{"id":33094,"date":"2020-07-30T06:20:19","date_gmt":"2020-07-30T11:20:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/?page_id=33094"},"modified":"2022-09-21T03:14:58","modified_gmt":"2022-09-21T08:14:58","slug":"ai-in-procurement-podcast","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/ai-in-procurement-podcast\/","title":{"rendered":"AI in Procurement [Podcast &#038; Best Practices]"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"33094\" class=\"elementor elementor-33094\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-86856f0 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"95076\" data-id=\"86856f0\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-af41e50\" data-eae-slider=\"89151\" data-id=\"af41e50\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-50d7f37 elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"50d7f37\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9c443c0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9c443c0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\"><a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/ai-in-procurement\/\">AI in Procurement<\/a><\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9fcc94b elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"9fcc94b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">AI-Powered Spend Intelligence - Sreeram Venkitakrishnan from Simfoni<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-789d18f elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"789d18f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-bb27add elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"8005\" data-id=\"bb27add\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-b58afb8\" data-eae-slider=\"57765\" data-id=\"b58afb8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-13ac2f0\" data-eae-slider=\"77127\" data-id=\"13ac2f0\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3859443 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"3859443\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/free-supplier-diversity-dashboard\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/AI-in-Procurement.gif\" class=\"attachment-full size-full wp-image-33105\" alt=\"AI in Procurement\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-33 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8e5dbe3\" data-eae-slider=\"36172\" data-id=\"8e5dbe3\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4223c6d elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"51069\" data-id=\"4223c6d\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-86c82e8\" data-eae-slider=\"74389\" data-id=\"86c82e8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a554a45 elementor-widget elementor-widget-audio\" data-id=\"a554a45\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"audio.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-soundcloud-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/episode\/2CmHrVR0U2aFbwnzA8W0MW?si=ArFNViCgRQ-rPEDwfTNuyA&amp;utm_source=oembed&amp;auto_play=false&amp;buying=false&amp;liking=true&amp;download=true&amp;sharing=true&amp;show_comments=false&amp;show_playcount=true&amp;show_user=false&amp;show_artwork=false&amp;color=116EB6\"><\/iframe>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6a15972 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"46458\" data-id=\"6a15972\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-49512ac\" data-eae-slider=\"56134\" data-id=\"49512ac\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-19b18dd elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"19b18dd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Episode Overview<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1d3f999 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"1d3f999\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The power of AI fuels Simfoni Analytics&rsquo; award-winning technologies to help our clients make fast, well-informed <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/procurement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>procurement<\/strong><\/a> decisions. Simfoni Analytics&rsquo; Head of Product Sreeram Venkitakrishnan recently appeared on &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/procurementsoftware.site\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Procuretech Podcast<\/a>,&rdquo; hosted by <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/procurement\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Procurement\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">procurement<\/a> expert and consultant James Meads to discuss how Simfoni leverages Artificial Intelligence in its procurement technology. Learn how Simfoni&rsquo;s AI works to make strategic <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/sourcing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>sourcing<\/strong><\/a> significantly easier for our spend and procurement analysts.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-018786a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"42115\" data-id=\"018786a\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0f6e229\" data-eae-slider=\"22717\" data-id=\"0f6e229\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-220f26c elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"220f26c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<h2 class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">Podcast Summary on AI-Powered Spend Intelligence <\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-171a73b elementor-widget elementor-widget-spacer\" data-id=\"171a73b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"spacer.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-spacer-inner\"><\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f26d8d9 elementor-icon-list--layout-traditional elementor-list-item-link-full_width elementor-widget elementor-widget-icon-list\" data-id=\"f26d8d9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"icon-list.