The Procurement Software Podcast

About The Procurement Software Podcast

Procurement software, or "Procuretech", is a game changer. A key enabler and driver of rapid change in the profession. Want to find out how to significantly improve your operational efficiency and enable more to be done with fewer resources? This show is for Procurement, Purchasing, Supply Chain and Finance professionals, as well as C-Suite executives. We showcase all the best new software and bring you the latest trends and thought leadership from both myself and other industry leaders. We'll show you how technology can drive a competitive advantage. Show notes and further info available at: https://entproc.com/podcast Follow us on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/entproc Connect with me at: https://linkedin.com/in/james-meads/ Book an intro call here: https://calendly.com/jamesmeads/30minscall

Publisher

James Meads

Category

business · business · technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Mar 2020

Latest episode

27 Aug 2026

Latest episodes

172 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   27 Aug 2026

   Budgeting Season Meets AI Sprawl - Justin Etkin and Michael Shields from Tropic

   EPISODE SUMMARY: Tropic co-founder Justin Etkin (newly appointed CEO) and Head of Procurement Michael Shields join James to unpack how AI is upending traditional software buying. They explain why AI-native spend is growing 82 to 127% year-over-year while overall software spend is only up about 20%, and why consumption-based pricing makes the old seat-based approval playbook useless. The conversation covers Tropic's shift from a services business into a data-driven intelligence platform, the launch of its new AI Consumption Management product, and why 2027 budget season will be far less forgiving of AI overspend than 2026 was. For procurement leaders heading into planning season, it's a practical look at where the real risk, and opportunity, now sits. GUEST BIOS: Justin Etkin co-founded Tropic in 2019 as COO alongside David Campbell, and was named CEO in August 2026 as the company shifted from a services-led procurement business into a proprietary data and AI intelligence platform. Before Tropic, he worked at Bain. Today Tropic manages over $23 billion in software spend and has delivered $425 million in customer savings, drawing on intelligence from more than 100,000 completed negotiations. Michael Shields is Head of Procurement & Strategy at Tropic, where he runs procurement for the company that sells procurement software. He built the procurement function from the ground up at Qualtrics, later led procurement at MX, and began his career at Honeywell. He's also taught supply chain management as an adjunct professor at Brigham Young University and is a well-known voice on LinkedIn for making procurement's business value accessible. KEY TAKEAWAYS: Why running procurement inside a procurement-software company exposes the "reputation problem" the function has, and how data and supplier intelligence is now table stakes, not a nice-to-have. Why AI-native software spend is growing 82 to 127% year-over-year (versus about 20% for software overall), and why that gap comes down to procurement not being in the room early enough. Why consumption-based (token/usage) pricing breaks the old seat-based approval process, and what teams need instead: real-time alerting, commit-vs-actual visibility, and leverage to renegotiate before overages hit. Why 2026's "experimentation pass" on AI budget overruns won't repeat in 2027, since CFOs will expect hard caps and much tighter forecasting. Why market intelligence and benchmarking data, not just workflow or process tools, are becoming the real differentiator procurement teams need to prove their value to finance. Why ignoring mid-tail and long-tail vendor spend, not just the biggest "fathead" contracts, is where the hidden risk and savings are piling up. TIMESTAMPS: [00:02] Guest Introductions: From COO to CEO, and Running Procurement for a Procurement Company [04:25] Tropic's Evolution: From Services Business to Proprietary Data and AI Intelligence Platform [09:20] Why AI-Native Spend Is Outpacing Traditional Software (82 to 127% YoY Growth) [20:00] Inside AI Consumption Management: Tackling Runaway, Usage-Based Spend [24:28] Why Market Intelligence Is Becoming Table Stakes for Procurement Teams [37:19] Usage-Based Pricing's Future, and Where to Learn More About Tropic RESOURCES & LINKS: Connect with Justin Etkin on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/justintropic/) Connect with Michael Shields on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/shieldsmichaeld/) Check out Tropic (https://tropicapp.io/) Download our Tech Map for Mid-Market (https://resources.entproc.com/tech-map-for-mid-market-businesses/) Download our Tech Map for SMEs (https://resources.entproc.com/tech-map-for-smes/) Find your perfect procurement tech solution in our Software Finder App (https://procurementsoftware.entproc.com/) Sign up for the EntProc Newsletter (https://entproc.com/newsletter/) Book an Intro Call (https://calendly.com/jamesmeads/30minscall) and let's talk all things Digital Procurement! Connect with James on LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/james-meads/)

2. 

