this year here in Dubai, and this is really one of the big initiatives related to sustainability and environment,” said Al Saeedi as he shined a light on the importance of tying value to the sustainable initiative within the procurement function during his address.

This year’s summit was also supported by some of the best players in the ProcureTech industry such as iValua, Kissflow, LogiNext, Locus, Simfoni, Zoho, and Apsolut, all of whom showcased their credible solution offering capabilities aimed at transforming the procurement function.

The Middle East ProcureTech Excellence Awards 2023 was also held at the summit as part of the proceedings. The awards celebrated procurement, supply chain, and logistics leaders who have worked constantly towards improving disrupted supply chains through innovating and adopting advanced technology.

The winners included:

Dirk Karl, MTN Group - Chief Procurement Officer of The Year – Middle East 2023

Akshay Rag, Medseven Healthcare - Procurement Leader of The Year – SME Business

Aramex International LLC - Middle East Procurement Team of The Year

Retal Urban Development - Middle East Logistics and Supply Chain Team of The Year

Shell Digital GameChanger Lab - Best ESG Initiative of The Year

Emaar Properties PJSC - Digital Transformation Initiative of The Year

The premier Middle East ProcureTech Summit, deeply dove into the future trends, challenges, and opportunities the supply chain industry has to offer, all to execute and maximise operations and efficiencies of the businesses of tomorrow.

The organiser: Verve Management is a business intelligence platform in the Middle East facilitating a premier curated industry event that connects people, partners, and ideas for different sectors and markets.