Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

19 January 2026

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Michael Ault, Country Manager at integrated payments specialists myPOS, offers strategic advice for SMEs looking to scale through digital transformation and diversification

Scaling a small business is one of the most rewarding, yet complex journeys for any entrepreneur. While growth brings opportunities for greater reach, higher revenue, and stronger market presence, it also demands foresight, discipline, and the ability to manage risk strategically. Securely integrating new technology is the main obstacle for 47% of SME’s, even though 76% of these businesses intend to expand their IT investment. This underscores a key point of tension, as many businesses want to grow through digital transformation but struggle to do so securely and sustainably.

The business landscape continues to evolve with changing customer expectations, technology, and economic conditions. For UK SMEs, the key to long-term success lies in achieving growth but also in building resilience. Sustainable scaling comes down to three principles: embracing technology pragmatically, diversifying intelligently, and investing in people and partnerships that strengthen resilience.

Leveraging Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is the foundation of business growth, especially for small business. Cloud-based solutions, automation, and data analytics help to streamline operations, reduce inefficiencies, and create better customer experiences. However, transformation must be purposeful, not performative.

The smartest approach is to scale technology investment incrementally, integrating flexible, modular systems that evolve with business needs. This approach not only lowers risk but also helps ensure digital maturity evolve over time. When SMEs use modular, cloud-based technology, operations run more smoothly and changes can be effectively analysed. Ultimately, resilience is not built through one-time upgrades but through a culture of continuous digital evolution.

Diversifying Revenue Streams

Depending on a single product, service, or market leaves a business vulnerable to sudden changes in demand. Diversification, when guided by customer insight and data can turn volatility into opportunity. Expanding into online sales, introducing subscription models, or targeting fresh customer segments can make income streams much more stable and sustainable.

At myPOS, we know that even simple changes based on data, such as adding additional payment options or tapping into cross-border e-commerce, can help cash flow and protect against market shocks. The goal of technology is to mitigate specific challenges without adding layers of complexity.

Investing in Employee Development

Your people are pivotal to your ability to grow as a business; empowered teams are the engine of sustainable scale. A team that feels supported and motivated will bring fresh ideas, adapt to challenges, and push the business forward. Investing in training, mentoring, and development opportunities builds skills that pay back in the form of innovation and improved performance.

In fast-changing industries, having employees who are confident in learning and adapting can make the difference between struggling through disruption and taking advantage of it. Equally, strong partnerships extend this resilience beyond the organisation. Building resilience at the team level creates resilience for the whole business, so fostering a culture of continuous learning and celebrating employee contributions is key to maintaining motivation.

Focusing on Financial Health and Flexibility

Financial resilience underpins sustainable growth. Scaling often requires upfront investment, and without healthy cash flow or reserves, opportunities can be lost. Monitoring income and expenses closely, cutting unnecessary costs, and preparing for seasonal fluctuations gives businesses more control.

Having flexible financing options, like credit lines, small business loans, or even crowdfunding, provides a level of agility. Instead of being caught off guard by unexpected challenges, businesses with financial flexibility are positioned to respond quickly and strategically.

Financial management software can make it easier to track performance, spot issues early, and forecast future needs. When you can see your finances in real time, you can make proactive, data-driven decisions instead of waiting for problems to happen. In markets that change quickly, this kind of financial management helps small firms plan with confidence, stay flexible, and establish a stronger base for long-term growth.

Prioritising Customer Relationships and Feedback

Your customers are not just buyers; they are advocates, sources of insight, and the foundation of repeat business and brand loyalty. Businesses that scale successfully often place customer relationships at the heart of their strategy by actively gathering feedback, responding quickly to issues, and personalising interactions, which shows customers they are valued.

This loyalty becomes a form of resilience. In periods of uncertainty, a base of satisfied, returning customers provides more stability than constantly chasing new ones. Successful businesses use CRM tools to track customer preferences and automate follow-ups so no opportunity to strengthen a relationship is missed.

Building Strategic Partnerships

Partnerships can accelerate growth while also spreading risk. Working with other businesses, organisations, or influencers can provide access to new audiences, shared expertise, or additional resources. Collaboration can also create opportunities for joint marketing, co-branded initiatives, or innovative product and service offerings.

In times of uncertainty, strong partnerships act as a support network. By aligning with others who share your values and vision, you create opportunities that are mutually beneficial and more resilient than going it alone. It is important to find partners whose goals and audiences complement your own for the best long-term impact.

The next stage of small business success will be defined by resilience rather than speed, the ability to adapt, recover, and continue to create value in the fact of uncertainty. For SMEs, this means developing adaptable growth plans that include flexible technology, diverse models and empowered employees.

Learn more at mypos.com

  • Data & AI
  • Digital Payments
  • Digital Strategy
  • Fintech & Insurtech

Author

Robert Kraal

Published

6 November 2025

Estimated Read time

6Mins

Robert Kraal, Co-founder of Silverflow – a cloud-native payments platform designed to reduce cost and complexity while enabling innovation – examines the future for merchants and digital payments

There are dozens of examples of companies, and even whole industries, that have failed because they simply weren’t aligned to what people wanted. Nobody in 1985 was desperate for Coke to taste different. In 2001 no one needed a self-balancing electric scooter. And nobody in 2021 needed to have their ownership of JPEG images recorded on the blockchain. The history of business contains many instances of ideas that seemed to emerge fully formed from the minds of their creators rather than as responses to genuine needs.

The payments industry might not make as many headlines. However, it is just as full of companies that don’t seem to address any real need on the part of merchants. Too many providers build technology in search of a market, rather than starting with a clear understanding of the challenges merchants face.

As payments evolve, that misalignment becomes more visible. Merchants today operate in an environment defined by thin margins, rising costs, and fast-changing customer expectations. Payment Service Providers (PSPs), PayFacs, acquirers, and processors that fail to adapt risk losing touch with what truly matters. Enabling merchants to grow their business efficiently, securely, and globally.

So, what do merchants really want from their payments technology – and how can the industry close the gap between expectation and delivery?

Beyond ‘Just Getting Paid‘

At first glance, payments can appear to be a simple utility. Money goes in, money goes out. Merchants want to get paid quickly and cheaply – and nothing more. But that view misses the larger strategic role payments play in business operations.

Cost certainly matters. With corporate bankruptcies at a fourteen-year high and economic uncertainty still weighing heavily, cashflow is critical. Even a small reduction in processing fees can make a difference over time. But “low cost” doesn’t automatically equal ‘good value’.

Think of it like buying cheap shoes: they may save money upfront, but if they wear out quickly, the total cost of ownership is higher. The same principle applies to payments infrastructure. The right technology can reduce friction, improve customer experience, and unlock new revenue streams. Far outweighing a slightly higher transaction fee.

For many merchants, payments are not just a back-office function but a strategic lever. The ability to expand into new markets, optimise acceptance rates, or adapt quickly to new consumer payment preferences can directly influence growth.

What Merchants Say Frustrates Them Most

Across industries, merchants face a familiar set of pain points when dealing with payments providers. These often include:

Lack of transparency and control over fees

Slow onboarding and inflexible contracts

Poor technical support and inconsistent service levels

Limited access to useful payment data and analytics

Outdated systems that make innovation difficult

In short, merchants feel constrained by legacy processes and opaque systems that fail to match the agility of their wider digital operations.

What Merchants Want Now

To move beyond seeing payments as a commodity, providers must understand the specific outcomes merchants are trying to achieve. In practice, that means focusing on five key areas:

Higher Acceptance Rates and Fewer False Declines

Every false decline represents lost revenue and potential long-term damage to customer loyalty. According to Aite-Novarica, merchants lose billions each year to legitimate transactions mistakenly flagged as fraudulent.

Often, these issues arise from outdated or overly rigid risk rules, or from poor visibility into the transaction lifecycle. Merchants need access to data and tools that help identify patterns, adjust rules dynamically, and balance security with customer experience. Smarter fraud management – not just stricter – is key to protecting revenue.

Faster Access to New Payment Methods

The payments landscape is diversifying rapidly. Account-to-account (A2A) transfers, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), mobile wallets, and super-apps are reshaping how consumers pay.

For merchants, staying relevant means supporting the methods their customers actually use – without long integration times or complex vendor dependencies. Providers that can onboard new payment types quickly and seamlessly give merchants a crucial competitive advantage.

Simplified Cross-Border Payments

Global expansion is a natural ambition for digital-first businesses, but cross-border payments remain a major operational headache. Local regulations, currency management, and consumer habits vary dramatically between markets.

Merchants want simplified access to local payment methods, along with dynamic currency conversion and compliance tools that minimize friction when operating internationally. A provider that can simplify this complexity – through unified access to multiple schemes and currencies – creates tangible value beyond simple processing.

Intelligent Payment Orchestration

Many large merchants now work with multiple acquirers and payment processors to optimise cost, performance, and redundancy. But without an orchestration layer to intelligently route transactions, they risk inefficiency and downtime.

Modern payment orchestration platforms can automatically send each transaction through the most cost-effective or reliable channel in real time. That capability depends on robust infrastructure – not a tangle of APIs and patches. Merchants increasingly expect their providers to offer orchestration as a native feature, not an afterthought.

Modern, Cloud-Native Infrastructure

This is where the real bottleneck lies. Many PSPs and acquirers still operate on systems designed decades ago – architectures built for a different era of commerce. They’ve been maintained with patches, middleware, and manual workarounds that make innovation slow and integration difficult.

Merchants now expect cloud-native systems that are modular, scalable, and API-driven. Platforms that deliver real-time data visibility, analytics, and adaptability – allowing merchants to build and evolve without being constrained by legacy code.

Providers that cling to old systems risk not just technical debt, but strategic irrelevance. Payments infrastructure should be an enabler of innovation, not an obstacle.

Rethinking the Infrastructure Layer

The issue isn’t that modern payment solutions don’t exist – they do. The problem is that too many are bolted onto outdated foundations. Layering new features onto old systems is like fitting a Formula 1 engine into a 1970s chassis: technically possible, but structurally unsound.

The future of payments lies in rethinking the infrastructure layer entirely. That means building platforms that are natively cloud-based, flexible by design, and ready to integrate with tomorrow’s technologies.

Modern infrastructure enables:

  • Faster onboarding and deployment
  • Greater transparency into transaction data and fees
  • Easier compliance with evolving regulations
  • Continuous innovation without system downtime

This shift isn’t just technical – it’s strategic. It’s about giving merchants the confidence that their payment systems can scale with them, wherever their business goes next.

A New Standard for Payments

The payments industry has reached an inflection point. Merchants no longer see payments as a commodity or cost centre – they see them as a growth driver. Providers that continue to build products in isolation from merchant needs will fall behind.

Success will come to those who build with a merchant-first mindset: reducing barriers, improving performance, and enabling future growth.

The question for every PSP, PayFac, and acquirer is no longer “What features can we add?” but “Are we ready to deliver what merchants actually need?”

About Silverflow

Silverflow is a new kind of payment processing platform designed for today’s payment needs and fit for the future. A cloud-native solution with a single API to the card networks. One platform with one connection. Reducing cost and complexity, easy to use, data-rich, Silverflow frees you to innovate. Find out more at silverflow.com

Co-founder Robert Kraal is one of the few people in the world with over 20 years of experience in online payments.

After completing his degree in Geophysics, he started his career at Bibit, the first global Payment Service Provider (PSP) which was acquired by RBS/Worldpay. At RBS/Worldpay he went on to lead account management, before moving on to Google Netherlands. He joined Adyen in 2010 in the role of COO, where he was responsible for building and running the global acquiring and processing service.

As the Business Development lead at Silverflow, Robert is responsible for maintaining relationships with the card schemes, acquirers, PSPs and regulators.  

  • Digital Payments
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

26 September 2025

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Join 3,000+ industry decision makers and influencers at Smart Retail Tech Show for your opportunity to gain the tools to stay ahead in a competitive market

If you’re in retail and looking to stay ahead in a fast-changing market, the Smart Retail Tech Expo is a must-attend event. With thousands of industry professionals, the show is a hub for innovation, showcasing the latest technologies to enhance the customer journey, streamline operations, and drive growth. Whether it’s improving operations, enhancing safety, enabling contactless payments, or elevating the customer experience, it’s all on the show floor.

Regardless if you’re an independent retailer or part of a global chain, this is your chance to explore cutting-edge solutions!

Why Attend Smart Retail Tech Expo?

With only pre-qualified decision-makers and key influencers in attendance, it’s the perfect place to network, learn, and invest in the future of retail.

Visitors include Key Decision-Makers: CTO | Director of Retail Experience | Digital Transformation Director | Director of Innovation | Head of Customer Experience | Head of Digital & E-commerce

  • 3,200 visitors in attendance
  • 86% have purchasing authority
  • 76% are looking to source new products & services
  • 95% are senior management or above

Smart Retail Tech Expo is where retail innovation happens! Small business or global, discover cutting-edge solutions and in one place and shape retail’s future.

“Thanks @smartretailexpo! Packed with innovation, connected with lots of great problem solving startups doing amazing work in the space!”

Daniel Himsworth, Marks & Spencer

Keynote speakers include experts from e-commerce, retail, and tech backgrounds, alongside many more. They will be sharing insights from their personal journey and future-proofed strategies on customer engagement, globalising your business, social media commerce, and lots more. Come and hear from the industry’s biggest voices and learn about how to keep ahead in the white and private-label sector. Keynote speakers include expert insights from Pinterest, Tik Tok, Uber Eats, Alibaba and many more…

Register now for free tickets and gain insider knowledge… Beyond networking, Smart Retail Tech Expo offers expert-led sessions and insights into emerging trends, sourcing strategies, and retail technology—giving you the tools to stay ahead in a competitive market.