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"elementor-icon-list-items\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-robot\" viewbox=\"0 0 640 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M32,224H64V416H32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,0,384V256A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,32,224Zm512-48V448a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64,64H160a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64-64V176a79.974,79.974,0,0,1,80-80H288V32a32,32,0,0,1,64,0V96H464A79.974,79.974,0,0,1,544,176ZM264,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,264,256Zm-8,128H192v32h64Zm96,0H288v32h64ZM456,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,456,256Zm-8,128H384v32h64ZM640,256V384a31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1-32,32H576V224h32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,640,256Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">Simfoni&rsquo;s best in class <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/spend-analytics\/what-is-spend-analytics-why-and-how-it-is-implemented\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"24\" title=\"Spend Analytics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spend Analytics<\/a> uses AI-based technology, to cleanse, normalize, and enrich large sets of transactional data and assign categories. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-robot\" viewbox=\"0 0 640 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M32,224H64V416H32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,0,384V256A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,32,224Zm512-48V448a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64,64H160a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64-64V176a79.974,79.974,0,0,1,80-80H288V32a32,32,0,0,1,64,0V96H464A79.974,79.974,0,0,1,544,176ZM264,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,264,256Zm-8,128H192v32h64Zm96,0H288v32h64ZM456,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,456,256Zm-8,128H384v32h64ZM640,256V384a31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1-32,32H576V224h32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,640,256Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">The AI <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/spend-analysis-guide\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"23\" title=\"Spend Analysis\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend analysis<\/span><\/a> tool uses natural language processing (NLP) to quickly capture and categorize data for products that can be found across different categories. This provides better taxonomy and class category identification coming from multiple sources such as millions of Purchase Order, Invoice line items, P-Card, and Travel data. <\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-robot\" viewbox=\"0 0 640 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M32,224H64V416H32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,0,384V256A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,32,224Zm512-48V448a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64,64H160a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64-64V176a79.974,79.974,0,0,1,80-80H288V32a32,32,0,0,1,64,0V96H464A79.974,79.974,0,0,1,544,176ZM264,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,264,256Zm-8,128H192v32h64Zm96,0H288v32h64ZM456,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,456,256Zm-8,128H384v32h64ZM640,256V384a31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1-32,32H576V224h32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,640,256Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">The first data pass can classify 60-70%, greatly reducing the time and manual labor needed. A simple, Excel-like interface allows human analysts to approve the categorization and taxonomy, as well as modify misclassified data to make future data classification passes are cleaner.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-robot\" viewbox=\"0 0 640 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M32,224H64V416H32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,0,384V256A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,32,224Zm512-48V448a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64,64H160a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64-64V176a79.974,79.974,0,0,1,80-80H288V32a32,32,0,0,1,64,0V96H464A79.974,79.974,0,0,1,544,176ZM264,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,264,256Zm-8,128H192v32h64Zm96,0H288v32h64ZM456,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,456,256Zm-8,128H384v32h64ZM640,256V384a31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1-32,32H576V224h32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,640,256Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">Simfoni&rsquo;s Opportunity Assessment module utilizes our 1st party data compared with customers' data to help immediately identify <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/cost-reduction\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"17\" title=\"Cost Reduction\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">cost reduction<\/span><\/a> and avoidance opportunities, such as supply consolidation, price, variance, payment on rationalizations.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-robot\" viewbox=\"0 0 640 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M32,224H64V416H32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,0,384V256A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,32,224Zm512-48V448a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64,64H160a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64-64V176a79.974,79.974,0,0,1,80-80H288V32a32,32,0,0,1,64,0V96H464A79.974,79.974,0,0,1,544,176ZM264,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,264,256Zm-8,128H192v32h64Zm96,0H288v32h64ZM456,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,456,256Zm-8,128H384v32h64ZM640,256V384a31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1-32,32H576V224h32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,640,256Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">The Supply Chain Risk module pulls from third party providers and other news sources to provide category and <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/sourcing\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Sourcing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">sourcing<\/a> managers with insights and the ability to analyze risk based on current industry developments.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-robot\" viewbox=\"0 0 640 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M32,224H64V416H32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,0,384V256A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,32,224Zm512-48V448a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64,64H160a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64-64V176a79.974,79.974,0,0,1,80-80H288V32a32,32,0,0,1,64,0V96H464A79.974,79.974,0,0,1,544,176ZM264,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,264,256Zm-8,128H192v32h64Zm96,0H288v32h64ZM456,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,456,256Zm-8,128H384v32h64ZM640,256V384a31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1-32,32H576V224h32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,640,256Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\">With the analytics data <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">dashboard<\/span>s, Simfoni customers can gain visibility to analyze vendors and categories.  