   30 Jul 2026

   Construction Procurement and its Black Box - Eshan Jayamanne from Krane

   EPISODE SUMMARY Eshan Jayamanne is the founder and CEO of Krane, an AI-native procurement and material management platform built specifically for construction. In this episode, he explains why 95% of construction procurement is still run on spreadsheets and email, how that gap costs projects time and money, and why general ERPs and project management tools like Procore or Autodesk were never built to solve it. James and Eshan dig into how Krane's AI agents handle the "grunt work" of tracking bids, materials, and lead times while keeping humans firmly in the decision-making loop. It's a sharp look at how AI is starting to change one of construction's most overlooked cost centres. GUEST BIO Eshan Jayamanne is the Founder and CEO of Krane, an AI-powered construction supply chain platform. He combines deep construction industry expertise with a background in engineering, analytics, and technology. Before founding Krane in 2023, he worked on major projects for organisations including Microsoft, Chevron, UCSF, and Caltrans, focused on productivity, supply chain optimisation, and lean construction, experience that exposed the industry's persistent procurement and coordination gaps. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why 95% of construction procurement teams, even on billion-dollar projects, are still coordinating materials through spreadsheets and email How a single overlooked lead-time change on a procurement log can quietly derail a construction schedule Why general ERPs and construction platforms like Procore and Autodesk solve upstream design coordination but not downstream procurement risk How Krane's AI agents (like Milo for reading specs and Chase for supplier follow-up) remove admin work while keeping vendor selection decisions with humans Why building a "data moat" from project to project is becoming a competitive advantage in construction procurement Why supply chain risk is now considered the second-biggest constraint on data centre builds, after power supply TIMESTAMPS [00:00] Guest introduction & Krane's rapid growth to $21B in active projects [01:50] The construction site problem that sparked Krane [08:06] Where procurement projects actually fall apart [11:52] Why ERPs and construction industry software tools fall short on procurement [16:39] Inside the AI agents: Milo, Chase, and the human-in-the-loop [28:41] Case studies, the future of AI in construction, and where to find Krane RESOURCES & LINKS Connect with Eshan Jayamanne on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/eshan-jayamanne-pe-95b85724/) Book a demo of Krane (https://www.krane.tech/) Download our Tech Map for Mid-Market (https://resources.entproc.com/tech-map-for-mid-market-businesses/) Download our Tech Map for SMEs (https://resources.entproc.com/tech-map-for-smes/) Find your perfect procurement tech solution in our Software Finder App (https://procurementsoftware.entproc.com/) Sign up for the EntProc Newsletter (https://entproc.com/newsletter/) Book an Intro Call (https://calendly.com/jamesmeads/30minscall) and let's talk all things Digital Procurement! Connect with James on LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/james-meads/)

3. 

   25 Jun 2026

   The Category That Breaks Every Legacy Suite - Dheev Arulmani from Valdera

   EPISODE SUMMARY Dheev Arulmani, COO and co-founder of Valdera, joins James to unpack one of procurement tech's most underserved areas: chemicals and raw materials sourcing. He explains why this $6 trillion, hyper-fragmented category breaks generic source-to-pay suites, and how Valdera's verticalised, AI-native approach handles infinite spec permutations, regulation and supplier data. Essential listening for direct materials buyers and anyone weighing up whether to choose a horizontal suite over a specialist platform. GUEST BIO Dheev Arulmani is co-founder and COO of Valdera, the AI-native sourcing platform for chemicals and raw materials he launched in 2021 with his sister Sruti. Previously an Engagement Manager at McKinsey in its chemicals and agriculture practice, he led supply chain and procurement transformations for large manufacturers. He holds a BS in Chemical Engineering and Economics from MIT and earlier worked in electrochemistry research and venture investing. KEY TAKEAWAYS Why chemicals can't be sourced like finished goods, infinite spec permutations demand purpose-built data infrastructure How verticalised platforms beat one-size-fits-all suites for complex categories Why "start small, prove value, scale up" beats boiling the ocean How storytelling across stakeholders unlocks procurement's real value TIMESTAMPS [00:02] Meet Dheev and Valdera [05:11] The upstream data problem [07:19] Where legacy suites fall down [32:55] Key skills that direct procurement teams need [34:15] The future of source-to-pay suites [38:14] Where to find Valdera RESOURCES & LINKS Connect with Dheev Arulmani on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dheevarulmani) Book a demo of Valdera (https://www.valdera.com/book-a-demo/) Download our Tech Map for Mid-Market (https://resources.entproc.com/tech-map-for-mid-market-businesses/) Download our Tech Map for SMEs (https://resources.entproc.com/tech-map-for-smes/) Find your perfect procurement tech solution in our Software Finder App (https://procurementsoftware.entproc.com/) Sign up for the EntProc Newsletter (https://entproc.com/newsletter/) Book an Intro Call (https://calendly.com/jamesmeads/30minscall) and let's talk all things Digital Procurement! Connect with James on LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com/in/james-meads/)

Who has been a guest on The Procurement Software Podcast

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Oscar Fernandez
• Brajan Gatys
• Harry Wilde
• Leo Cavalcanti
• Jano Bermudes

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 49 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

64

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

85

Contact The Procurement Software Podcast

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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