Proc-N-Roll : Your guide to practical procurement!

Are you prepared for a future where your company rewrites its software every single night? In this episode of Proc n Roll, Zach and Natasha sit down with Sanjay Srivastava—former Chief Digital Officer at Genpact, serial entrepreneur, and founder of the Executive Technology Board—for a masterclass on enterprise AI. Sanjay unpacks why the current breakneck pace of AI development is actually the slow...

Welcome to another Jam Session on Proc n Roll ! This week, Conrad sits down with Ajay Khosla from Google to dive deep into the reality of agentic procurement and enterprise AI. They discuss the rapid evolution from simple generative chatbots to powerful, proactive agents (like Open Claw) and how these tools are fundamentally changing the user experience in sourcing. Discover why the future of proc...

In this episode of Proc n Roll, Zach and Conrad sit down with Joël Collin-Demers, the digital procurement mentor and author of the Pure Procurement newsletter. Joël unpacks the new "buy-to-build" paradigm in procurement technology, explaining how to successfully blend pre-packaged software suites with customizable, AI-driven toolboxes. From deep dives into the Model Context Protocol (MCP...

In this jam session of Proc n Roll, Conrad sits down with Limor David-Sternfeld, a seasoned executive with a fascinating career journey that spans from the defense industry to leading global sourcing and procurement in the Bay Area's big tech sector. Limor shares her practical insights on navigating unfamiliar sourcing categories, the changing dynamics of enterprise tech, and what it truly mea...

In this week's Proc n Roll, the trio tackles a billion-dollar boardroom debate: Who exactly owns AI in the enterprise? With 87% of companies increasing AI budgets by 2026, but only 14% having a clear C-suite owner, the lack of defined leadership is creating uncertainty. Conrad, Natasha, and Zachary debate the tension between decentralized, bottom-up innovation and top-down corporate governance...

In this week's Proc n Roll, we are joined by procurement legend John Dixon, whose 40-year career includes serving as Chief Procurement Officer for global giants like AstraZeneca, GSK, Diageo, BP, and Rolls-Royce. John drops some serious truth bombs about the current state of our industry. He explains why procurement is facing a "perfect storm" of risk, cost, and AI, and why leaders n...

You think you know your spend? Natasha Gurevich once found a company with 57 separate contracts with the same hotel chain — because nobody had visibility across entities. In this Proc N Roll: Track, Conrad Smith breaks down the simplest data model every procurement team needs (transactions → suppliers → cost centers), Natasha reveals how fragmented visibility creates hidden waste, and together the...

In this episode of Proc N Roll, the "Three Amigos" reunite to tackle the wild frontier of AI in the workplace before diving deep into the architecture of procurement operating models. Are AI tools "employees" or just "agents"? The trio discusses the clash between tech developers and HR departments, and Conrad introduces us to James. his multilingual, highly efficient...

The procurement talent crisis isn't a hiring problem — it's a development problem. In this Proc N Roll: Track, Natasha Gurevich argues that as automation replaces purchasing tasks, leaders can't expect their teams to instantly become strategic thinkers. You have to build that muscle from within. She introduces the "work romance" model: pair experienced Gen X leaders who under...

Every procurement professional has met that stakeholder — the one who says "we're fine, thanks" and locks the door. In this Proc N Roll: Track, Natasha Gurevich shares the exact playbook she used to break into one of procurement's hardest categories: marketing. Step one: stop threatening an RFP and start sending a one-page market intel newsletter. Step two: show them the supplier...

Welcome back to Proc n Roll! In this week's episode, Conrad reconnects with long-time colleague and procurement powerhouse Omid Ghamami to discuss a fundamental shift in how we source. Are you spending 70% to 90% of your day firefighting supplier issues? Omid argues that this happens because procurement teams are stuck in a 1970s mindset, focusing entirely on buying "goods and services&qu...

If procurement only speaks the language of cost savings, it will never be astrategic partner. In this Proc N Roll: Track, former CPO Natasha Gurevich argues that real value looks different to every stakeholder — risk reduction for legal, speed to market for marketing, capacity assurance for supply chain — and that procurement leaders need to be brave enough to tell their teams, "Forget the sa...

Procurement teams love to talk about risk. Most of them never actually manage it. In this Proc N Roll: Track, Conrad Smith lays out the biggest failure he sees across dozens of procurement orgs every month — stopping at "awareness" and never moving to mitigation — and introduces the four-step framework that separates real programs from glorified questionnaires: Define. Measure. Manage. M...

