IMPA CAST

About IMPA CAST

For over four decades, the International Marine Purchasing Association has been the voice of the marine procurement industry. Led by a strong group of global shipowners and maritime suppliers, we bring forward a diverse portfolio of world-class products and initiatives that provide value to our members. More than 900 of the world’s leading ship-owning, ship- operating and supplying companies are part of our network.

Publisher

The IMPA Team

Category

business · education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

27 Jan 2021

Latest episode

19 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

33 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   19 Aug 2026

   IMPA London 2026 Preview: The GMPC with Paolo Magonio, Head of Group Procurement and Services, Scorpio Ship Management & GMPC Chairman

   Maritime procurement has been fragmented for decades. Can a group of peers sitting at the same table actually fix that, or is standardisation just wishful thinking in an industry this global and this varied? In this preview episode for IMPA London 2026, Steve Alexander sits down with Paolo Magonio, Head of Group Procurement and Services at Scorpio and Chair of the Global Maritime Procurement Council (GMPC), to unpack what the GMPC actually is, why it exists, and what it's already delivered in its first 18 months. Paolo doesn't dress it up. The GMPC didn't start with a crisis; it started with the realisation that companies were quietly solving the same problems in isolation, badly. From a founding handful, the group has grown to more than 30 member companies representing more than 5,000 ships, and it's already shipped tangible output: a standardised VAT exemption letter, with an end-user declaration standard next. Paolo is candid too about where AI fits, and where the real bottleneck still sits: not technology, but people. In this conversation: Why the GMPC formed alongside IMPA rather than inside it, and how the two organisations divide the work Inside the GMPC's structure: the "forum" where ideas spark, and the three active work streams: digitalisation, regulation and standardisation, and talent The difference between digitisation and digitalisation, and why Paolo says the industry has to make that shift Getting competitors to agree on shared data standards without giving away competitive advantage Why the talent work stream keeps coming back to one question: how do we make maritime procurement "sexy" to a graduate who could just go and work for Amazon Paolo's honest answer on what hasn't gone smoothly, and what success looks like for the GMPC five years from now How to join the GMPC, membership is free, but you'll need the right DNA This is part of a series previewing what to expect at IMPA London 2026, where several GMPC council members, including Paolo, will be on stage and available to meet in person. IMPA London runs 22–23 September at the QE II Centre, Westminster. The full event programme is live on the IMPA website now, and you can find out more about the GMPC at gmpc.org. Don't forget you can also watch the Podcast via IMPA's YouTube channel - [here] 🎧 Subscribe so you don't miss the rest of the series, and drop us your questions on the GMPC and the future of maritime procurement; we might feature them in September.

2. 

   11 Aug 2026

   IMPA London 2026 Preview: Talent Development in Procurement with Joanne McCulloch (V.Group)

   Shipping doesn't have a graduate problem, it has an imagination problem. So how do you get the next generation excited about a career they didn't even know existed? In this preview episode for IMPA London 2026, Steve Alexander is joined by IMPA's Jasmine Schestak, Programme Manager and Head of Sustainability, for a look at talent development, education, and growing the next generation of maritime procurement professionals, followed by an interview with Joanne "Jo" McCulloch, Global Head of Fleet Procurement and Logistics at V.Group. Jo's story is the argument in itself. She walked into shipping straight from school in a small Scottish mining village where "management in shipping" wasn't even on the careers radar, and 30-odd years later she's leading procurement globally. Now she's asking the industry to be honest about what it takes to build the next Jo: less gatekeeping, more graduate opportunity, and a genuine plan for what happens to expertise when AI removes the ground-floor admin work people used to learn on. In this conversation: • Why the IMPA Education programme exists, and how a fully online, 24/7 modular course is reaching career-changers and school leavers from India to Europe • Jo's own path from office junior to Global Head of Procurement, and what it says about how talent actually develops in this industry • Whether AI closes the door on entry-level roles, or simply changes what "entry-level" means • The generational divide Jo describes: professionals who "still believe supplier engagement is the backbone of how we get things done" versus new talent for whom AI is second nature • The Global Maritime Procurement Council's (GMPC) role in making sure the industry moves forward together, without leaving anyone behind • Why Jo argues procurement has to stop being "a feeder into" the technical conversation and start being recognised as a profession worth investing in

3. 

   29 Jul 2026

   IMPA London 2026 Preview: AI in Procurement with Rick Ackermann (BW LPG)

   AI is transforming procurement faster than anyone predicted — but is it making the profession sharper, or quietly eroding the expertise behind it? In this preview episode for IMPA London 2026, Steve Alexander sits down with Rick Ackermann, Head of Procurement at BW LPG and keynote speaker for this year's AI in Maritime Procurement day, alongside IMPA's Dom Scott. Rick doesn't hold back. He's candid about embracing AI in his own team's daily work — faster tenders, sharper contract analysis, real efficiency gains — while raising a concern that's harder to ignore: what happens to procurement expertise when the operational grunt work disappears before new professionals ever learn it? In this conversation: The shift from operational to strategic procurement — and what it means for career development Why Gen Beta procurement professionals may have zero reference point for how the job used to be done The role of the Global Maritime Procurement Council (GMPC) in sharing talent and knowledge industry-wide Why Dom calls AI "a puppy" — always enthusiastic, not always right A first look at the debate format coming to IMPA London — because this conversation deserves more than a one-way presentation This is the first in a series previewing what to expect at IMPA London 2026. The full event programme is live on the IMPA website now. 🎧 Subscribe so you don't miss the rest of the series, and drop us your questions on AI in procurement — we might feature them in the live debate at IMPA London.

Reach and audience

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YouTube views

9,786

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Podcast Authority Score: 19 / 100

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Quality

8

Social presence

0

YouTube

74

Engagement

0