Agenda

• We invite participants to start the conference with positive conversations over coffee. A professional networker and top voice of Polish LinkedIn - Grzegorz Turniak - will guard the cordial atmosphere and welcome guests.

• The official opening of the 10th edition of PROCON POLZAK. The conference will be hosted by the Master of Polish Speech - Kama Kępczyńska-Kaleta

• Summary of the 10th edition of PROCON POLZAK

The end of Globalization or its simple Reshaping? New challanges and responsibilities for Procurement Function

• Automation of time-consuming tasks, leading to efficiency gains.
• Increased accuracy in demand forecasting and inventory management.
• Machine learning for intelligent sourcing and supplier selection.
• Real-time market insights for data-driven decision-making.
• Improved risk mitigation in the supply chain.
• AI-powered contract management for streamlined processes.
• Enhanced supplier relationship management and performance tracking.
• Fraud detection and prevention in procurement activities.
• Continuous improvement through AI-driven feedback analysis.
• Cost savings and optimized procurement processes.

In the digital age we now live in, technology is becoming key to transforming traditional business processes. Artificial intelligence, once seen as a distant vision of the future, is now becoming an everyday reality for many businesses. Join us for an interactive panel - let's find out together:

• Is AI the real future of IT procurement or a trap for those who are not prepared enough?
• How can artificial intelligence optimise your procurement processes? - help speed up negotiations, or even predict future market trends?
• Is AI a support or a threat to CPOs and technology experts?

Technology can certainly enhance your procurement strategy and influence the future of your organisation's purchasing processes, but can you uncritically rely on AI recommendations

Let's find out together.

• In recent years, massive supply chain disruption has put Procurement in the spotlight
• More than ever, Procurement has become a strategic function, capable of delivering significant business value by rapidly adapting supplier portfolios, mitigating business and operational risk, and sourcing critical resources at speed
• To build on this promise, though, the function needs to adopt new “ways of working” and this discussion will speak to five specific evolutions that must come together to enable Procurement going forward - including aligning with corporate goals, evolving the role of category managers and embedding ecosystem-led digitalisation.

• Demonstration of NextBuy's sourcing process using supplier recommendation system

Mini workshops will allow you to get inspired by this approach and gain a fresh perspective on specifying procurement needs.

• Fundamentals of the Design Thinking methodology as inspiration for collaboration on innovation within the company,
• Defining procurement needs in a maximally open way,
• Creating opportunities for triggering innovation within the company.

• Sustainability in the heart of Shell’s strategy
• Corporate Social Responsibility. Role of Procurement.
• How to initiate change rather than follow them?

• Three aspects on the road to innovation in the purchasing process: Communication. Planning. Courage.
• Discussing the involvement of buyers in positive business change using case studies of speakers' experiences as examples.
• What needs to be done to make the importance of purchasing in the organization worthwhile.

• What is the state of Polish corporate IT fleets (survey results)?
• What is the Total Cost of Ownership for IT equipment? What costs to consider when choosing equipment?
• Device as a Service - how to optimize TCO within a single monthly fee?
• What is repurchase and how does it affect a company's carbon footprint?
• Other services to extend the life cycle of equipment

• Itegrations with ERP systems
• Single creditor model
• Hosting catalogs of your own suppliers

• Reduction and replacement of plastic in packaging materials based on the example of projects implemented in Coca-Cola HBC Polska Sp. z o.o

CO2 calculations are often seen as a necessary evil - expenses incurred to demonstrate commitment to sustainable development. Nothing could be further from the truth! There's a lot of synergy with other strategic processes that often go unspoken: cost optimization and risk management.

• What's ahead: Sustainable development acts in Europe
• First steps before you run - where to start
• Carbon footprint of products
• Carbon footprint of transportation routes
• Suppliers unwilling to cooperate?

An extraordinary journey into the world of modern negotiations!

• How to combine firmness and determination in negotiations with building lasting, valuable business relationships?
• JHow to deal with difficult situations and conflicts in a constructive way?
• The latest negotiation strategies to achieve goals and build trust.