Sourcing Managers can pair human analysis with data to identify <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">cost savings<\/span> and elements of risk, as well as shorten decision-making processes.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<li class=\"elementor-icon-list-item\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-icon\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"e-font-icon-svg e-fas-robot\" viewbox=\"0 0 640 512\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"><path d=\"M32,224H64V416H32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,0,384V256A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,32,224Zm512-48V448a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64,64H160a64.06328,64.06328,0,0,1-64-64V176a79.974,79.974,0,0,1,80-80H288V32a32,32,0,0,1,64,0V96H464A79.974,79.974,0,0,1,544,176ZM264,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,264,256Zm-8,128H192v32h64Zm96,0H288v32h64ZM456,256a40,40,0,1,0-40,40A39.997,39.997,0,0,0,456,256Zm-8,128H384v32h64ZM640,256V384a31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1-32,32H576V224h32A31.96166,31.96166,0,0,1,640,256Z\"><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-icon-list-text\"><span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">Spend analysis<\/span> with AI technology drives faster, cleaner product and supplier classification that can be repeated frequently, provides analyses for better procurement negotiation and decision-making, as well as forecasting purchases for planning activities.<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-d30a20f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"54414\" data-id=\"d30a20f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cbd2fe5\" data-eae-slider=\"62110\" data-id=\"cbd2fe5\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4e819ee elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"4e819ee\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f40b181\" data-eae-slider=\"27675\" data-id=\"f40b181\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-371ad88 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"371ad88\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Welcome to the Procuretech podcast, bringing insights and inspiration into how digital technology is shaping our profession. I&rsquo;m your host, James Meads. Tea drinker, ex-pat. Definitely not your typical consultant. Yes. Hello, greetings, wherever you are. And welcome to another edition of the Procuretech podcast, where every week we bring you news stories and insights into everything, <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">digital procurement<\/span> from service providers to thought leaders, right the way through to actual case studies of successful transformations. And on today&rsquo;s show, we&rsquo;re going to be talking all about <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend analysis<\/span> and anyone that follows me on LinkedIn, one of the things you&rsquo;ll know is I&rsquo;m all about understanding your spend. So without any further ado, I&rsquo;m going to introduce you to today&rsquo;s guest. He is Sreeram Venkitakrishnan from the company Simfoni who has developed a tool that uses&nbsp;<span style=\"text-align: left;\">Artificial Intelligence<\/span>&nbsp;to leverage smart <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend analysis<\/span>. So I&rsquo;m really looking forward to this conversation today, because I think I&rsquo;m going to learn a lot more about what this tool can do and how some of the sort of insights into the future of how we may do <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/strategic-sourcing\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Strategic Sourcing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">strategic sourcing<\/span><\/a> and how some of what was traditionally seen as being some of the more strategic end of the spectrum in terms of sourcing skills may be able to leverage AI going forward to make our tasks easier.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3b0a1c6 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3b0a1c6\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>So Sreeram welcome to the podcast. First of all, maybe tell us a little bit about yourself and what Simfoni does, and then we&rsquo;ll jump straight in.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-e1ccbf2 elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"72590\" data-id=\"e1ccbf2\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d5e8ec3\" data-eae-slider=\"24351\" data-id=\"d5e8ec3\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7c3184e elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7c3184e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Right, James, thank you so much for having me. So Simfoni my company has got two main products, we are becoming a technology company. So two main products, Spend Analytics, which everybody knows. The second one is something different that we are doing is called spend automation. We have a bunch of different solutions coming together on that side, primarily focusing on mid-market and large companies, helping them with their <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/tail-spend-management-guide\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"11\" title=\"Tail Spend\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">tail spend<\/span><\/a>, indirect spend, sorting of categories, automating how they purchase those categories and stuff.