  • Event Newsroom
  • Events

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

4 August 2025

Estimated Read time

8Mins

Read in brochure format

FinTech Strategy met with Standard Chartered’s Head of Digital Assets – Financing & Securities Services, Waqar Chaudry, at Money20/20 Europe to discuss how the bank is connecting traditional with digital, collaborating with FinTechs directly and via SC Ventures, and taking a measured approach to entering the crypto market

Money20/20 Europe Exclusive

There is a buzz in the air at Money20/20 Europe. Waqar Chaudry, Head of Digital Assets – Financing & Securities Services at Standard Chartered, has just spoken on Mastercard’s Horizon Stage about the great digital assets opportunity. We meet up with him at his bank’s stand in the heart of the action at the Amsterdam RAI Arena.

Waqar works in custody to secure digital assets at Standard Chartered. It also has a fund accounting business and offers transfer agent services. “The financing in the Financing & Securities Services elements are in our FX Prime offering,” he explains. “At the moment my sole focus is on crypto custody, tokenisation and building an ecosystem around those products.”

The Rise of Digital Assets

It’s an exciting time for Standard Chartered with crypto custody and the rise of stablecoins and tokenisation… Whether the asset is Bitcoin, a tokenised money market, or anything tokenisable, there have been a lot of conversations with the bank’s partners in terms of the technology quest.

“Most of the conversations historically have been led by the fact that technology does give you the capability to do 24/7 trading and settlement. Risk management from the technology side is much better. The blockchain dream is sold to everyone, which remains true,” notes Waqar. “The issue has been that on the business side, tackling the areas that actually can work with this technology. You have your near instant settlement availability on blockchains. On the other side you have a T+1 or T+3 cash settlement time – that doesn’t gel very well.

“Entrenched in the day-to-day business of these really large institutions is to be able to inject a new piece of technology. And then suddenly say, hey, all these things are solved. For all the inefficiencies in the system it doesn’t work that quickly. We’re actually taking one step at a time. That’s why it’s exciting that we can see in five or ten years from now what the world will look like. Basically, in our vernacular that means we have near instant settlements and near instant international transfer of value. So, that’s the kind of stuff that we are really interested in for the future.”

Meeting the Blockchain Challenge

Waqar explains that when something like a blockchain comes into a traditional bank, and especially blockchains like the ones that support an asset like Bitcoin, you don’t know who the counterparties are (which are clear on the SWIFT network).

“You have to build capability from a technology side, operations side, risk management side,” he continues. “You need to develop the governance of all those functions to be able to get the value of the asset in the ecosystem. And then be able to add value to that to transact on it. We don’t yet have those ingredients, so it becomes very challenging for us to accept the assets. A lot of the work that the bank has done over the past five years has been around embedding those elements into our day-to-day operations. It’s about understanding the risk profile of the coins and understanding the risk profile of the blockchains.”

Waqar’s team works on how to protect the ecosystem from risks from both an AML and KYC point of view. “We’re also making sure that by doing that we don’t create such a burden to the client that the service becomes useless,” he adds. “We’re trying to balance that out and that’s where the challenges lie at the moment. The next stage is to also be able to integrate all of our traditional cash and assets rails into this. And that’s where the next level of risks will come in… Where people are not used to seeing things on the blockchain… They are used to seeing things on the SWIFT network or a CSD. But when the blockchains come in, profiles will change and that’s where we have to meet the challenges.”

Traditional Meets Digital

For an asset manager with a variety of equities and bonds, but keen to start in crypto and other digital assets, the rails are very different… “The liquidity venues and the way you settle the instrument are very different. And they don’t naturally talk to each other,” confirms Waqar. “It’s a big challenge. But to be able to go with the provider that has all the capabilities, which includes the cash side, the asset side, the crypto side and the blockchain side, is something people are looking for now. Without having the end-to-end picture, it would be very difficult for our clients to have an equitable strategy for their clients. We need to be able to service them appropriately based on the rails they operate in.”

For Standard Chartered’s clients it’s increasingly important for payments to facilitate activity on-chain regardless of the use case of digital assets. “There is a key challenge with payments at the moment. If you do transfer value across geographies or between B2B and B2C, what do you do with that value afterwards?” asks Waqar.

“Are you going to keep it on the books for your treasury or account purposes or are you going to find a way to liquidate the position to pay your employees or pay your service provider? Without the capability to store the asset appropriately and then convert it into a usable form, you can’t do much with it. The only thing you can do is actually transfer value. So, for us what’s important in payments is that we get the transfer value happening immediately. Or as quickly as possible. And then also connect our payment infrastructure and the banking behind. We aim to support the transfer of value from a digital asset into an actual cash asset.”

Building on Success

Standard Chartered’s work with OKX in Dubai has spurred demand the bank didn’t expect. “The key ingredient is that a really large crypto exchange has come together with a really large bank,” reasons Waqar. “When you combine the product features of a large bank like ours with the liquidity of OKX it creates a unique proposition in the market. The traditional players have started to show interest in that because now they can buy diverse assets, pledge them as collateral and start trading while the assets remain safe in a genuine large institutional bank. And at the same time, they also have access to a highly regarded institutional exchange. That story is for us quite important and we’re fostering these relationships more and more…”

It’s been a real success story for Standard Chartered on the money market fund side which is also connected to what the bank is doing on the collateral side. “Money market funds are used to gain value and have an asset that does generate yield on the one side, but also the capability to use the asset as collateral is important,” adds Waqar.

“The money market fund that we launched for China Asset Management in Hong Kong, albeit it’s a retail use case for a start, but then the ambitions are big. The next thing is how do we start using that same asset for pledging for trading purposes and then how do we inject that into a portfolio basket of assets that people buy? At Standard Chartered, we aim to create a supermarket of tokens in a centralised ecosystem. So, our collateral story and the tokenised money market funds is connected, and we want to continue building around it. We’re thinking about other assets now too… We’re looking at equities, bonds and enabling more cryptocurrencies in the same ecosystem as well. It’s just the start of all the things we need to build in the future.”

Why Money20/20?

“This is my first time coming to Money20/20 Europe. Digital asset companies are here alongside financial services and related FinTechs. It’s great that they’re able to talk to each other and it’s quite evident there are lots of great meetings happening. There are many companies here we are either supporting or we’re working with. We’ve also had meetings with UK government representatives geared to attracting talent into the country. They’re trying to make sure that their FinTech ecosystem grows quite significantly for us in the UK and for other footprint markets in Asia; Middle East and Africa are also quite important in how we do that and continue to grow.”

The Evolution of Collaboration between Banks and FinTechs

Standard Chartered is also working in harmony with its ventures partner SC Ventures. The bank is working closely with Libeara for tokenisation and with Zodia Custody as Saas. “Our core institutional bank and our Ventures business are quite tightly coupled from that point of view,” says Waqar. “And it’s quite obvious that the reason for that is how we’ve made significant investments into them. We’ve given part of our DNA into this ecosystem and now, at the bank, they’re building the ecosystem around these capabilities, so we’re keen to bring them in and use their solutions for our services as well.”

Standard Chartered may be a traditional bank but it is a seasoned collaborator with innovative FinTechs. “They need traditional services too,” reasons Waqar. “Once they get to a critical mass, a FinTech may not have the bandwidth to manage certain client sizes. By partnering with some of the FinTechs, we’re seeing that once a certain size of a client comes in, they prefer to work with a large institution like ours. So, that partnership is proactively managed as well from our side. From our ventures side, bringing their innovative approach to product development and technology into the bank, building the ecosystem around risk management and governance from the bank side and then connecting into the FinTechs outside of that ecosystem is something I think is quite an interesting proposition for us. We’re going to keep building on top of that.”

Standard Chartered – Financing & Securities Services

Promoting your future in global securities

We’re ready to help you flourish in emerging and frontier securities services markets

In today’s fast-moving markets, especially  across Asia, Africa and Middle East, success isn’t just about the solutions you choose – it’s about the partnerships you build.

Standard Chartered has been committed to these regions for decades. We understand both the promise and challenges. That’s why we go beyond delivering end-to-end custody, fund, and fiduciary  solutions – we actively help shape the markets themselves.

By working with local governments and industry associations, we bring you early insights and access to new opportunities. Partnering with leading asset managers, fintechs, and infrastructure providers, we connect you to the best of the industry, via a single partner. Because in a world of complexity, collaboration is your greatest advantage.

Learn more at sc.com/en/corporate-investment-banking/financial-markets/financing-and-securities-services/

  • Blockchain & Crypto
  • Events
  • Together in Events

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

9 July 2025

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Solidarités International goes live with FinScan to strengthen AML compliance in global humanitarian operations

Solidarités International, a French-based humanitarian aid organisation, has gone live with FinScan. The Innovative Systems solution comes from a leading provider of advanced anti-money laundering (AML) compliance solutions. This will enhance screening processes across its global operations in a cloud-based environment.

As a nonprofit committed to providing life-saving assistance in areas affected by conflict and natural disasters, Solidarités International faces increasing regulatory expectations from public donors. These include the United Nations, the US Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA), and European funding bodies. These expectations include rigorous AML screening of suppliers, staff, and local partners to ensure accountability and transparency.

FinScan for AML

Solidarités International’s decision to adopt FinScan followed a thorough selection process involving external advisors and peer recommendations from within the NGO community. Criteria such as workflow flexibility, user delegation, audit history, and alignment with data privacy standards were central to the evaluation. FinScan is now fully operational at Solidarités International’s headquarters.

“With FinScan, we’re able to delegate screening responsibilities across field missions while maintaining centralised oversight and data privacy. The responsiveness of the FinScan team and the tool’s intuitiveness and configurability have been key positives,” said Pierre DeSoil, IT Project Lead at Solidarités International. “Our users picked up the system quickly and are more confident with the process.”

Designed to support complex compliance needs, FinScan helps organisations like Solidarités International meet donor due diligence requirements. It does this through customisable workflows, robust matching algorithms, and scalable deployment.

“We’re proud to support the mission of Solidarités International with a powerful, cloud-based AML solution that helps protect humanitarian aid from financial crime risk,” said Steve Maul, Chief Customer Officer at Innovative Systems. “Their dedication to both compliance and the communities they serve exemplifies how technology and purpose can align.”

About Solidarités International

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Clichy, France, Solidarités International provides urgent humanitarian aid in conflict zones and disaster-stricken areas. Its core mission is to meet the vital needs of vulnerable populations—providing water, food, and shelter in life-threatening conditions. Learn more at https://www.solidarites.org/en/.

About FinScan

Trusted by hundreds of organisations worldwide, Innovative Systems, Inc.’s FinScan® offers advanced Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance technology and consulting solutions. Built on decades of experience in data management and proprietary matching technologies, FinScan provides a data-first, risk-based approach to ensure unparalleled accuracy and efficiency in identifying and reducing risk, accelerating AML compliance workflows, and optimising team productivity. FinScan’s comprehensive, integrated platform includes Know Your Customer (KYC), unparalleled sanctions screening, risk scoring, data quality, and advisory services for implementing a holistic compliance program. FinScan offers flexible deployment including SaaS, on-premise, and hybrid options. FinScan’s SaaS clients are screening more than 300 billion names a year. Learn more at www.finscan.com and follow us on LinkedIn.  

  • Cybersecurity in FinTech

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

16 May 2025

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Join 25,000 attendees for Seamless FinTech, the Middle East’s biggest FinTech event, at the Dubai World Trade Centre May 20-22

FinTech Strategy is proud to be a media partner for Seamless FinTech 2025.

Register for your free event pass here.

Why attend Seamless FinTech?

Welcome to the Middle East’s biggest fintech event for 25 years. Seamless Fintech brings together big tech, government, banks, financial institutions, fintechs, investors, and media. Perfect for anyone passionate about the Middle East’s fintech and payments landscape. This event allows you to explore the fast-evolving ecosystem and engage with top industry players and innovators. And visit the Identity Showcase to discover cutting-edge solutions.

“If I wanted to take a pulse of the vibrancy of the region, then look around at Seamless. The amount of interest and intent people are showing in us and FinTech in the region is very visible at Seamless Middle East.”

Managing Director, Amazon Payments Service

Furthermore, whether you’re presenting your latest payment innovations or showcasing impactful demos, this is your opportunity to foster connections and accelerate business growth. Join 25,000 attendees and 800 exhibitors gaining insights from a stellar line up of 750+ expert speakers from the likes of Revolut, J.P. Morgan, Monzo, Citi and more.

Seamless Digital Commerce

Seamless Fintech will be co-located with Seamless Digital Commerce. This event caters to payments companies seeking to connect with merchants, SMEs, retailers, and e-commerce platforms. The event offers valuable insights into revolutionising in-store experiences, optimising e-commerce strategies, and mastering digital marketing techniques. It provides unmatched opportunities for growth and collaboration in the digital commerce space.

This event is perfect for those looking to forge new partnerships, gain valuable insights from industry trailblazers and drive innovation to stay ahead in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Moreover, whether you’re a startup, an established player, or an SME, Seamless Digital Commerce is designed to push the industry forward.

Register for your free event pass here.

  • Artificial Intelligence in FinTech
  • Digital Payments
  • Event Newsroom
  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

7 May 2025

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Sprout, the creator of a smarter mortgage payment platform to drive financial freedom, has been named the winner of of…

Sprout, the creator of a smarter mortgage payment platform to drive financial freedom, has been named the winner of of Pitch360 at Level39 during UK FinTech Week.

