1. Millennials - Influencing a Shift in Procurement Technology
Sidhant Dhamija
Chairman – CIPS MENA Millennials Group
Procurement Category Manager
Transguard Group
Millennials expect things to be fast and easy . They recognize the potential of technology . Millennials can help procurement discover how to shift procurement solutions towards increased visibility, connectivity, speed, and accuracy. The next round of technological advancement will help the procurement function increase its value .
Millennials have grown up seeing constant and rapid improvements in their day to day processes through the evolution of technology. As a result, they expect time consuming, tedious tasks to be streamlined with technology. Procurement solutions with a dual goal of saving money and time will be of greater value.

2. Industry 4.0 ? Internet of Things 3D Printing Big Data Drones
Artificial Intelligence
Drones
Robots
Smart Cities
Urban Farming
The fourth industrial revolution has begun a couple of years ago, and now, it is galloping ahead. Nowadays, everybody is talking about industrialization 4.0. Some are still not aware what it entails and what will be the full scope of repercussions.
You may think that we exaggerate when we use the term Industry 4.0, but when you take a look around you and see how fast the industry is being digitalized it is not far-fetched at all.
So what does it bring us? The 4th industrialization has brought together Cyber-Physical Systems, Big Data, the Internet of Things, the Internet of Service, 3D printing and created a new value chain.
What are exactly Cyber-Physical Systems? It´s just another name for artificial intelligence (AI). Machines are communicating among themselves and automating work processes as a result of their conversations. Industry operational production is getting more efficient as we speak.
As always, whenever someone mentions AI, some people are afraid that an army of robots will realize humans are completely obsolete. That is still not the case, but operational jobs have already started to melt away. By listening to what the market needs and offering that knowledge to existing personnel, you can easily have the best of both worlds.
Eco-housing/Green Buildings
Driverless Vehicles

3. How Millennials will Influence a Shift in Procurement Technology
Millennials are unquestionably natural with technology
Business technology is changing because providers are seeing demand trends from these digital natives.
Since Millennials will make up 40% of the workforce by 2020, they are a group that will improve our current solutions because they have high expectations for technology.
The challenge is to meet their expectations and bring more experienced users along with them.
Business technology is changing because providers are seeing demand trends from Millennials, the digital natives.
Since Millennials will make up 40% of the workforce by 2020, they are a group that will improve current procurement solutions because they have high expectations for technology.
The challenge is to meet their expectations and bring more experienced users along with them

4. Future Vision of Business & Tactics Cognitive Procurement
SRM Tools
Procure to Pay
Future Vision of Business & Tactics
PLAN DO
CHECK
ACT
E-Sourcing
Machine Learning
Pattern Recognition
Big Data Analytics
Tactical procurement is following suit with e-sourcing, contract management and SRM tools. There’s even talk about cognitive procurement, which tries to mimic the human brain with self-learning systems (combining data mining, pattern recognition and natural language processes). It’s still in its infancy, but it’s very interesting.
Not everything can be fully automated. Big Data and analytics are collected by computers but only a trained procurement strategist can generate added value out of it.
Every industrial revolution so far has faced rejection and fear, and it is no different now. People don´t see why do they need to reorganize their whole business, when it was going so well until now. Managers fear initial investment costs, and workers fear that their jobs will become redundant.
It comes down to whether we want to act out of fear or whether we want to seize new opportunities. This evolution is an incredible moment to start devising strategies that will be able to complement all our business needs and wants, while mitigating risks.
As with any strategic implementation, Technology Strategy involves keeping in mind the future vision of the business and it’s tactics will involve the actual steps needed to achieve it.
Contract Management
Cognitive Procurement