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-12e9e5c\" data-eae-slider=\"37535\" data-id=\"12e9e5c\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-db42fe5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"db42fe5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4c12d67 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"949\" data-id=\"4c12d67\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-511aa09\" data-eae-slider=\"22668\" data-id=\"511aa09\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61a33ef elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"61a33ef\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-a25d732\" data-eae-slider=\"66170\" data-id=\"a25d732\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-50ee732 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"50ee732\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Great. Okay. So one of the reasons I was keen to get Simfoni to come on the show is because a lot of what the tool claims to do is what we&rsquo;ve been accustomed to seeing as being sort of key procurement skills, first <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">strategic sourcing<\/span> and <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/category-management\/what-is-category-management-how-and-why-is-it-important\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"21\" title=\"Category Management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">category management<\/span><\/a> professionals. Whereas a lot of other software that&rsquo;s out there tends to, to facilitate the process more for transactional and operational buying and easy of use or make that less administrative. So in essence, what you do is a <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/spend-management-101\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"8\" title=\"Spend Management\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend management<\/span><\/a> tool, but the signature line, your website is AI-powered spend intelligence. And I wanted to dive into that a little bit because that&rsquo;s, that&rsquo;s a really interesting concept. So maybe you can explain to anyone that doesn&rsquo;t really understand it, the capabilities of AI, and what that can do in the <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend management<\/span> space.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7fc5ef7 elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"4956\" data-id=\"7fc5ef7\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-abae425\" data-eae-slider=\"84620\" data-id=\"abae425\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8268d6a elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8268d6a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Sure. So the Artificial Intelligence, which we talk about on our website is primarily to <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend analysis<\/span> that you would see. We have some elements AI capabilities on the spend automation side of the business with the major application that we have <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend analysis<\/span> software. So when you talk about Artificial Intelligence, typically AI is a larger umbrella of this intelligence and then under that, you have ML (Machine Learning) and different other areas. So if you take AI is fundamental for anybody, kind of a layman to understand the basics is that&nbsp;<span style=\"text-align: left;\">Artificial Intelligence<\/span>&nbsp;helps us predict an outcome based on certain parameters, right? So the typical application of let&rsquo;s say computer vision, converting an image into some sort of vectors and numbers, and then predicting whether that is a cat or a dog or an apple or an orange. So, that is an AI capability, which allows us to read the image using computer vision and can work.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-7d622c5 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"7d622c5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Similarly, in our context, we are dealing with text data, especially when it comes to classification and normalization of suppliers, we take the data and convert that into input parameters, which then can predict some sort of outcome like categories or supply group names, clearing out the suppliers, similar differences, that sort of stuff. So, we use a number of open-source libraries that can allow us to convert these into input parameters, take on the description, convert those into input parameters, and then understand what categories you should follow through. One example is how do we take a description, which is called a document in the data science world. So how do you take one document, which is a description, and then understand what is living in that description, which we can use for classification or which can be used to predict the classification or category. So for example, if somebody says to purchase laptop bags, then we have a laptop, which could be an item. Laptop bag is a different item, it&rsquo;s an accessory versus a laptop. So you use AI or natural language processing to understand this text and the context, and then to look under the right category. So, that is one way of using it. And then from an AI context or perspective, that is different applications from our perspective, from a <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend analysis<\/span> perspective, that is one way of using it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2238681\" data-eae-slider=\"29461\" data-id=\"2238681\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d5dbfce elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"d5dbfce\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6423c4e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"88081\" data-id=\"6423c4e\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ebf2b7c\" data-eae-slider=\"78324\" data-id=\"ebf2b7c\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fb33cae elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"fb33cae\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-58bad09\" data-eae-slider=\"5245\" data-id=\"58bad09\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f1ade0a elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"f1ade0a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>So I&rsquo;ve spoken about this at length before in terms of poor quality of data can often be a reason why digital transformations can, can fail or not be as successful, as they&rsquo;re anticipated to be. And I see that one, one of the things that you just explained there is it a little bit around data classification and taxonomy, and, I know an accusation that tends to get thrown around and I sort of maintain a neutral view on this as, as a podcast host, but it&rsquo;s, that data classification still requires a human touch because AI isn&rsquo;t smart enough to identify certain anomalies yet. So are we there yet in terms of AI and machine learning, being able to accurately classify PO data into different material groups or, or do you still think that while a tool like Simfoni is very useful and can speed up the process that we still need sort of a hybrid approach and someone with human cognitive capabilities to do a sanity check and fine-tune the analysis at the end?