Sprout’s Co-Founder, Asis Tewari, thanked the judges and organisers for running an inspiring session and offered praise for fellow finalists. “It was a privilege to pitch alongside such passionate and innovative founders. We learned a lot… Thank you also to London Business School and Jeff Skinner for helping validate our journey, and to Sir Andrew Likierman for giving us the confidence to kick off. And for introducing us to Professor Joao F. Cocco and his white paper on Portfolio Choice in the Presence of Housing.”

Sprout

Sprout empowers homeowners to build lasting wealth by making smarter mortgage decisions. With AI-driven insights, smart automation, and a user-friendly interface, it can simplify homeownership – aligning your mortgage with long-term financial goals and future flexibility.

Tewari was inspired to launch Sprout after a dinner with Anil Agarwal, billionaire industrialist and Chairman of Vedanta… “He told me: The only way to build real wealth is through investing in markets — and every generation needs to start as early as possible.”

Why Use Sprout?

  • Do you know the true return of your property? Sprout tracks the real costs and value of your property to give an accurate return.
  • Are your mortgage repayments really building wealth? Sprout makes it simple to allocate your payment wisely, giving you the ability to pay down your mortgage smarter.
  • Is your money working hard for you? Sprout gives you exclusive access to best-in-class funds.

Pitch360

Innovate Finance’s flagship pitching competition, Pitch360, is taking place across the UK in 2025. There are six regional pitch events across a 12-month campaign, featuring live events in the North, South West, Midlands, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. Pitch360 shines a spotlight on the best FinTech talent and emerging technologies the UK has to offer. It’s aim is to showcase how FinTech innovation can help drive the growth agenda and transform financial services.

Find out about future events, and apply to pitch, here.

About Innovate Finance

Innovate Finance is the independent industry body for UK FinTech. It’s mission is to accelerate the UK’s leading role in the financial services sector. It does this by directly supporting the next generation of technology-led innovators to create a more inclusive, more democratic and more effective financial services sector that works better for everyone.

  • Embedded Finance
  • Neobanking

Author

Husnain Bajwa

Published

30 April 2025

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Husnain Bajwa, SVP Product – Risk Solutions at SEON, on KYC detection and verification to combat fraud in financial services

Many fraudsters today are no longer just criminals – they’re technologists wielding powerful artificial intelligence (AI) as their primary weapon. As fraud techniques evolve, businesses are becoming increasingly vulnerable to sophisticated adversaries. With the rising wave of AI-powered fraud, traditional fraud prevention methods, which heavily emphasise Know-Your-Customer (KYC) processes, are struggling to keep pace.

Fraudsters have learned to exploit the inherent delays in standard KYC processes. They use AI to generate synthetic identities and automate infiltration techniques at an unprecedented scale. By the time most verification processes kick in, significant resources have already been spent, and potential damage has been incurred. To gain the upper hand, companies must move beyond isolated identity checks and adopt a more integrated approach. This combines pre-KYC detection with advanced KYC verification. A dual-layered defence system that’s both proactive and agile enough to adapt to the evolving threat landscape.

Introducing Pre-KYC fraud detection

Since KYC processes are essential for businesses to meet regulatory requirements and maintain compliance, the solution isn’t to abandon KYC but to transform it. Organisations must adopt a pre-KYC detection layer that detects fraud before it reaches verification processes.

What does this look like in practice? It starts by analysing a user’s digital footprint. This includes key data points, such as the age of an email address, phone number history, IP address patterns and social media activity. These indicators help assess the authenticity of a user’s identity. For example, a newly created email or an IP address associated with a known VPN service can be red flags, signalling possible fraudulent intentions and enabling businesses to proactively intervene before harm occurs.

Device intelligence further strengthens the initial stages of pre-KYC user verification. This technology detects discrepancies in device integrity, such as emulators, proxies or device spoofing techniques. These are common tactics fraudsters employ to conceal their true identities. Advanced device fingerprinting tools are critical in identifying when a device’s profile does not match its user’s provided details or shows unusual behaviour, adding an extra layer of security.

Adding to this framework, behavioural analytics play a pivotal role by monitoring how users interact with platforms. Analysing navigation patterns, session durations and behaviours during account setup can expose irregularities that suggest fraudulent activities. Indicators such as repetitive account creation attempts with varied data points or abnormally quick typing and navigation speeds often point to bot-driven fraud. This provides businesses with opportunities to intervene early in the user engagement process.

Combining Pre-KYC Technology with traditional methods

While pre-KYC tools can identify potential threats early, KYC verification remains essential for ensuring that the users who pass initial screening are legitimate. Once a user reaches this stage, robust identity verification methods must be in place to confirm the authenticity of the individual’s information.

Modern KYC processes must combine several features: document verification, biometric checks and address verification. The first, document verification, involves using optical character recognition (OCR) and machine learning to scan government-issued IDs and detect forgeries in real time. Additional security in this realm can be attained via facial comparisons – matching a user’s selfie with the photo on their ID – to ensure that the person behind the camera is the same as the one in the presented documentation.

Next, advanced liveness detection aids in combating both deepfake technology and image-based fraud – two fraud vectors on the rise. By requiring users to perform specific actions or gestures during verification processes, liveness detection ensures that fraudsters can’t simply upload a static image or video to impersonate someone. Lastly, address verification provides further protection, confirming a user’s address against authoritative databases or recent utility bills. These checks are crucial for businesses in regulated industries, where proof of residency is often a compliance requirement.

The growing threat of AI-powered fraud

Now that fraudsters can access AI tools, the fraud game has entirely changed. Bad actors can generate synthetic identities, manipulate biometric data and even create deepfake videos to pass KYC processes. Additionally, AI enables fraudsters to test security systems at scale, quickly iterating and adapting methods based on system responses.

In light of these new threats, businesses need dynamic solutions that can learn and evolve in real time. Ironically, the same technology serving sophisticated fraud can be our most potent defence. Using AI to enhance both pre-KYC and KYC processes delivers the capability to identify complex fraud patterns, adapting faster than human-driven systems ever could. These AI-powered tools don’t just detect fraud – they predict and prevent it by continuously learning from each attempted breach.

At the pre-KYC stage, machine learning (ML) algorithms can identify patterns and anomalies across vast amounts of user data, providing more accurate and faster risk assessments. As fraudsters evolve, these systems can recognise emerging fraud patterns, preventing bad actors from bypassing security.

Similarly, AI-driven verification methods can detect increasingly sophisticated forgeries and manipulations in the KYC phase. At the same time, adaptive authentication systems can increase or decrease the level of verification required based on the user’s risk profile. This flexibility strengthens security and enhances the user experience by reducing friction for legitimate users.

The stakes are set to climb

The battle against AI-empowered fraud isn’t just about preventing financial losses. It’s about maintaining customer trust in an increasingly sceptical digital marketplace. Every fraudulent transaction erodes confidence, and that’s a cost too high to bear in today’s competitive landscape.

Businesses that take a multi-layered approach, integrating pre-KYC and KYC processes in a unified fraud prevention strategy, can stake one step ahead of fraudsters. The key is ensuring that fraud prevention tools – data-rich, AI-driven and flexible – are as adaptive as the threats they are designed to stop. The future of fraud prevention isn’t about building higher walls; it’s about creating smarter, more adaptive and intelligent systems to anticipate and neutralise threats before they materialise.

  • Cybersecurity in FinTech

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

23 April 2025

Estimated Read time

7Mins

Sofia Kyriakopoulou, Chief Data & Analytics Officer at SCOR on how GenAI is driving InsurTech innovation at leading reinsurer SCOR

Sofia Kyriakopoulou, a Fintech Strategy AI Champion and Group Chief Data & Analytics Officer at SCOR, spoke at InsurTech Insights revealing how GenAI innovation at one of the world’s largest reinsurers is transcending the realm of proof of concepts to become fully productive…

SCOR is as a tier one reinsurer – adaptable and business oriented. We are nimble, deeply technical and very focused on where and when we can play. We have an ambition to grow with our clients and see AI as the differentiator to allow us to innovate, offer new services, and to increase insurability. At SCOR, AI is not the future ambition. It’s here and now in InsurTech.

Delivering business value at scale with AI

In my role as SCOR’s Group Chief Data Analytics Officer I don’t just oversee data and AI initiatives, I aim to ensure they deliver business value at scale. Doing an AI proof of concept is relatively easy. Getting this into the hands of the user, that’s hard. And that’s what we strive to do at SCOR today. I want to give to you a glimpse of our approach and to share with you how we’re building the insurer of the future.

Since GenAI came into our lives in May 2022 we have all been following the frenzy of its unprecedented rise. It has the potential to change the way we work. And there are very few places where this potential is more relevant than insurance. We have ample data that has never been touched by digitalisation… The submissions, the contracts, the statements of accounts and so on. All of us who have been in data science who have tried the traditional models, we have seen the pain. The annotations, the laborious testing validation. And finally, if we could get it to work, it would’ve been so hard to scale it throughout the lines of business from the markets. Then came GenAI. And by now, many of us have figured out what it can do and what we would like to achieve with it.

GenAI can summarise what treaties look like across their addendums in agreements. And it can do more… Take out pieces of information and fill in my template, fill up my IT system, fill up my database. In the end, it’s not about what the technology does, it’s about what we do with it. And at the core we are focusing the opportunities in two places. Number one, the processes where it could create massive efficiencies. Number two, the new data points that could augment our analytics. And once we combine that with deep industry expertise, we believe that’s when we can go beyond pure automation.

Data in the DNA

At SCOR data is in our DNA. We’re a very technical company full of high calibre individuals and we’re growing. We see AI as a differentiator to be able to do more with the most precious piece of capital that we have – our people. So, we are embedding APIs where we believe it matters most. First of all, with our workforce. AI-powered tools are a commodity, but they’re essential. We are equipping our personnel with secure access to third party tools – essential to increase their effectiveness and efficiency. That’s where the value starts to arise – the processes. Identifying those document intensive processes where adding AI could significantly expedite them. Getting the data points for analytics that could make our decisions faster and more efficient. And that’s where it becomes really interesting, as we contemplate the jewels of the crown that we could be building.

AI-Powered InsurTech Underwriting

We believe differentiation comes from AI-powered underwriting and claims solutions. Through SCOR’s digital solutions, we’re coupling our internal knowhow with AI models to create an advantage for us as we use them internally and for our clients. We want to make the AI-powered underwriting process real when an application or submission comes in and triggers the engine to go straight to process. A certain percentage of cases work like that. Currently, if an underwriting repairer is needed the human looks at that. If we don’t have sufficient evidence that will need to be attained for the process to be reviewed again. Then we can decide what’s wrong with it. There are issues we can overcome… Number one – always back and forth with delays. Number two is human judgment – humans are not very consistent. And number three – we’re missing all the insights that we could have brought in from the past evidence. So, could we do better? Yes, we could add AI on all those human steps and augment them. We could do that. But could we look at it differently?

Could we think of this not sequentially, but at once, synthesising all the necessary data points when they’re needed. Looking at it again, we take evidence, we apply AI, we are structuring essential elements out, we’re triggering the underwriting rule engine, and then we’re adding any further information we have available that could support the decision making. Finally, we’re recommending to the underwriter what they should do. And to signify that this is supporting the underwriter, it’s an underwriting system and the small automation that could happen upstream. This is exactly what we’re currently using internally to augment life and health to support our underwriters.

SCOR’s AI Assistant

Our AI-powered underwriting capability is something we can provide to our clients through SCOR’s digital solution; we call it the AI Assistant. And here’s what it does in practice. When applications come in, we select the chain of thought that we’ll apply. For example, we ask it to think like a medical underwriter. It then extracts the essential pieces from the medical reports, joint records and vital family history. And then it creates a digital twin – the standardised pieces of information that the underwriters believe are the essential data points.

We store them and then we go deeper. We are putting the human in the loop so that humans can validate the actual sources of information. And then we complete the decision making. For example, the AI Assistant could detect an impairment and suggest the next course of action. This signifies the direction of sale. That’s the gold standard that we want to strive for.

Scaling AI with InsurTech

We don’t stop at experimentation. Data scientists like me, we love the tip of the iceberg. That’s where it’s exciting, and you can push to get the proof of concept to work. But in fact, under the water lies the very hard work one has to do… The building up of a data foundation; putting all the essential data assets together at the level of data quality that we can trust; establishing the necessary governance and then developing the IT platform in an equally robust way so it can scale. The proof of concept is not just an experiment.

We must plug in the actual IT landscape, the InsurTech tools where the AI is going to be consumed. And then you can go deeper and link the processes with the humans… In order to positively disrupt the process and keep the human in the loop they must be part of the journey from day one. We must educate our teams, demystify what AI is and isn’t. We must listen to their reactions because they’re the ones we will rely on to elevate the model performance.

Meeting the gold standard with InsurTech

Effective change management is for me, the essential element to allow us to go end-to-end. With insurance, and reinsurance, I believe we have come a long way. From the underwriting manuals to the rule engines, to the first AI models, probably now to the first cracking of the notorious submissions… It has been such a journey transforming both technology and the way we work. The shift, however, is beyond technology. It’s about how we operate, how we innovate, and how we create value for us and for our clients. Today, thanks to our ability to be nimble and technical at SCOR, we are in a position to connect all of the new capabilities of this value chain into what is an end-to-end comprehensive risk view. And for me, that’s the gold standard for InsurTech and what we are striving for with this AI revolution.