Want honest feedback from your team? Stop asking people to judge you. In this Proc N Roll: Track, pro-CPO Natasha Gurevich shares the single question that transformed how she receives feedback from direct reports, peers, and skip-levels: "How have you experienced me?" Conrad Smith and Zachary Bachir unpack why human nature resists feedback — the "mammalian brain" at work — and...

In this week’s Proc N Roll, Conrad sits down with Stephany Lapierre, the visionary founder of Tealbook. They dive into the reality of modern procurement tech: why companies spend millions on "Ferraris" (expensive systems) only to fill the gas tanks with sugar and mud (bad data). Stephany shares her journey from founding Matchbook to fixing the foundational data issues that plague modern...

Welcome to another episode of Proc n Roll! Today, Conrad sits down with Peter Teresi, founder and CEO of Certificial, to explore what it really takes to build the mindset of an innovator. Peter shares his journey from the early days of MSNBC to revolutionizing data standards in the insurance industry. The two founders also dive deep into the power of intrapreneurship. Peter highlights how a side p...

Welcome to a milestone Episode 50 of Proc & Roll! Conrad, Natasha, and Zachary follow up on our previous high-level discussion to give you a practical, step-by-step guide to building your procurement operating model. https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lpDVChcoaCLtbsVWxYJsE?si=ijC9umgZSMuOFuawyzRtEw We kick things off with our real-world AI agent experiments—including Conrad’s AI Chief of Staff,...

In this Jam Session, Natasha Gurevich and Zachary Bachir are joined by Jason Busch, founder of Spend Matters, host of the Algo Ego podcast , and a highly provocative thinker in the procurement and supply chain space. Jason explores several critical topics reshaping the industry. We dive into the evolution of AI across different operational tiers, examine the shifting shelf-life and relevance of le...

Are you an architect of your procurement future, or are you waiting to be replaced by it? In this week's episode of Proc & Roll, Conrad and Zachary are joined by Tomas Wiemer (former Head of Procurement at Juniper Networks) to break down exactly how AI and agentic automation are completely rewriting the procurement operating model. From the death of the 100-page process map to building a T...

In this episode of Proc & Roll, hosts Conrad Smith and Zach Bachir are joined by Kasey Smith for a deep dive into OpenClaw, a groundbreaking agentic AI tool that is set to disrupt the procurement technology stack. The team moves beyond the hype to show how accessible this technology is, even for those without a technical background. Kasey shares his journey of setting up an OpenClaw agent on a...

Do you ever feel like you are operating on an island inside your own company? You aren't alone. In this episode of Proc & Roll, Conrad Smith sits down with Shunit Kainy to discuss the transformative power of professional networking and knowledge sharing. Shunit, who playfully describes herself as the "black sheep" of her art-focused family for going into high-tech sourcing, share...

In this episode of Proc & Roll , hosts Conrad Smith, Natasha Gurevich, and Zachary Bachir dive into Phase Two of Stakeholder Management while confronting the breaking disruption of AI agents. The episode kicks off with a look at shifting global tariffs and the sudden rise of "Clawdbot", an AI agent capable of operating independently across your computer and files. The team debates a...

"I had to learn the hard way that people's feelings really matter." That was Zachary Bachir’s candid admission about his journey from a logical "robot" to an EQ expert. It serves as the foundation for today’s deep dive into Brain Science and the "Fluff" that actually drives multi-million dollar business results. In this week's Proc & Roll, hosts Conrad Smi...

That was the response Natasha Gurevich’s CPO gave to a stakeholder who said, "Don't worry, we got it." It is the ultimate definition of fiduciary duty, and the perfect example of the Enterprise Mindset we discuss in today’s episode. In this week's Proc & Roll, hosts Conrad Smith, Natasha Gurevich, and Zachary Bachir revisit a key prediction for 2026: The shift from "func...

Why Your SRM Program is Useless Theater? Why has Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) progressed so little in the last 20 years? And what can procurement leaders learn from the messy "divorce" between Amazon and UPS? In this episode of Proc & Roll, hosts Conrad Smith, Natasha Gurevich, and Zachary Bachir tackle the stagnation of supplier management. They debate why most QBRs are ju...