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-1b7a9f5 elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"50639\" data-id=\"1b7a9f5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-100e788\" data-eae-slider=\"90517\" data-id=\"100e788\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b9e1496 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b9e1496\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Yeah, I think that&rsquo;s a great question. So, AI is no magic bullet or magic brand. It&rsquo;s not going to kind of solve all the problems and it only assesses the accelerator, to be honest. So we are given, let&rsquo;s say a one million set of data records of invoice line items, how quickly we can just do it manually versus how quickly we can do it using an AI-driven analytics solution. So in our case, we not only just rely on this parsing of nouns and key-value pairs, we also rely on a rules engine. Anything that we kind of classify this automatically, we capture into our master rules repository, and this master rules repository gets reapplied to the new data. And again, even with that. It&rsquo;s never a hundred percent. You definitely&hellip;it&rsquo;s a manual effort. So if you, if you can get a good percentage covered, 60%, 70% automated through this AI process, and then somebody will have to sign in to check and approve them, which gets converted into rules still.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-110a177 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"110a177\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>There is about 20%, which then requires somebody to manually classify them. That&rsquo;s the nature of the data, as you said, if the data is so complex, so contextually different from one customer to another customer, even within one <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">business unit<\/span> to another <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">business unit<\/span>, they call the same product in different names. It&rsquo;s just not going to be able to kind of automate completely. So we have inbuilt tools within the system, which allows us to do this automation plus the kind of classification within the tool itself. So we have created an Excel sort of interface, which can allow us to quickly classify and capture. All that was fundamental. AI is an expensive solution for all the problems. So we try to capture all those rules. So the next data comes, we can use the rules first, which is a much quicker, faster, cheaper solution to apply. So it&rsquo;s definitely hybrid, and I think a hundred percent automatically can only happen if the organizations can keep their data very clean, which is a huge challenge.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ec3bc88\" data-eae-slider=\"10498\" data-id=\"ec3bc88\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-fbd87e0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"fbd87e0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-efc317f elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"85912\" data-id=\"efc317f\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-47a4c8b\" data-eae-slider=\"44520\" data-id=\"47a4c8b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-61fbfb9 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"61fbfb9\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cc891fd\" data-eae-slider=\"17668\" data-id=\"cc891fd\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-34d6ed3 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"34d6ed3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Yeah. And I think you, you alluded to it at the very beginning of that answer. There is no silver bullet, but I guess the advantages are that it can take a lot of manual work out for the sort of 60-70% that it&rsquo;s able to classify. And then that makes the task for the data scientist or the data analyst, I guess much, much simpler than if they have to then go and do a manual classification and then organize everything into a final taxonomy. So just a quick interlude before we move on with the rest of the podcast, just to say that if you are a procurement leader or a finance leader in a manufacturing company and you are struggling to get to grips with your spend, or you just maybe need an extra pair of hands to resolve a specific issue and drive some bottom-line results, just drop me a connection request on LinkedIn, or just ping me an email to&nbsp;info@jamesmeadsconsulting.com&nbsp;or just <a href=\"https:\/\/procurementsoftware.site\/captivate-podcast\/ai-driven-spend-analytics-automation-sreeram-venkitakrishnan-from-simfoni\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">follow the link<\/span><\/a> in the show notes to book a free 30-minute initial call with me.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ff3803c elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ff3803c\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>So as I can learn more about your business and what I can do to help you. So now let&rsquo;s jump right back into the interview. Another thing that Simfoni claims to do is, is around risk management because especially this now is going to be big business. As we start to see the landscape emerge post Covid-19, to what extent can a machine or artificial intelligence project potential risk in your supply chain and how does it go about analyzing that data? So it does it from existing vendor records and supply patterns, or does it, or does it look on the marketplace and look at things like, you know, <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">geopolitical risk<\/span> and, and civil unrest and that type of thing.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-0d5a7b5 elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"20589\" data-id=\"0d5a7b5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-5e90441\" data-eae-slider=\"6277\" data-id=\"5e90441\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0eb1ccb elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0eb1ccb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Yeah. Again, it&rsquo;s not automation as such, it&rsquo;s, it&rsquo;s more of an acceleration of decision making isn&rsquo;t that? So the kind of news articles or not information, which is not otherwise readily available for the category managers or sourcing managers right in front of them. So great examples of supplier commodity and market news. So within each of these different categories, we have got sources in integrations with third-party providers and other news sources through which we bring in news articles and publish articles, which will provide the category and sourcing managers, some sort of insight with which they can take action. So we could address or try and give our customers are top 20, top 50 suppliers news on a daily basis, which is automated and improved, but the decision has to be