  • InsurTech

Author

Amelia Lowe

Published

18 October 2024

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Amelia Lowe, Vice President of Operations at SquareTrade, on the potential for AI to revolutionise InsurTech

We have all witnessed the growth of AI in the past year. It’s quickly becoming an innate part of how we work. In the UK alone, the number of AI registered companies has increased by over 600% in under a decade. While the size of the AI market is expected to grow to over £800 billion by 2035. AI holds the power to radically reshape the way we live, learn, and conduct business. It can unlock possibilities we once only imagined. In the past two years, we’ve witnessed this transformational potential come to life. It’s driving innovation and redefining industries at an unprecedented pace.

We stand on the brink of a new era. AI is poised to become an integral force that not only enhances our daily lives but also paves the way for a more effective way of doing business and connecting with customers. AI holds the key to supercharging the customer experience, by creating seamless, intelligent customer journeys. So how do we do it?

In today’s highly competitive world, great customer service is essential. Customers do not want to feel like just another number. They want their individual needs to be recognised and addressed with personalised responses.

At SquareTrade, we aim to engage with our customers in ways that feel authentic and personal, even when they are engaging with AI. Our objective is to deliver a level of personalised interaction that was once thought of as unattainable with automated systems. Furthermore, ensuring every customer feels appreciated and understood in each exchange.

Enhancing customer experiences with AI for seamless, intelligent journeys

At the core of any customer relationship is the confidence that issues will be resolved quickly and effectively. Your team, and the people behind your company, play a pivotal role in delivering that trust across all customer touchpoints.

When integrating AI into a business, it is essential to align the technology with the company’s core objectives. For us, the focus has been on driving innovation and streamlining processes while ensuring customer service remains uncompromised. Our goal is to ensure, no matter how AI is implemented, the customer experience feels personal and authentic. Even with automated systems, we want to provide a level of personalised interaction that was once unimaginable. We see AI as an extension of our team. In light of that we apply the same values and principles to those we apply to our team, which focus on trust, transparency and respect.

Have you met Sally?

We now live in a world where AI tools and customer experience must work in harmony. According to Statista, 73% of consumers believe AI can enhance customer experience, with 80% reporting positive interactions with AI so far. Clearly, AI has reached a point where customers can appreciate its benefits during their times of need. It can seamlessly recognise and addresses issues productively.

When businesses explore integrating AI solutions, it’s crucial to align them with their unique standards, customer service approach, and company culture. No two AI solutions are alike. For us, it was vital that any AI implementation seamlessly complemented our existing operations. A key example of how we’ve achieved this is through the introduction of Sally, our AI chatbot. Sally provides one of the quickest and most efficient ways for customers to engage with us when visiting our website. This enhances the user experience while staying true to our service values.

We are already witnessing the benefits of introducing Sally. She consistently achieves high success rates in resolving customer incidents autonomously. By deploying her in a strategic and targeted manner, we can reserve human interactions for more complex queries and claims.

AI Training for Operational Excellence

AI’s potential goes beyond customer interactions. It is increasingly being leveraged for training and education within organisations. In an industry like insurance, where no two claims are the same, InsurTech companies need training systems that prepare team members to adapt to a wide variety of scenarios.

Given that individuals learn in diverse ways and at varying speeds, the ability to create personalised learning experiences is immensely valuable. We see AI training tools as the equivalent of providing each employee with a personal tutor. Moreover, one that can adapt to their unique strengths, challenges, and learning styles.

And the learning doesn’t stop when the training does. AI-powered platforms can now continuously assess performance in real-time. If an employee is struggling in a particular area, the AI can automatically adjust the learning program to address those needs. This ensures ongoing growth and development tailored to each individual.

Fraud Detection

AI is poised to revolutionise fraud detection and prevention. It is becoming an invaluable asset to the teams that monitor for suspicious activity. In the insurance industry, AI can be deployed at multiple levels to enhance fraud detection. For example, through intelligent automation that swiftly analyses large datasets and flags potentially fraudulent claims for further investigation. This can save valuable time and resources.

AI can also enable the creation of predictive models that forecast fraud based on historical data and emerging trends. This helps insurance players to stay one step ahead of evolving threats. These models improve risk assessment accuracy by reducing false positives and allowing us to focus more effectively on genuine risks.

Looking ahead, the potential for AI in fraud detection is immense. AI is breaking new ground in areas where traditional rule-based systems fall short. Its ability to process vast amounts of data in real time, identify patterns and anomalies that would be nearly impossible to detect manually, makes it a game-changer in tackling complex problems.

Embracing AI Advancements

AI has the potential to revolutionise countless industries, but its impact is particularly profound in InsurTech. Given the critical role insurance plays in people’s lives, the opportunities for innovation and improvement are vast.

As an industry, it’s essential we recognise AI’s ability to transform customer experiences. As early adopters, we have witnessed its potential firsthand. We will continue to leverage these advancements to enhance personalised and automated processes. We can bridge language barriers, and create new methods of interaction.

However, our focus must always be on finding the right balance. Identifying where these solutions can deliver the greatest impact in serving customer needs quickly and effectively. Moreover, also ensuring that we retain the opportunity for human connection whenever it is needed. As well as ensuring compliance and security are a core part of how we think about implementing solutions to enhance business operations.

  • InsurTech

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

25 July 2024

Estimated Read time

3Mins

Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), has announced an expansion…

Sage, the leader in accounting, financial, HR, and payroll technology for small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), has announced an expansion of its partnership with a leading neobank. What’s more, Stripe offers a financial infrastructure platform for businesses, to help improve cashflow management and payment processing for SMBs. The partnership is key to helping businesses to move money easier and faster

Sage partners with neobank Stripe

Stripe is trusted by millions of businesses around the world, ranging from startups to enterprises. The partnership with Stripe provides Sage customers with more options to pay and get paid quickly. Additionally, leveraging Stripe’s financial infrastructure, Sage will offer its customers a trusted solution to help ease cashflow and simplify financial processes. From streamlined checkout and payment processing, to Tap to Pay contactless payments, and auto-reconciling bank transfers.

Also, in partnership with Stripe, Sage intends to expand its payments ecosystem. Therefore, ensuring that a growing number of its customers have access to services that will help them to manage their cashflow.

“This partnership signifies a shared vision between Sage and Stripe. To transform how SMBs pay and get paid, helping our customers to simplify cashflow management,” said Walid Abu-Hadba, Chief Product Officer, Sage. “Furthermore, we are committed to harnessing the power of technology to drive innovation, enhance efficiency, and pave the way for growth.” 

Addressing cashflow problems

Supporting customers globally, Stripe’s integration into Sage is currently available in the UK through Sage Accounting, Sage 50 and Sage 200. Also, Stripe is fully integrated into Sage Network, enabling customers to easily plug into the broader Sage ecosystem. Moreover, they can choose additional applications and features such as Sage Connect, automating AR and AP processes to help manage their cashflow and payments.

The expansion of the partnership will see customers benefits including:

Streamlined checkout and payment processing: SMBs with cash trapped in outstanding invoices can make it easier for customers to review their accounts. They can pay with Sage Connect’s customer account portal and Stripe Checkout.

Multiple payment methods: Accept payments from customers through different methods including digital wallets, cards and bank transfers. Additionally, Stripe uses machine learning to surface the most relevant payment methods for customers depending on their location.

Unified payments experience: Collect payments online and in person through Tap-to-Pay, for seamless, in-person, contactless payments No terminal hardware required.

A safe and secure payment experience: Leveraging Stripe’s advanced security protocols and compliance with global financial regulations. Customers can be assured transactions are protected against fraud and data breaches. Providing peace of mind for both businesses and their clients.

Auto-reconciling bank transfers: Saving time with automatic reconciliation. Finally, bank transfers enable customers to pay invoices via bank transfer, streamlining the payment and reconciliation process.

“Sage understands the importance of innovating for its customers. We’re thrilled to be part of its journey,” said Eileen O’Mara, Chief Revenue Officer at Stripe. “Stripe is building a suite of software-defined financial services. Ultimately, we can enable leading platforms like Sage to provide integrated features that make their customers’ lives easier.”

Lastly, this partnership adds to the broad range of payments and banking partners within Sage’s ecosystem.

  • Neobanking

Author

Dan Brightmore

Published

10 July 2024

Estimated Read time

8Mins

FinTech Strategy met with Gurdeep Singh Kohli, one of SC Ventures’ founding partners, to find out more about its focus on investment, innovation, and venture building

SC Ventures is a business unit of Standard Chartered Bank that focuses on investment, innovation, and venture building. Unlike other corporate venture capital unts (CVC), SC Ventures not only invests in fintechs but also builds its own independent ventures. The unit has three main objectives… To rewire the DNA of banking, to invest in fintechs that have a strategic fit with the bank, and to drive a culture of innovation across the bank’s employees.

SC Ventures has launched several successful ventures in areas such as Digital Assets, Online Economy & Lifestyle, Sustainability & Inclusion and SMEs & World Trade. The unit embraces challenges in terms of governance, talent, and scaling the ventures. In terms of future trends, SC Ventures is interested in exploring the application of AI and the potential of the metaverse in commerce and education.

During Money 20/20 Europe we met with Gurdeep Singh Kohli, one of SC Ventures’ founding members, to find out more…

Tell us about the genesis of SC Ventures?

“SC Ventures is the investment, innovation and venture building arm of Standard Chartered Bank. Our purpose, the vision statement, is to rewire the DNA in banking. A need that we are increasingly hearing from our clients. Importantly, SC Ventures is not like any other CVC unit you may come across in the corporates, or even banks. Most of them just have a CVC unit, which is an investment unit into fintechs. But what we have is also a venture building arm; it’s what differentiates SC ventures from many other CVCs.

Venture building is where we build our own businesses and these are set up as independent ventures. Going forward, many of them will actually have their own stand here at Money 20/20 as independent ventures. We are also a bit different from an investment perspective. Sc Ventures only invests in fintechs… We work with so many CVCs set up with a pure financial objective. However, SC Ventures only invests in a fintech that has proven itself with the bank or with one of our other ventures.

So, there needs to be a strategic fit first before we make an investment. Another of our objectives is to drive the culture of innovation across the 85,000 people we have at the bank. And as a part of that, we run an intrapreneurship programme where the bank can throw challenges for employees in the bank to participate and come up with ideas. We take them through training and then we put those ideas into production. We have been delivering against these three objectives – venture building, Fintech investment and intrapreneurship – since the inception of SC Ventures six years ago.”

Talk about your role at SC Ventures?

“I’m one of the founding members of SC Ventures with CEO Alex Manson right from day zero. Alex and I drafted the blueprint for SC Ventures which got endorsed in 2017. We set up in 2018 and I have played multiple roles over these last six years. Today, I’m an Operating Member and lead for Europe and the Americas. During the last six years I’ve set up the venture building practice where we started incubating a few ventures. The few have become quite a few! I’ve also played a part in developing our strategy and I’m now responsible for the intrapreneurship program. I also serve on the board of the ventures we launch and as an Operating Member, overseeing the performance of these ventures.”

What are some of the key challenges financial institutions are facing that you can help them with? What problems are they asking you to solve? In doing so, what are the challenges for SC Ventures?

“Our portfolio is spread across four high conviction themes: Digital Assets, Online Economy & Lifestyle, Sustainability & Inclusion and SMEs & World Trade. Venture building in itself is a challenge. It requires a venture building mindset to achieve progress in stages.

We created an alternate governance model to allow the decision making for venture building to be faster and more nimble. Meanwhile, we maintain institutional grade security from a risk, compliance and security mindset and are actually among the best in the market. This is something smaller fintech companies do not have. Another challenge we face is talent. It is very important to have these ventures led by people who also understand banking, not just tech. A combination of people from within and outside the bank is required to be successful. Obviously, the ability to scale is another key challenge as we look at the sales cycle for developing many of these capabilities.”

Tell us about some of SC’s successful ventures…

“Online Economy & Lifestyle has seen some of our biggest success stories with the digital bank Mox, which operates in Hong Kong. We have also built a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) business called Audax which is live and now opening up to new clients. And we are looking at some of the onboarding solutions in the UAE with a venture called Appro.

Within SMEs & World Trade, we took a different approach. We did not lead with financing, we led with commerce. Because the problem statement from the client was ‘help us grow and then you can give us financing’. Traditionally, the banks have led with financing, but the SMEs have told us they can manage financing and want us to help them grow so that financing follows. We’ve responded by building a B2B commerce platform for SMEs called Solv. It’s been very successful from a scale perspective in India; and we are entering other markets. We also have ventures like Olea and TASConnect, for supply chain management, and Olea which helps distribute trade assets to institutional investors. So, that’s the bridge which Olea is creating.

For Sustainability & Inclusion, SC Ventures is partnering with ENGIE Factory on a startup to bolster funding for conservation projects. The venture will leverage emerging technology to identify, evaluate and drive capital into critical conservation efforts worldwide.

Across Digital Assets, our biggest ventures are Zodia Custody and Zodia Markets, creating institutional grade capability for custodying cryptocurrencies and digital assets and for institutional trading.”

“The financial world moves on and the recent focus on crypto and payments has shifted to how AI can impact the future for financial services.

There is an element of what can we do in the field of metaverse. And there is an element of the application of metaverse for commerce and the application of it for learning. Another key theme is not AI in terms of tech but AI in terms of application which we are interested in. What we are doing now is creating a centre of excellence in SC Ventures for the bank. It will find out the use cases of AI within banking. We are already seeing examples of applying use cases of AI in compliance. So, we are working on a capability which can make the compliance or regulatory change management much easier by applying AI.