The first part of the presentation will be entirely dedicated to data:

• What power do data hold today, in which direction is the world heading in terms of their accumulation, and what impact does the provision of artificial intelligence have on us?
• In what direction can artificial intelligence development progress?

A journey through technologies developed in Poland and worldwide, striving to solve the five biggest crises – healthcare, climate, relationships, resources, and the economy. Selected examples respond to today's needs and significantly outpace the contemporary world. All of this, thanks to data.
An example of DeepMind's functioning - the creators of AlphaFold.

Should we approach every technological solution with opto-skepticism today?

• Procurement spent the last 25 years building complex supply chains. Now they are getting disrupted. Is near-shoring the answer?
• Procurement faces increasing logistics costs. What is the solution: technology, optimization, new strategy, or prayer?
• Procurement has to cope with insecure and extremely volatile energy costs. Is there a real, long-term fix?
• Procurement has to react to environmental turbulence. Are agility and resilience effective or just buzzwords?
• Procurement is overwhelmed with the speed and depth of supply market change. Is innovation a friend or foe?
• Should we see all this as a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity or talk to a psychiatrist?

• Technological Disruptions: How will AI, blockchain, and advanced analytics redefine procurement processes?
• Sustainability Focus: The rise of green procurement and the drive towards ethical sourcing.
• Globalization vs. Localization: Navigating the shifting dynamics between global supply chains and the push for local sourcing.
• Skills & Training: The evolving role of the procurement professional and the essential skills needed for the future.
• Regulatory Landscapes: Understanding potential policy shifts and their impacts on global procurement strategies.

• Why being creative is in the nature of Procurement?
• What creativity consists in, in a VUCA world?
• What are the necessary core skills?
• What are the lateral skills helping creativity?
• How to become creative?
• How to maintain and nurture creativity?
• How to promote our creativity throughout Procurement?
• How transformational can Procurement creativity be?

Transformation: a buzzword in every modern corporation. We are transforming ourselves by leaps and bounds. It is not uncommon to have several or even more than a dozen global programmes going on at the same time, which are intended to put our company in a better position vis-à-vis our competitors than before. Some of these programmes actually achieve the intended results. Many, however, are not so lucky. And the reasons for failure vary. Usually, however, at the very beginning, someone makes some decision that no one else will question. Let's take a look at a few such decisions and then - perhaps - learn some lessons for the future

What else to remember before initiating the procurement process?
What questions to ask suppliers during the process?
The regulatory environment of AI - what is necessary and what is worth knowing?
The specifics of contracts for AI solution implementations - what makes them distinctive?

• An overview of IT purchasing and Marketplace issues
• Harnessing the power of Marketplace
• The impact of automation on time savings
• Time for carbon neutrality

1. Competency trends in purchasing
2. Career paths in purchasing
3. How to effectively plan your career in purchasing?
4. Expectations of employers/leaders vs. expectations of purchasing employees
5. Q&A session

• Better understanding of ESG issues in global value chains
• Increased importance of due diligence regulations
• Establish an appropriate due diligence framework
• Results of the Business Sustainability Index: from 2017-2022 on the example of Polish companies, as assessed by Ecovadis.

Business often equates innovation with entrepreneurship: find an idea, build a team to execute it, and seek funding sources. This lecture will present a different perspective: innovation from the inside, as seen through the mind of someone trying to initiate, change, and improve something. Research shows that grand businesses rarely start from grand ideas – more often than not, they're simple intuitions that aren't groundbreaking. Subsequent processes of prototyping problems and learning from mistakes allow these intuitions to scale, potentially forming innovations that ensure business profitability. However, the process of giving structure to these intuitions is empirical, nonlinear, and gradual, involving the knowledge and skills of others. Stories of business innovations are inspiring when we know the outcome, but the beginning and the middle are paths, errors, and continuous learning. Nonetheless, we can study this process and subsequently describe, explain, and refine it, so as to create a compendium of innovative buyer best practices