done manually. And the category managers will have to read them what interests them and so on, so forth. So it&rsquo;s not an AI capability. It&rsquo;s more of providing them with insight or information readily available for them to make decisions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-43ace81\" data-eae-slider=\"78814\" data-id=\"43ace81\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b62d616 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"b62d616\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-3b495fe elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"78884\" data-id=\"3b495fe\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ca082e5\" data-eae-slider=\"18535\" data-id=\"ca082e5\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-99d255a elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"99d255a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ecba2f7\" data-eae-slider=\"13638\" data-id=\"ecba2f7\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-793fec1 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"793fec1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Right. Okay. So similar to what we said around the data classification, it&rsquo;s a tool that gives the knowledge to make it available to the procurement category manager, but it&rsquo;s not something that does the work for them. They&rsquo;re still going to have to have sort of a human thought process and analysis to be able, to make that call. It just puts all of that information and data that they need to be able to make an informed decision all in one place. And as such, it saves a lot of time and increases the awareness of the different factors that they should be considered when making that decision.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-026a90d elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"92583\" data-id=\"026a90d\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1fc7b83\" data-eae-slider=\"47817\" data-id=\"1fc7b83\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9847270 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9847270\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Yeah. And a great example is COVID is happening. We brought in some third-party data sources, we converted them into some sort of scoring, for example, which countries locked down, what sort of factory activities are there, what sort of policies they are putting in place. We brought in a bunch of key markets, key scores, or key parameters and scored them and kind of mapped that numbers against the suppliers and supplier spend for our customers. So then the customers will have to then look at, &ldquo;Hey, Simfoni&rsquo;s analytics tells me that these 10 suppliers in these regions are at risk. What do I do with it?&rdquo; Then they can reach out to the suppliers and clarify it. They are still going to meet their delivery deadlines. Is there any kind of factory shutdowns, so on and so forth. So it&rsquo;s about giving them a direction in terms of where there is risk and then they can validate it from that much easier.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0add131\" data-eae-slider=\"84638\" data-id=\"0add131\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a9c3c67 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"a9c3c67\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-75504b4 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"30278\" data-id=\"75504b4\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-53c8200\" data-eae-slider=\"47653\" data-id=\"53c8200\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c9f663d elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"c9f663d\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6b5739e\" data-eae-slider=\"91087\" data-id=\"6b5739e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-231c5d0 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"231c5d0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Yeah. Giving them the visibility tools to ask the right questions and improve the supply chain. Right. So we&rsquo;ve talked about data classification and taxonomy. We&rsquo;ve talked about identifying risk management in terms of sort of securing our supply chain. Let&rsquo;s get now to a topic that&rsquo;s, you know, usually at the sharp end of what <span class=\"\"  data-mobile-support=\"0\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>buyer<\/span>s are tasked to do and what we&rsquo;re typically measured on, which is <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">cost savings<\/span> and expense reduction. How can AI and machine learning assist procurement departments in terms of being able to find the right costs or the, or the most lucrative <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">cost savings<\/span> opportunities from the <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">spend analysis<\/span> software that Simfoni can provide?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-6ac174c elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"78809\" data-id=\"6ac174c\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-0e59b57\" data-eae-slider=\"72919\" data-id=\"0e59b57\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-238d888 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"238d888\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Yeah, this is more often automation of higher quality software than an AI capability, but it&rsquo;s still very powerful because at the end of the day, having done all the analytics, all the customers want to know is where they can reduce costs. So one of the things we do, or one of the borders that we offer our customers is the opportunity assessment module. There&rsquo;s a standalone dedicated module on that. In that module, customers are given a bunch of opportunities, which is like almost a kind of prescriptive saying, &ldquo;Hey, these are the categories. These are the opportunities that you guys can potentially work on and reduce costs.&rdquo; And these opportunities are calculated using a bunch of automated calculations. So we look at about 15 different parameters or 15 different savings levers. Each of them has got its own way of analysis, which otherwise takes a lot of time to manually calculate.