In my opinion, AI is at the stage where blockchain was a few years ago… You kept on hearing the word blockchain. But my simple brain said, ‘Blockchain is the tech, but tell me the application.’ I think AI is at that stage where people are leading with AI, but then AI will be replaced by the word, which is the application of it. And that is very natural for the evolution to happen. But I think everybody’s going to benefit.”

And what’s next for SC Ventures? What future launches and initiatives are you particularly excited about?

“We have also created an Innovation Bridge (currently known as the FinTech Bridge) which connects fintechs to the banks. I’m leading on this unique proposition which doesn’t exist anywhere else right now in the market. Initially this bridge was only for Standard Chartered, which is the bank calling out to the fintechs to find solutions to their problems. Now, we are opening up this bridge for other banks to pose challenges. So far, we have 4,000 fintechs registered on the bridge.”

Why Money20/20? What is it about this particular event that makes it the perfect place to showcase what you do? How has the response been to SC Ventures?

“It’s the first time I’ve attended Money 20/20, we’ve had some fascinating impromptu conversations that will lead to great opportunities. All the big names are here and it’s clearly a popular event from a thematic perspective – payments is a big theme this year. I have a very high regard for the quality of what’s on offer and the way the event has been organised. It’s a great customer experience, the way it’s all been structured, at scale, is actually one of the best I’ve ever seen.

The response has been fantastic… We’re now beginning to combine Standard Chartered’s access to the clients and also SC Ventures. We are working as one unit to transform the bank and the banking industry at the same time. It’s a unique combination that is getting people engaged and starting great conversations for future collaborations.”

  • Digital Payments
  • Together in Events

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

14 March 2024

Estimated Read time

5Mins

In this innovative partnership, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts as the two companies focus on taming tail-spend with an on-demand platform with embedded change management.

Businesses have been leaving money on the table for years. For most organisations, (indirect) tail spend flies under the radar because of the large number of lower-value transactions, a fragmented supply base, and a poor user experience. This results in process inefficiencies and lost savings opportunities that can be eight to 13 percent higher than with more competitive sourcing.

Simfoni and Kearney set out to solve this problem, joining forces on solutioning tail spend management. The partnership pairs Kearney’s rich heritage and expertise in procurement transformation and change management with Simfoni’s composable analytics and spend automation technology. The result is a comprehensive global delivery model that significantly improves tail spend management, which until now has been a major problem for large and smaller organisations alike.

“We started our journey over three years ago,” says Stefan Dent, co-founder of Simfoni. “It takes some time to form a bond. You get to know one another working together on client engagements and then you realise that the relationship is really working, so you double down on the commitment.”

Simfoni helps businesses “see spend differently” leveraging data analytics to gain a deep understanding of user needs across everyday ‘tail spend’. Founded in 2015, Simfoni is a leading provider of tail spend, spend analytics, and e-sourcing solutions for large and midsize businesses around the globe. Simfoni’s platform uses machine learning and AI to accelerate and automate tail spend management, saving time and money. Its solution quickly ingests and organises complex data to uncover opportunities to optimise tail to higher value spend. Simfoni emphasises rapid value delivery through on-demand spend automation solutions that are operational in weeks rather than months.

Remko de Bruijn, senior partner at Kearney

The Kearney–Simfoni partnership delivers a unique and powerful proposition, combining Simfoni’s digital tail spend solution with Kearney’s know-how and ability to launch a transformation and unlock the promised value, says Remko de Bruijn, a senior partner at Kearney. “There are many digital procurement solutions around, but frankly, many of them aren’t delivering the promised value, typically because of challenges with user adoption and change,” he says. “Kearney continuously assesses solutions in the market, with one of our other partners, ProcureTech, and together, we concluded that Simfoni is leading in tail spend. This is how we found each other.”

Kearney is a leading global strategy consulting firm founded in 1926, with more than 5,700 people working in more than 40 countries. The company works with more than three-quarters of the Fortune Global 500 as well as with the most influential governmental and nonprofit organisations. Kearney is a partner-owned firm with a distinctive, collegial culture that transcends organizational and geographic boundaries—and it shows. Regardless of location or rank, the firm’s consultants are down-to-earth and approachable, with a shared passion for doing innovative client work that realises tangible benefits for their clients, in both the short and long term.

“We see Simfoni as a powerful solution to realise savings in indirect tail spend. It’s about not only data and spend automation, but also the customer experience,” De Bruijn says. “This is crucial when dealing with everyday spend as most users are non-procurement professionals.”

Kearney aids businesses in implementing Simfoni’s solution quickly, mitigating risks associated with unmanaged spend and vendors. “The attractive thing about Simfoni is that the solution manages tail spend—optimising both spend and vendors—with the savings funding the digitisation. It’s a tail spend solution that delivers a comprehensive service,” De Bruijn says. “Simfoni will even pay the tail suppliers with Simfoni becoming the ‘One Vendor’ for the tail, which creates additional benefits in accounts payables and working capital.”

Simfoni and Kearney both operate globally, which is important since their customers often operate in multiple regions around the world. “It’s a very interesting and powerful proposition,” De Bruijn says.

Stefan Dent, co-founder of Simfoni

Simfoni designed its tail spend platform from the ground up. The company founders came from the procurement domain, having worked in a variety of procurement leadership roles and at other procurement technology providers. “Let’s face it, existing solutions never solved tail spend, which accounts for around 80 percent of your vendors and transactions and around 20 percent of spend value,” Dent says. “Until now, the only options were BPOs, where you effectively outsource your tail to be managed by humans in a lower-cost country, or you use self-service bidding platforms. These solutions deliver some value, but it’s like putting a plaster on a wound.  You never properly cure the problem.” 

Simfoni’s platform is unique in that it is first and foremost a software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution with integrated buying services and digital procurement content components that connect with a client’s existing systems, or Simfoni can operate autonomously. Dent says that’s not even the best part. “The user experience is the most important element because, as Remko pointed out, most tail spend users are not procurement professionals,” he says. “Our users are in R&D, IT, plant operations, or marketing. They want an intuitive, easy-to-use solution to source and buy goods and services to support the everyday needs of their business. This is where traditional eProcurement systems fail.”

Dent says Kearney is an ideal partner being a trusted advisor to many of the world’s largest organisations. Kearney’s expert knowledge of procurement and transformation are a vital part of the offering. “Kearney’s input and expertise is crucial as Kearney helps our clients scope their tail spend program and update their procurement operating model while Simfoni frees up resources, allowing the client to focus on higher-value activities,” he explains. “At the end of the day, technology alone doesn’t solve tail spend. It’s about change. Kearney helps our clients make that digital shift. That’s why our partnership is so powerful because together we provide a comprehensive change and a digital solution as a package. The opportunity for our clients to finally control and optimise tail-spend is huge.”

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

14 February 2024

Estimated Read time

3Mins

From compliance to being an efficiency driver, there are more benefits to sustainable procurement practices than environmental ones.

The main obstacle cited by procurement leaders (as well as those outside the procurement and supply chain functions) to adopting sustainable procurement practices is cost.

According to Edie’s “The Business Guide to Sustainable and Circular Procurement” report released in November 2023, “Costs and Finances” was considered one of the biggest barriers to “Improving Sustainable Procurement For Your Operation”. In a survey of procurement leaders, 76% considered cost to be one of the biggest issues, compared to the distant second and third options: “Lack of Data” (54%) and “Lack of Understanding on Sustainability (38%).

However, in addition to the fact that the benefits of collective climate action dramatically outweigh its short term costs (existential threats are like that), there are sound arguments to be made for sustainable procurement practices from a business point of view as well.

The sustainability benefits incurred by reducing environmental impact in the supply chain can, according to the Edie report, be a catalyst that helps respond to a plethora of issues and considerations.”

Closing the loop to create a more circular supply chain can be driven from within the procurement function, and can do a lot to protect the S2P process from pricing volatility and supply chain disruption—something increasingly on the mind of industry leaders, as indicated by Dun & Bradstreet’s Q1 2024 Global Business Optimism Insights report, which highlighted “a downturn in global supply chain continuity due to geopolitical tensions, trade disputes, and climate-related disruptions in maritime trade causing both higher delivery costs and delayed delivery times.”

There is also the fact that meaningful adoption of sustainable practice in the S2P value chain can have a meaningful financial benefit to brands as a whole. Sustainability is an issue on which consumers vote with their wallets. According to the World Economic Forum, “sustainable procurement practices can help deliver a 15-30% increase in measurable brand equity and value”. Consumers, suppliers, and partners all value sustainable practice as a meaningful demonstration of company quality, and—especially in terms of public opinion—consumers are becoming savvier when it comes to differentiating meaningful change from empty rhetoric.

There’s more economic benefit than brand value adjustment that comes along with reexamining procurement practices from a sustainability perspective. The same report by the WEF noted that “embedding sustainability into procurement practices can actually help reduce departmental costs for procurement by 9-16%.” Evaluating processes for the sake of exploring green options often exposes existing inefficiencies, siloes and poor planning that can then be rectified rather than being left unexamined.

While business leaders continue to shy away from perceived profit loss as a result of pursuing more sustainable practice in their procurement functions, when handled correctly, it can be a source of more than just emissions wins.

By Harry Menear

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

6 February 2024

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Luke Abbott, Co-Founder and CEO at Equipoise, discusses the art of accelerating sustainable procurement with artificial intelligence.

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, sustainability is not just a buzzword; it’s a necessity. As organisations strive to reduce their environmental footprint and drive social improvements in their supply chains, sustainable procurement emerges as a pivotal strategy. With the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), the potential to revolutionise sustainable procurement practices has never been more promising.

Understanding sustainable procurement

Sustainable procurement is the integration of environmental, social, and economic considerations into procurement decisions, to reduce adverse impacts upon society, the economy, and the environment1. As businesses grapple with the repercussions of climate change, dwindling resources, and increasing stakeholder demands, sustainable procurement offers a pathway to not only mitigate risks but also seize new opportunities.

The AI advantage in sustainable procurement

AI, with its ability to process vast amounts of data, automate tasks, and identify intricate patterns, is poised to be a game-changer for sustainable procurement. By leveraging AI, organisations can:

Enhance sustainability data collection

Scope 3 is the hottest topic in sustainable procurement and many organisations are grappling with the question of how to measure the greenhouse gas emissions of their suppliers. Understanding this, especially beyond the first tier, requires extensive data collection. If you were to focus on your top 100 suppliers and ask your tier n-1 suppliers to do the same, when you get to tier 3 (which is probably nowhere near the end of the supply chain) you need to engage a staggering one million companies. At this point, manual data collection and analysis is out of the question for time-strapped organisations. AI tools, such as Avarni2, streamline this process, ensuring comprehensive and accurate data acquisition.

Predictive analytics for sustainability risk management

Managing sustainability risks in today’s intricate global supply chains presents challenges such as monitoring vast supplier networks, handling overwhelming sustainability data and rapidly adapting to sanctions, media reports and regulations, all while maintaining a pristine reputation. AI offers a solution by providing real-time monitoring of supply chains, predictive analysis of potential disruptions, seamless data integration for a comprehensive view, automated reporting for enhanced transparency, and scenario analysis for strategic planning. AI tools, like Versed AI3, continuously monitor vast amounts of supply chain data, ensuring real-time tracking of sustainability factors. This real-time monitoring allows companies to identify potential risks before they escalate, enabling procurement teams to proactively address disruptions and uphold sustainability standards.

Automation

According to Deloitte’s 2023 Global Chief Procurement Officer Survey4, over 70% of CPOs have seen an increase in procurement-related risks, and only a quarter feel equipped to predict supply disruptions timely. Furthermore, internal challenges like talent loss and organisational complexities add to the burden. By automating routine tasks, AI not only alleviates these pressures but also empowers procurement professionals to focus on high-value initiatives, such as supplier education on sustainability priorities. Generative AI tools like ChatGPT can expedite market research, strategy formulation, and contracting processes, allowing teams to be more agile and responsive in this volatile environment.

AI in action

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan5 has been at the forefront of leveraging AI to drive innovation in sustainable procurement. In 2023, Unilever highlighted how they have been using AI and digital technologies, from the launch of their first digital tool to the recent formulation of the world’s first green carbon detergent6. 

“We’re using AI to help identify alternative ingredients that can strengthen the resilience of our supply chain, making our formulations more sustainable and cost-efficient, and simplifying them by reducing the number of ingredients without impacting a product’s quality or effectiveness.” –  Alberto Prado, Unilever R&D’s Head of Digital & Partnerships. 

Through a data-driven approach, Unilever has been making smarter, faster, and sharper decisions to optimise its portfolio of brands and products. Their commitment to sustainability is further emphasised by their ambitious goals, which include climate action to achieve net zero, reducing plastic usage, regenerating agriculture, and raising living standards within their value chain7. 

Limitations and due diligence

While AI offers transformative potential, it’s crucial to recognise its limitations. The accuracy of AI predictions and recommendations hinges on the quality of data fed into the system. In the realm of sustainable procurement, this means ensuring that the data sources are reliable and comprehensive. Regular audits, cross-referencing with trusted databases, and continuous training of AI models are essential to maintain the integrity of AI-driven insights. 

The 2023 Gartner Hype Cycle for artificial intelligence8 underscores the significance of addressing the limitations and risks of fallible AI systems. It emphasises the need for AI strategies to consider which innovations offer the most credible cases for investment, ensuring that AI’s transformative benefits are realised while mitigating potential pitfalls.