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c44f644 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c44f644\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>It is still possible, very much possible for somebody to sit down and do it manually, but doing it over a period of three, four weeks and over a period of three, four days. And allowing our customers to validate in an interface much easily and through a PowerPoint or Excel is what we try to do. And then the customers can turn those into projects and work on them. That&rsquo;s about 15 different opportunity levers or savings levers that we run through the data, things like usual suspects, like supply consolidation, price, variance, payment on rationalizations, all those sort of things, every different angle from which they can reduce cost, improve compliance for the customer.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6731a89\" data-eae-slider=\"42205\" data-id=\"6731a89\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-1b1098b elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"1b1098b\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-b018ca9 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"67551\" data-id=\"b018ca9\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-ef3b4cc\" data-eae-slider=\"61496\" data-id=\"ef3b4cc\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b740edd elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"b740edd\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-2575b6f\" data-eae-slider=\"8472\" data-id=\"2575b6f\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2943557 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2943557\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Does it also feed into things like commodity pricing for, for certain <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">raw materials<\/span> as well, kind of benchmark indices and look at where maybe you&rsquo;re paying way above what the market price should be.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-11e789a elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"60270\" data-id=\"11e789a\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-7e2db5b\" data-eae-slider=\"91618\" data-id=\"7e2db5b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d0ca557 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"d0ca557\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Yeah, we call it Cost Analysis. Uh, one of the recent additions in that 15 is this root cost analysis will be connected to different data sources for this. One is a data source, which provides the cost drivers for certain kinds of products or industries. So for example, uh, I buy a lot of plastic, plastic-based items and I can then figure out, &ldquo;Okay, where am I buying from?&rdquo; And for that industry, what does the cost look like? How does it look like what does the sales and marketing cost look like? And we kind of tap into a data source, which provides those directional cost breakdown. So he then says, this is a cost. This is the spend I have on this plastic product. and this is how the industry cost driver looks like. And then we also connect to commodity sources for plastic in that market or other commodities in particular markets, which then allows our customers to kind of create a simulation in terms of, Hey, can I reduce by a supplier or sales and marketing by 3%? What sort of profit can or savings I can make, how the commodity market has performed versus my unit price? Is there anything I can leverage making for a very powerful negotiation tool for our customers.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-662e892\" data-eae-slider=\"1382\" data-id=\"662e892\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-25f55ec elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"25f55ec\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-7728b6e elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"19295\" data-id=\"7728b6e\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-554b7e7\" data-eae-slider=\"12144\" data-id=\"554b7e7\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-78061eb elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"78061eb\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c5a2edd\" data-eae-slider=\"80415\" data-id=\"c5a2edd\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-36484d1 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"36484d1\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>And, and that&rsquo;s typically one thing that if you were to ask a bunch of different <span class=\"\"  data-mobile-support=\"0\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>buyer<\/span>s, you know, why do you fail? Or why don&rsquo;t you get the optimum outcome from your negotiation? I think probably a majority of them would say just lack of time to prepare and lack of availability of the necessary resources to go out and pull that information. A lot of companies have cut back their <span class=\"\"  data-mobile-support=\"0\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>budget<\/span>s. So, you know, things like market price analysis, they may have canceled subscriptions, which I personally think is a stupid decision, but big companies do make these very barbarian decisions to cut expenses left, right and center. And I think the other points on this is, and you hinted to it in your answer that even though it may be possible to do this type of analysis manually, and a lot of companies, especially in larger corporations, what you often find is that there is a lot of rotation between different positions.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2586588 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2586588\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>You know, some companies have a policy of moving people around every three or four years, especially in sort of more senior roles. And if you&rsquo;ve got of this information and data at your fingertips, then if you move into a new procurement category manager position in the category that you&rsquo;ve not managed before, whereas, in the past, it may have taken you six to 12 months to really sort of know what you&rsquo;re doing and be able to make an impact. You know, the demands of the business as such these days are that you need to be able to hit the ground running. And I guess this helps you to get a much faster induction into something that you&rsquo;re not familiar with. So, you know, the core procurement skills go with you from category to category, but having that market intelligence and understanding of, of your spend your suppliers, your risks and the marketplace is, is really valuable to get that quickly all in one place.