The future of AI in sustainable procurement

As we gaze into the future, the synergy between AI and sustainable procurement is poised to grow stronger. With advancements in machine learning algorithms, natural language processing, and predictive analytics, AI’s potential to drive sustainability will only amplify. The Gartner report highlights the rise of generative AI, which is reshaping business processes and redefining the value of human resources. Such innovations, including generative AI and decision intelligence, are expected to offer significant competitive advantages and address challenges associated with integrating AI models into business processes.

However, a conservative outlook suggests that while AI will be a significant enabler, the onus remains on organisations to embed sustainability into their ethos and operations.

In conclusion, as the business landscape becomes increasingly complex, the fusion of AI and sustainable procurement offers a beacon of hope. By harnessing the power of AI, organisations can not only navigate the challenges of today but also pave the way for a sustainable and prosperous future.

Luke Abbott, Co-Founder & CEO @ Equipoise

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

10 January 2024

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Global provider of ESG performance Sphera has announced it has purchased SupplyShift.

Sphera has confirmed it has completed an acquisition for SupplyShift in a move to enhance its supply chain offering.

In a press release on Tuesday (January 9th), Sphera, which is a leading global provider of ESG performance and risk management software, revealed it has purchased the supply chain sustainability software firm.

Supply chain network

Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Santa Cruz, California, SupplyShift has built a supply chain network of over 100,000 suppliers, where buyers and suppliers engage and share information quickly in order to manage risk and facilitate supplier regulatory compliance.

The solution provides supply chain transparency and supplier mapping at any tier as well as data analytics, supplier scoring and traceability.

SupplyShift has customers and business partners globally, and the company’s portal is used by a variety of customers across industries, from worldwide retailers to Fortune 500 brands.

Growth journey

Paul Marushka, CEO and president, Sphera, said: “SupplyShift has seen tremendous growth with its software solution that allows for direct communication with suppliers and customers and enables the seamless collection of their Scope 3 emissions data, which helps suppliers improve their supply chain ESG performance.

“As more regulations are passed that demand transparency, the SupplyShift solution will become indispensable in meeting global regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations. Bringing SupplyShift’s portal into the Sphera family will expand our current offerings and enable us to provide unparalleled Scope 3 and ESG tracking and reporting capabilities. We are pleased to welcome SupplyShift’s customers, colleagues and solution to Sphera and look forward to helping our combined customer base accurately track and report their Scope 3 emissions and be compliant.”

Alex Gershenson, SupplyShift’s CEO and founder, added: “SupplyShift was founded on the idea of leveraging software to drive sustainability initiatives, and for 11 years we have been empowering companies to understand their supply chain ESG risk and performance.

“We are excited to join the Sphera family and take data availability to a new level through the combination of Sphera’s industry-leading ESG data and SupplyShift’s Scope 3 data collection abilities. Through SpheraCloud, Sphera’s SaaS platform, and its LCA solutions, we can help even more customers track their Scope 3 emissions and manage their supply chain sustainability.”

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

2 January 2024

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Wary of overdependence on overseas suppliers, the South Korean government is investing heavily in increasing the resilience of its public procurement process.

The South Korean government announced last month plans to establish a commission to oversee and coordinate plans to make the country’s procurement process more resilient. This announcement comes on the back of concerns over the vulnerability of South Korea’s “critical industrial” supply chains.

A state-backed fund expected to exceed 5 trillion won ($3.79 billion) is being set up to “secure stockpiles of critical supplies and support investment in relevant businesses and facilities”, with a long-term goal of divesting Korean industries from overdependence on procuring materials from single country suppliers.

Specifically, urea (like ammonium phosphate used in fertiliser manufacturing) and graphite (used in the production of batteries for electric vehicles) are both considered critical materials for Korean industrial activities, and supplies of both originate almost exclusively from China.

An Editorial published in the Korea Times noted that a recent export restriction of urea product shipments from China has caused a spree of panic buying. “What matters is that China accounts for 95 percent of Korea’s ammonium phosphate imports. Desperate to cope with a growing sense of crisis especially among farmers and relevant industries, the [Korean] government came up with a package of measures designed to secure key materials on a stable basis.”

The government will procure a reserve of 12,000 tonnes of urea in order to create a 130 day buffer to safeguard against future disruptions.  

The way ahead

At a meeting of the new commission on Monday, Korean Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho commented that “Recently, supply chain risk factors for items directly related to core industries and people’s livelihoods—such as urea, diammonium phosphate and graphite—are increasing,” suggesting that devising a national procurement strategy less reliant on Chinese exports would be essential, given the fraught economic and political histories between the countries. 

Moving forward, the commission said it would designate materials and items for intensive monitoring, selected from among 200 options identified as being of critical importance and potentially vulnerable to supply chain disruption by a government study conducted in 2021. Magnesium, tungsten, neodymium and lithium hydroxide were included in the previous listing. In addition to urea products, the Korean government is expected to increase its stocks of graphite, 90% of which comes from China.

By Harry Menear

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

28 December 2023

Estimated Read time

2Mins

Incorporating SEO techniques into your procurement strategy can empower and optimise your organisation’s source-to-pay process.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital transformation has emerged as a more critical strategic goal for procurement executives than ever.

Now, resilience, agility, and visibility have become vital qualities of the modern procurement function alongside the drive to lower costs and increase speed. Integrating a digital-first approach into more stages of the procurement process can, according to a Gartner study, lead to a 20% increase in revenue and a 50% reduction in process costs.

However, digital transformation needs to be considered and intentional—haphazardly adopting new tools and processes for the sake of something new and shiny will cost more than it saves, and cause more problems than are solved.

One highly effective form of digital transformation that’s often applied outside of the procurement process is search engine optimisation (SEO). Applied to the procurement function of a business, SEO techniques can help buyers reach either a wider pool of suppliers, or a more specific set of suppliers more tailored to their needs—or both, as necessity dictates.

SEO has a lot of potential to help automate routine procurement operations, allowing for procurement staff to focus on more strategic objectives and partner relationship management. Supplier discovery, as well as other elements of sourcing, can be automated with an SEO integration, and the correctly optimised online presence can be used to attract suppliers.

Four steps to SEO optimisation in procurement

  1. Know your terms. By identifying the key phrases and terms associated with your business and objectives, you can start to define an SEO strategy.
  2. Embed your terms. Take your chosen SEO terms and ensure they are a part of your brand identity across existing websites, social platforms, etc.
  3. Create content. White papers, blog posts, and media placements all increase your visibility and presence within the procurement sector.
  4. Assess, Adjust, Optimise. Constantly measure your engagement, work to understand your suppliers and partners, and iterate improvements of your strategy in response to results and the changing context of the marketplace.

By implementing an SEO strategy, procurement teams move beyond the confines of their immediate ecosystem, casting a wider net that can lead to increased competition between suppliers, lower costs, and access to new goods or resources that may have significant knock-on benefits for the business at large.

By Harry Menear

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

22 December 2023

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Jamie Ganderton, Vice President at Proxima, examines the future of sustainable procurement going into 2024.

As we step into a new year and inch closer to the global sustainability targets set for 2030, the spotlight on sustainable procurement will only continue to intensify. The aftermath of COP28 has placed an even greater emphasis on the role that large corporations play in global decarbonisation. This, coupled with incoming rules and legislation across Europe and the United Kingdom, such as the European Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), has underscored the critical need for agile and proactive approaches to corporate sustainability action.

The Scope 3 Benchmark, a tool developed to enable organisations to collaborate to advance progress on sustainability targets, has shown that Scope 3 still remains a challenge and 2024 will be a pivotal year in addressing some of the fundamentals as we move within just two short contract cycles away from 2030. Looking ahead, the focus will sharpen on bridging the gap between sustainability objectives and procurement strategies, with an emphasis remaining on translating lofty sustainability goals into actionable procurement strategies. As we navigate 2024, collaborative advancements, data-driven insights, and the proactive evolution of procurement practices will be critical drivers, propelling sustainable procurement into a new role of implementing purposeful action.

Embedding sustainability targets into procurement strategies

Whilst it seems like an obvious starting point, many procurement teams have not yet fully embraced the need to translate sustainability requirements into procurement strategy. Even for those that have, challenges remain to translate sustainability language into effective procurement strategy. There is a tendency for organisations to panic and jump straight into supplier engagement, without first planning who they are going to engage and what are they going to need from them.

The goal for many in 2024 should be to plan out how the next six years are going to look and begin progress as soon as possible, because we know that change takes time and never happens as quickly as we intend. Sustainable procurement transformation is going to require focus and investment to get right. The core focus areas should be measuring emissions to drive action, developing the functional enablers to support the change, and developing the strategic levers for decarbonisation.

Leveraging emissions measurement to drive action

The primary starting point is to understand your emissions, in detail. Embrace carbon emissions measurement and start reporting them, ideally across all categories of Scope 3, but at least the core supplier-related areas. Following the GHG Protocol’s spend-based methodology is an adequate starting point, provided the outputs you develop allow you to drive insights into your emissions “hotspots” and start evolving greater accuracy as data quality and supplier maturity improves. Procurement teams can then begin to develop the strategic decarbonisation levers they will need for their categories.

Making procurement functional enablers

Building a sustainable procurement function requires the right support pillars, but evidence coming from the Scope 3 Benchmark suggests that some key foundations are missing. Firstly, there is a lack of directly invested resources, and there are also limited numbers of support team members. The volume of interaction with suppliers on Scope 3 is high, therefore you need someone to set the strategy and have an effective team to enact it. Even medium-sized businesses will have a reasonable number of material emitting suppliers who need engagement and management, which creates an increased workload for supplier management teams.

Additionally, many organisations have limited Scope 3 learning and development capability plans to support team members in developing their carbon literacy and bridging the skills gap.

At some point procurement needs to be bold and make carbon a key consideration throughout decision making, from up-front category planning, through to RFx and sourcing processes, negotiations and contracting, and post-contact supplier management. If there is no consideration given to carbon with equality to the classic cost, quality and service evaluation, then we will never make different decisions. There will never be a commercial incentive to suppliers to support decarbonisation efforts and we will inevitably fail. In 2024, we will begin to see more forward-looking CPOs begin to build carbon pricing into their decision-making, paving the way for processes to change.

Developing policy to help suppliers face reality

Traditional procurement policies are usually written once and then set in stone without the need to revisit them any time soon. Over the coming years, the old Procurement Policy is a tool that has the power to make a huge impact and one that needs its own evolution. This policy development will enable a blanket application of sustainability to be adopted without procurement intervention in every sourcing decision. Between now and 2030, we need to strengthen the requirements annually to allow suppliers to gradually get used to the changes and ratchet up the pressure over time. At some point in the future, there will be a decision not to trade with some companies if they have not met minimum standards. This tough line should motivate those to change or risk losing business.  

Once procurement teams get to grips with what is driving carbon emissions in the supply chain, they then needs to develop the right approaches to motivate, encourage, and sometimes force suppliers to act. Some suppliers will be on board with the need to decarbonise and happily support the process, whereas others will need significant levels of ‘encouragement’. Some categories will be relatively straightforward to plot a pathway to decarbonisation, whereas others have more complex challenges and require more strategic levers. Category teams will need to build a comprehensive picture of their suppliers and in many cases begin the co-development of solutions to tomorrow’s problems. Research and innovation, product reengineering, and demand management can all play a significant role in reducing emissions, but release of value may be some time in the future, which places a greater emphasis on 2024 being the year to truly put weight behind the efforts.

A green future

As we look to 2024, a lot needs to change if we are going to meet the looming global sustainability targets. Many procurement teams are still grappling with integrating sustainability into their strategies. The next few years mark a critical juncture and demand meticulous planning and swift action. Transforming procurement practices to align with sustainability goals requires measured steps, starting emissions measurement and building a strategic decarbonisation plan from there. Whilst there is a lot to be done, with the right strategies in place, procurement teams are poised to play a pivotal role in accelerating organisations’ progress towards net-zero.

Jamie Ganderton, Vice President at Proxima

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

14 November 2023

Estimated Read time

2Mins

CPOstrategy explores five barriers companies are faced with in terms of sustainable procurement.

A robust sustainability strategy isn’t only a ‘nice to have’ any longer, it is quickly becoming one of the top items on the agenda in procurement.

Many organisations are implementing sustainability programmes with a view of helping them to cut costs, make their companies more competitive and secure a greener future for all.

But, adopting a greener way of working isn’t necessarily straightforward. Here are five barriers companies are faced with in terms of sustainability in procurement.

1. Acceptance from senior employees

Change isn’t always welcomed. Executives, particularly those that have been served the industry for a significant time period, aren’t always receptive or quick to embrace new strategies. Without buy-in from senior executives, positive change is trickier to achieve. However, by informing employees of the considerable advantages by making a shift, it could lead to an easier experience with less pushback.

2. Limited time and resources

Time, funding, and other resources are vital in ensuring the best results from sustainability. On a busy schedule, it can be challenging to implement a sustainable procurement policy but it is important to retain the knowledge that it won’t be achieved overnight.

3. Lack of support from suppliers

In a similar way to senior employees, getting suppliers on side can also be a hurdle. As suppliers are separate from your company, they potentially have less resources available or a different mindset. Suppliers may not recognise the importance of sustainability in the same way which could lead to a misalignment of priorities.

4. Higher costs

The prospect of a higher cost is one of the biggest concerns companies have when thinking about sustainable procurement. After switching to a sustainable procurement strategy, costs do tend to rise but by not switching sooner, it could lead to organisations paying even more in the future. For companies without a sustainable strategy, they will have to question whether they can afford to watch competitors implement green strategies and the impact this will have on what their customers demand.

5. Accessing the right technology

Technology can be an influential tool to help drive an organisation’s sustainability goals. Sometimes, a different set of digital tools to what is already existing within a company is necessary to make more of a concerted environmentally friendly effort. However, this comes with the caveat of new tools being time-consuming and requiring training to improve skills and knowledge. But once up to speed, using technology will mean greater efficiency to scale sustainability strategies.

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

8 November 2023

Estimated Read time

7Mins

At DPW Amsterdam, Gregor Stühler, CEO and Co-founder of Scoutbee, and Karin Hagen-Gierer, CPO and Strategic Advisor at Scoutbee, discusses the rise of chatbots and their influence in procurement.

Scoutbee was created with the idea of improving supply chain resilience through AI and big data to transform the way organisations use supplier data to discover and connect with suppliers.

The company, which was founded in 2015, offers an AI-powered Scoutbee Intelligence Platform (SIP) which uses graph technology and predictive and prescriptive analytics to deliver holistic supplier visibility that helps procurement make confident supplier decisions, drive cross-functional efficiency and optimise existing technology investments.      

Scoutbee’s AI-driven data foundation connects teams to any data point, internal, external, third-party and more, as well as any data combination necessary to orchestrate a resilient, competitive and sustainable supply base.

Gregor Stühler is the CEO and Co-founder at Scoutbee. He believes that waiting to invest in AI tools and underlying data training will be companies’ greatest sustainable disadvantage of the next decade. “AI is not an off-the-shelf product, so you can’t buy AI unless it’s a pre-trained AI on a specific use case but then it’s not a competitive edge,” he tells us.

“A competitive edge only emerges when you have a clear use case and training on top of that. The companies that start using those AI solutions sooner with their data have much better training in place. As a result, they’ll always be ahead of the game quite significantly. Companies that use off-the-shelf AI products will do well, but the ones that actually take it meaningfully and start trading on their own use case and their own data will be the ones that will be accelerating.”

Gregor Stühler, CEO and Co-founder and Karin Hagen-Gierer, CPO and Strategic Advisor, at Scoutbee

AI – Changing the game?

Karin Hagen-Gierer is CPO and Strategic Advisor at Scoutbee. She explains that there are a multitude of ways in which tools such as generative AI are having an impact on procurement to change the game.      

“AI is great to help with mundane and boring tasks,” she discusses. “It can help us with vendor requests that come in and can be appropriately channelled. It can help your colleagues to navigate procurement. When they have questions, they can interact with a chat solution and be guided in a much better way to find what they want much quicker. I think if we look at how it can enhance our teams’ effectiveness, it is really in market analytics, supplier searches, supplier evaluations, and ChatGPT that could help us broaden the spectrum. If you then look to more tailored solutions like Scoutbee then it’s a very different ball game that procurement professionals have at their fingertips. I’m noticing a drive on both efficiency and effectiveness in this space.”

Despite AI’s draws, Stühler is well aware of the challenges and hesitations around digital technology. As far as he is concerned, there are two waves of generative AI to be aware of.  “Wave one is about having a prompt and how tools such as ChatGPT can help with that,” he says. “For example, what are 10 RFI questions for aluminium cans?

“Wave two is where I merge and synthesise all of my data into our large language model and it has reasoning to drive decision-making and scenario planning. You do have to be careful though because you have to give the system all your critical data but you don’t want to input this into an open model. This means the use case has to be that you deploy a large language model in your own infrastructure, and own your own graphic card that will never actually leave your organisation.

Gregor Stühler, CEO and Co-founder at Scoutbee

“This is the biggest concern that we’re seeing because ChatGPT has brought a lot of progress but also a lot of questions. Now, when people hear that we want them to merge their data into a large language model that’s completely private, we’re met with some resistance when we explain to them that their large language model is running on their very own graphics card that we don’t have access to. That tends to give them more comfort to put their data into it,” he continues.

Stühler adds that he believes there are some misconceptions around ChatGPT and the nature of how accurate the data it provides actually is. As is the case with any new technology, these things take time. “It’s always the same. It happened with electric cars, nobody thought that would solve the battery issue,” he discusses. “I think we are right at the peak of the hype cycle when it comes to those things and people have figured out what they can use it for. With wave one of generative AI, it is fine to have hallucinations of the model and if something is spat out that is not supported by the input.

“But by the second use case, hallucinations are not okay anymore because it’s working with accurate data and should not come up with some imaginary creative answers. It should be always supported by the data that is put in. This is very important that people understand that if you train the model and if you have the right setting, those hallucinations will go away and you can actually have a setting where the output of the model is 100% accurate,” he further emphasises.

Procurement’s potential

According to Karin Hagen-Gierer, there is an incredible opportunity to create value in procurement today. Following unprecedented global challenges over the past few years, CPOs have never been in the boardroom so often – something she’s keen to stress.      

“The value of procurement through crisis has been proven,” she says. “We tend to say, it’s not a core business, but very often if things don’t go right, it becomes core very quickly and you are in the CEO’s office more than you might like. It’s the breadth of the role that allows to drive value: You impact the P/L impact, topline, and the ESG agenda to name a few. But then there is a need to future-proof your team’s skill set around how you can drive more impact from being more effective in the respective tool sets you’re using, the questions you’re able to solve solutions for. Additionally, you have to work on improving your efficiencies. Teams are not getting bigger, so you need to be enabled in a very different way to really drive all this value.”

Karin Hagen-Gierer, CPO and Strategic Advisor at Scoutbee

Stühler reflects on the past and admires the transformation procurement has undergone in the past decade since he joined the industry. “I came to procurement in 2012 and even then I remember this function being solely responsible for paying invoices and calling trucks to arrive sooner – at first glance,” he says. “Combined with the crises that now happened over the last couple of years, post-Covid has proven procurement’s value – and the impact organisations such as Scoutbee can make.    

“I think two key things will happen in the future. Firstly, the tech landscape is exploding so quickly that there must be a consolidation that will happen. Secondly, when it comes to generative AI I think those pragmatic use cases will become the new normal. ChatGPT will be like Google today to get insights. Generative AI and large language models will get increasingly powerful over time and will help if you feed it the right data and connect it to different data streams that you have internally. It can become this true copilot and help you with complex scenario planning and make you aware of weak spots in your supply base while helping you to strategically take the right steps. The future is exciting,” he concludes.

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

7 November 2023

Estimated Read time

6Mins

Stefan Dent, co-founder at Simfoni, and Richard Martin, CEO at Thinking Machine, discuss the power of data in procurement and the future of AI.

“See spend differently”.

Simfoni is revolutionising how businesses spend their money – via data. In today’s ever-changing world, everything is underpinned by data at Simfoni.

Founded in 2015, Simfoni is a leading provider of spend analytics, Tail Spend and eSourcing solutions to global businesses. Simfoni’s platform utilises machine learning and AI to accelerate and automate key parts of the procurement process which saves time and money while creating a pathway for supply chain sustainability. Its solution quickly distils and organises complex spend data to help discover opportunities and savings. It also gets up and running in days with an on-demand spend automation solution.

Indeed, Simfoni aims to take the hassle out of procurement through its automated, fluid platform that offers a unique pay-as-you-save pricing model which reduces barriers to technology adoption. Through fused revolutionary technology with AI-enabled content and deep expertise to automate, streamline and simplify procurement. Simfoni’s composable platform provides a selection of advanced automation modules that help customers sky-rocket savings and achieve sustainability objectives.

Stefan Dent, co-founder, Simfoni

Stefan Dent co-founded Simfoni and now serves as Chief Strategy Officer. He tells us his organisation was created ‘with a purpose to be different’. “A lot of customers have been working on full suite solutions for some time, which was seen as a sort of panacea for all ills that would solve everything,” says Dent. “It solved some areas such as direct spend, but these are large, mega expensive solutions that aren’t particularly agile. Ultimately, we came up with our own solution which is purposely different. We launched as a composable, agile solution that works with existing systems to boos ROI on tech spend. We apply next-gen technology to procurement that democratizes access to digital procurement tools – opening-up digital solutions to organizations of any size and across any sector. It means we can open our solution up to the masses and not just for large organisations.”

Relationship with Thinking Machine

Simfoni is powered by analytics. Its analytics solution informs spend, as well as watching how change is measured and performance is tracked over time. Now eight years old, Simfoni has fostered alliances with several younger companies offering specialist tools which have been embedded within the Simfoni platform. One such company is Thinking Machine, led by CEO and Founder Richard Martin.

Thinking Machine was founded in 2019 by Martin after he discovered the industry needed to find a better use of data to address ‘complex spend’ such as in Telecoms where you have multiple vendors, manual and frequent billing, changing tariffs and users. Martin explains that he witnessed all types of companies going through the same problems instead of only large companies. “Thinking Machine was developed as a way to give customers a single source of revenue across all services, pricing and demand but in a way that can be done at the very lowest level,” says Martin. “We would take all that complexity and be able to roll it up into actionable evidence that could be reconciled against their top-level financial numbers. It gives procurement directors the tools they need to actually be in the driver’s seat when it comes to their procurement operations.”

Developing key, strategic relationships with partners that can be depended on is an essential component to the success of any long-term business relationship. Simfoni relies on Thinking Machine to help manage its load and enable customers to go deep with Thinking Machine to extract even more value from their data. “We offer our clients the opportunity to go deep within certain domains,” discusses Dent. “We can then bring in Thinking Machine to help extract even more value from the data on complex spend.

Stefan Dent and Richard Martin speaking to CPOstrategy at DPW Amsterdam

“Thinking Machine’s application will ingest a large quantum of complex data. Their tools work like magic and allows data to be put into a readable format so they can make sense of the actual spend and quickly identify optimisation opportunities. This is part of our philosophy to work with niche technology partners because we shouldn’t do everything, so we need to put our resources where it counts. Resources like Thinking Machine work well by plugging into us, which means we offer incremental value to our clients without them going to market separately.

“It can also be very hard for a young company to work with large corporates because they’re untried or untrusted. This means for a company like Thinking Machine to connect with Simfoni is a win-win for everyone.”

Procurement’s bright future

Given the space procurement finds itself in today, the future is set to continue to be transformative. For Martin, he believes the introduction and influence of generative AI tools will help meet challenges in procurement head-on. “For the first time you see how it’s actually possible to be a unicorn with a 10-person team,” he explains. “The scales of efficiency are just out of this world. In terms of the procuretech industry, I think we’ve had a problem for a while now because there’s been all these best-of-breed solutions that are doing bits and pieces but is very difficult to stitch together into one cohesive platform that customers can make use of without having to know how to use 50 different tools.

“I think Gen AI offers a path to helping to smooth over some of those challenges and figuring out how to bring these things together. I think enterprises are going to start finding a lot more value in having all these best-of-breed solutions, such as Thinking Machine and Simfoni, while being able to use AI as a way to put this together into more of a single common layer that they can access. It is a very exciting time.”

For much of the past decade, Dent explains that he has believed that machines will take over mundane and outdated ways of working. Now, with the influence of tools such as Open AI’s ChatGPT, that digital future has only been accelerated and change the workforce of tomorrow. “Most CPOs of today are saying they need more headcount but I think they will soon be thinking very differently,” he discusses. “We predicted some time ago that Procurement departments will get smaller in headcount, maybe by even up to 50%. The procurement function of the future will be a lot smaller, leaner, and meaner.  Procurement teams will be more intelligent and strategic, in terms of both the people employed, and the digital tools used to manage spend.”

While Dent believes AI and machines won’t replace every human in procurement, it will mean forward-thinking teams need to embrace new technology with humans taking on higher-value roles. “The shape and structure of the modern procurement function will change quite dramatically, and people will need to upskill,” he discusses. “A lot of the work will be taken over by the machine eventually either 20%, 50%, and then a hundred percent. But the human needs to have that in mind and then plan for that next three to five years. The procurement function of the future will be smaller, and they should purposely be doing that, to then look at solutions to find a way to enable it to happen naturally.

“This is arguably the best time for people to join procurement, as you’ve got this great opportunity to embrace digital and make it happen. Young people can question ‘Well, why can’t it be done by a machine?’ They’re coming in with that mindset, as opposed to fighting being replaced by a machine. I think for graduates coming into procurement, they’ve got the opportunity to play with digital and change the status quo which is a wonderful thing.”

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

8 February 2023

Estimated Read time

4Mins

We look into the supply chain production process of Easter Eggs and the journey to their final destinations in supermarkets

Chocolate is arguably the world’s most popular sweet treat. Depending on who you ask, of course.

After, perhaps Christmas, it is the most common time for people to indulge in chocolate if they don’t do so anyway throughout the year.

And synonymous with Easter are the eggs themselves which are loved by children and adults alike all over the world.

The journey to Easter Eggs

The supply chain process is split into eight stages of production: cultivating, harvesting, splitting, fermentation, drying, winnowing, roasting and grinding. Following production, the supply chain process is extended further with logistics which is the final step to providing customers with their favourite seasonal sweet treat.

The journey actually begins with cocoa tree plantations being established which is done by scattering young cocoa trees amongst new shade trees or by planting the cocoa trees between established trees. These are planted in humid tropical climates, with temperatures between 21 and 23 degrees Celsius. This is consistent rainfall periods and a short dry season because these conditions provide good quality cocoa.

Easter eggs

Each tree produces 20-30 cocoa pods a year which grows straight from the tree’s trunk and main branches. With this tree also yielding fruit, the crop is carefully pruned, and as a result, it is easier to harvest the cocoa pods. The next step is the labour-intensive task of harvesting the crop.

The harvest is a whole community affair on small West African farms. Large knives are then used to detach the pods from the trees and placed in large baskets on workers’ heads. The pods are then manually split open to remove the beans so they are ready for the two-step curing process. Each pod consists of between 20-40 purple cocoa beans.

The curing process consists of fermenting and drying the beans to develop the chocolate flavour. There are several fermentation methods but the most traditional is the heap method. This requires placing mounds of wet cocoa beans in between layers of banana leaves on the ground for between five to six days. Following this, the drying stage begins. This involves the wet bunch of beans being spread out in the sun or using a more advanced method of special dying equipment.

From plant to factory

Often, a lot of large chocolate brands then buy the cocoa through intermediaries. The beans are then packed into sacks ready to be exported to the brands processing facilities in other locations globally.

After arrival, the beans are cleaned and quality inspected before the winnowing stage takes place. The dried beans are cracked to separate the shell from the nib which is where the small chunks are used to produce chocolate. Afterwards, the roasting phase begins in which the nibs are baked at high temperatures reaching 120 degrees Celsius in special ovens. This is where the colour and flavour is acquired.

Subsequently, the next stage is grinding which creates the basis of all chocolate products. The roasted nibs are grounded in stone mills until a thick liquid chocolate consistency is achieved.

Chocolate to egg

The final step is creating the chocolate egg masterpiece by using highly efficient computer-operated technology which has been used since the mid-20th century. The molten chocolate is placed in heated egg molds which are rotated so there is an even thickness. Following this, the eggs are left to cool and then removed from the molds. Once cooled, the eggs are wrapped in coloured foil and packaged into individual boxes before being sent out for retail. The transportation and exportation throughout the various supply chain stages is vital being a seasonal product. This means they are heavily relied upon for their timings to deliver to large supermarkets and independent stores.

Author

Sean Galea-Pace

Published

26 January 2023

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Here are five of the best procurement schools in Europe.

As procurement becomes an increasingly vital and strategic function within many organisations, people are beginning to realise the full potential of turning it into a career for themselves.

This has subsequently led to many universities noticing the demand in the industry and offering courses which equip students with the relevant qualifications and skills needed to succeed in the supply chain space.

With this in mind, here are five of the best procurement schools in Europe.

1. CIPS

Course: Various
Where: Across England

procurement schools

Run by Oxford College of Procurement and Supply, there are 10 Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply centres in England offering several different qualification levels to choose from. The courses are recognised throughout the world as harnessing leading edge thinking and professionalism across the procurement and supply chain management space.

CIPS offers courses such as level three, four, five and six in procurement and supply with each qualification created to reflect current, emerging and best practice in procurement and supply chain management. Classes focus on exploring legacy purchasing and supply methods as well as techniques and theory to the application in a business environment.

CIPS doesn’t just offer in-person studying as courses are designed to suit individual lifestyles with virtual classrooms, part-time and weekend options to choose from.

2. Politecnico di Milano

Course: MSc in Supply Chain and Procurement Management
Where: Milan, Italy

Politecnico di Milano
Politecnico di Milano offers an extensive portfolio of programmes

Renowned as being one of the best scientific and technological universities in the world, Politecnico di Milano offers an extensive portfolio of programmes in a variety of different spaces. Its supply chain master’s degree is a 12-month course aimed at equipping students with vital knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the industry.

The course also includes a number of practical activities in the programme such as lessons with international lectures, workshops on soft skills, company presentations, projects with companies, company visits and an international study tour in Rotterdam.

According to Politecnico di Milano, 86% of students were employed three months after graduation while 55% were also working abroad during the same period.

The course was ranked third in the TOP 2021 Eduniversal Best Masters Ranking (Global) and eighth in the QS Supply Chain Management Masters Rankings for 2023.

3. SKEMA Business School

Course: MSc (and MS) Supply Chain Management and Purchasing
Where: Lille and Paris, France

Skema offers two supply chain management (SCM) and procurement masters: The premium international MSc Global Supply Chain Management in Lille taught in English, and the MS in SCM and Purchasing in Paris and Lille mainly taught in French. France’s highly-rated supply chain and procurement program has been designed with a progressive shift from theory to practice. The degree covers the entirety of supply chain activities from planning, purchasing, receiving, production, storage to delivery through nine compulsory and six elective courses.

The global MSc has a new cooperation with the leading prestigious business school, MIT in the US, plus another cooperation with Politechnico from Milano. The MSc master’s degree provides soft skills in supply chain and purchasing management as well as going into future trends in digitalisation, AI, sustainability, ethics, globalisation, risk management and agility. The course’s primary goal is to find future leaders who are seeking to make a positive impact on the world of supply chain management and procurement. The MSc is a full time program, complemented by paid internships in the area of the student’s choice, while the MS alternates weeks of classes with professionals at the forefront of their fields.

4. Audencia Business School

Course: MSc in Supply Chain and Purchasing Management
Where: Nantes, France

Audencia Business School

Created in 2009, Audencia Business School’s programme will cover topics such as procurement, global sourcing and supply chain strategies. Other topics to feature includes green logistics, Big Data, digital transformation, negotiation and commercial law. The course will provide expertise from industry insiders as business executives visit and share professional insights during the programme.

The school works closely with the corporate world and is recognised for its responsible management practices. Audencia is triple-accredited, highly ranked and internationally oriented and according to its website, 79% of course graduates are employed before graduation. The course is available as a one-year or two-year master’s programme.

In autumn 2024, the course is set to be renamed to the MSc in Responsible Procurement and Supply Chain Management.

5. Cranfield School of Management

Course: MSc in Procurement and Supply Chain Management
Where: Cranfield, United Kingdom

Cranfield School of Management provides students with specialist knowledge and skills in procurement needed to progress their careers

Cranfield’s Procurement and Supply Chain Management course has been co-designed with senior industry executives. This purchasing postgraduate course provides students with specialist knowledge and skills in procurement needed to progress their careers. Possessing one of the largest facilities in Europe, the course places considerable emphasis on how to overcome real-world challenges.

Students will gain an in-depth understanding of supply chain strategy and sustainability, procurement strategy, supplier selection and evaluation, negotiation and contact management. They will also be taught how to use data, models and software to solve problems and inform decisions, inventory and operations management and how to design effective supply chain operations.

Students will have the opportunity to attend a study tour and experience a different supply chain perspective elsewhere in Europe.

The course was ranked 11th in the world on the QS Supply Chain Management Masters Rankings for 2023.

Author

Andrew Woods

Published

7 May 2020

Estimated Read time

5Mins

Read in brochure format

Interface Magazine talks to Vladimir Arshinov, IT Director at steel producer SIJ Group regarding the company’s massive digital transformation

Going into 2017, SIJ Group (Slovenian Steel Group) – Slovenia’s biggest steel producer and one of the largest manufacturers of stainless and special steels in Europe had typical IT structure with semi-independent IT departments on each plant. And like many modern enterprises, SIJ was at work drafting a strategy to transform its operations, systems and processes into a more unified structure in a bid to improve productivity, safety and the all-important bottom line.

Vladimir Arshinov is SIJ’s IT Director and his initial focus in 2017 was trained on the digital transformation of SIJ’s IT department to a more transparent organization with a clear workflow. Previously, IT was a department of innovation with each individual plant having its own independent function, none of which connected with each other, often across varying geographies. “This meant that lots of efforts were wasted solving the same issues with different solutions,” Arshinov reveals.

At the end of 2017, SIJ established a Project Management Office. PMBOK was selected as a master methodology and the Head of PMO received PMP certification and developed internal regulation documents, rules and methodology. After finalizing the initial establishment phase, hiring project managers and the organization of the operational work, SIJ came to the conclusion that to raise the scope and complexity of the projects program, they needed a tool. The MS Project Management Server was duly selected and implemented allowing SIJ to simplify observation of the progress of projects and control, while ultimately reducing duration. Project team meetings were almost eliminated, and the distribution, control and execution of project tasks, were assigned to the project team members who managed and controlled projects including budget consumption. Each project member would then be measured for effectiveness.

Turning the IT department into a leaner function was a massive first step for SIJ as it needed a firm foundation upon which all future innovation could sit. And so, the next step in SIJ’s internal IT transformation was aimed at the most sensitive and critical area: software development. As with many metallurgical companies SIJ had a bulk of different IT systems, which were supplied or developed in the past and had to be either permanently supported, or, due to the business requirements, changed. One concern with the legacy system was the reliance on locally based productive software developer engineers developing new solutions and then, after, supporting them, resulting in a massive drop in development speed, as development and the subsequent support increased. This situation was causing overloading, burnout and frustration, triggering a desire to change something; sometimes resulting in employer change. However, SIJ IT considers people as its major asset and were determined to break the vicious circle of “one system – one person – forever”.

“What we did from an organizational point of view was to unify all geographically distributed developers from 4 different companies into the several virtual groups in each department,” Arshinov explains. “Each group has a Team Leader role, who assigns tasks to the group members and controls the execution of each individual task.”

Development at SIJ is now organised according to an agile approach using scrum boards and Microsoft Project Server to control all the time sheets of the people involved in the projects, plus their schedules and budgets. SIJ uses Microsoft Azure DevOps Server for unified storage of inter-company source code and Change Request Scrum board monitoring and control. Process and technical solutions now allow SIJ to involve external software development partners into the development process while controlling their activities, deliverables and costs. Developers can now use the Azure DevOps Server with the scrum board and are now able to register change requests in their system by themselves, where they see the progress of all individual change requests coming through the process with the integration of the IT Director informing the exchange and updating the status of the task development. 

In October 2019 SIJ revamped and migrated its Corporate Business Intelligence system to a new MicroStategy platform. The project took six months and provided SIJ with an extensive corporate Business Intelligence system with more than 180 different dashboards covering production, finance, sales, procurement, HR, Legal and investment functional areas. The overwhelming majority of the data now uploads automatically and the business intelligence tool has created a unified reporting system across the group utilizing the same source of data in order to integrate it. “There was huge involvement of the business customers with Oracle BI and this year, we moved to this new platform,” Arshinov explains. “The front end of the system was changed (from Oracle BI) to MicroStrategy for usability and a unified interface. Now, SIJ has a system that looks the same no matter the device it’s accessed from. This project allows us to organize and develop the team that tests the trial usage and develops the processes of the PMO (Project Management Office) inside the IT function.”

The BI System contains the entire spectrum of corporate data and allows SIJ to move quickly and transparently when taking a management decision, while reducing the number of mistakes, misunderstandings and time-consuming meetings.

The next system to be unified across the group was the Salesforce CRM system, which is now fully integrated. Then, an Oracle supplier portal followed, which opened the possibility of organizing tenders, thus massively simplifying the purchasing process. Oracle Innovation Management is another successful implementation, which, although a relatively small project, has had a big influence on the business transformation and innovation through increased flexibility. “It is also used to motivate people to suggest improvements and new innovative ideas,” he says.

So, what have been the major successes, according to Arshinov, following the ongoing digital transformation at SIJ? “The main difference between now and then was that each individual company was living alone, and I see now that the IT function in this case is unifying the people and allowing them to speak in a single language. It doesn’t matter if it’s a steel center or a big plant,” he explains. Costs have been dramatically reduced too, outsourcing being a prime example. In 2016, SIJ was spending more than 70% annual budget for operational external services. For 2020, that part of budget reduced to 40%. Meanwhile, the capital investments part of the budget has grown from 4% in 2016 to 56% in 2020.

The implementation of a Supply Chain Planning system (from Quintiq) incorporating the Oracle Business Suite, has improved the delivery, safety and performance of SIJ’s plants. “We improved Delivery Performance OTIFF (on time and in full) of a stainless steel plant by 12.8% in six months,” he enthuses. “And we shortened the production cycle by 15,4% from ordering to shipping, which is a brilliant result within six months of going live.”

In SIJ Matal Ravne has replaced the melt shop technology system and entire plant manufacturing execution system to replace the obsolete legacy system – which had zero planning functionality – with PSI Metals. “First of all, we’re increasing the level of understanding and the knowledge of the internal IT team, while dramatically decreasing project cost by involving internal specialists into the supplier team. That allows us to save several hundred thousand Euros of project budget and it’s a win-win situation for the supplier as well. First of all, the supplier is receiving our team, which knows the production and the limitations and has extensive inside knowledge. At the end of the day, the commercial value, in this case, is the cheaper price. Cheaper than anybody else is able to receive.”

Another and no less important project for Sij Metal Ravne is the joint development work with Comtrade Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). Laboratories in metallurgy companies are complicated and highly demanding environments with unique processes required for quality control of all products and this solution covers and improves core laboratory processes and will be highly integrated with the PSI manufacturing execution system from one side and Oracle ERP on the other.

Through this massive digital transformation, SIJ has also managed to increase quality control through sophisticated AI, which has massively impacted its operations. The acquisition of scrap metal, a major influence on SIJ’s bottom line, can now be influenced through advanced detection systems that can detect impurities, thus representing huge savings when it comes to procurement. “The conservative saving is €1.4m,” he says.

The digital transformation at SIJ is touching every aspect of the company’s growth and is certainly an ongoing journey rather than a destination. “We are not an IT company, that’s understood,” Arshinov says. “But we are supporting services inside the business, and of course our main concern will always be supporting the production of steel. But we’re not there yet.”