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-a5de6e5 elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"72642\" data-id=\"a5de6e5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d16025b\" data-eae-slider=\"90383\" data-id=\"d16025b\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-37e7688 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"37e7688\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Oh, totally. I think for me negotiation, so that two levels, so typically there is a fact-based negotiation we can look at how do we reduce supplier? How do we look at <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">payment terms<\/span> and reduce the number of <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">payment terms<\/span> with which we pay, etc. And the second level of negotiation is the optimization sort of negotiation. So look at the category itself and see beyond these pure cost-based negotiation waters. And we do so far that this is very powerful in terms of providing them the cost drivers and stuff, just to add onto that. It&rsquo;s a very important point in terms of kind of maintaining knowledge, is that in opportunity assessment, when we provide the customers with categories and where they can attack and stuff, we also give our customers in terms of what sort of, kind of negotiation levers they have within each category. So certain categories have got certain negotiation levers, and it differs from product to product or categories to categories. So we try to provide that intelligence too, so we have been building and it grows over time, a library of negotiation, levers by category, which then the customers can use. So even if somebody does not have a lot of background, let&rsquo;s say on IT, network equipment, they can&rsquo;t, they can have some input from us, not everything, but some input from our technology or platform, which they can kind of build off.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-645f950\" data-eae-slider=\"79382\" data-id=\"645f950\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-d540050 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"d540050\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-f816f84 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"15750\" data-id=\"f816f84\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-941c549\" data-eae-slider=\"87529\" data-id=\"941c549\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4abde44 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"4abde44\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-734ca20\" data-eae-slider=\"10961\" data-id=\"734ca20\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0e37609 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"0e37609\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>With all of these different things that a tool like Simfoni can do. And with the procurement landscape changing. And, you know, you hear a lot on LinkedIn and in the procurement and supply chain press around more focus being on total value rather than just a rather cutthroat approach to price negotiations. And I definitely buy into and agree with all of that. Although I do think obviously we were still going to be measured on savings for a long while to come. So maybe if I can ask you a little bit of a philosophical question, as we start to round up out of these three key pillars that Simfoni offers to its clients, or perhaps you can maybe even think of something else, what do you think will have the most profound impact on procurement performance and strategy over the next sort of five years.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-4f99b33 elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"27615\" data-id=\"4f99b33\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-82aca12\" data-eae-slider=\"58830\" data-id=\"82aca12\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b89268e elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"b89268e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>These are essential components. These are not the only ways of doing it. These are essential components of doing a complete or holistic analysis per se, but that is procurement organizations have got different maturity, and organizations with different maturity can pick different solutions. So I look at a platform for procurement in four different areas. Hierarchy, the fundamental, or the base that everybody should have should be the minimum capability of data management and <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">dashboard<\/span>s. So everybody should have visibility ability to manage their own data, get the data that they want when they want all this sort of stuff. And once they have it, the next level is to kind of put any intelligence in terms of&nbsp;<span style=\"text-align: left;\">Artificial Intelligence&nbsp;<\/span>or predictive algorithms. So we also do predictive modeling, which tells us when you can expect to buy an item in the next six months, that sort of thing, which again, accelerates the speed at which procurement can perform.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3f0e6bc elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"3f0e6bc\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>And if they have it, then if they are little bit more mature organization, then there is definitely much more things they can do around going deep-dive analysis around categories, opportunity assessment, procurement, operation, cycle time, that sort of thing for the top global big companies, if they have a great majority and they&rsquo;ve got nailed the other three, then they should try and leverage a strategic network opportunity. When I say network, it&rsquo;s about bringing into 20 data sources using the collective intelligence of the platform like benchmarks, so on and so forth. So I see this in our kind of three, four different hierarchy in terms of leveraging analysis, and in terms of where the current maturity of the organization stands, they should be able to identify and go with that. But at the bare minimum, everybody should have a great data management <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">dashboard<\/span> for analysis process capability or <span class=\"\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">dashboard<\/span> tool for them to have the visibility.&nbsp; Current ERP, <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/source-to-pay\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"26\" title=\"Source to Pay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source-to-Pay<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/procure-to-pay\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"25\" title=\"Procure to Pay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Procure-to-Pay<\/a> solutions such as SAP Ariba just don&rsquo;t compete with a best-of-breed analysis solution.&nbsp; CPO&rsquo;s know this.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f8dd2b8\" data-eae-slider=\"98674\" data-id=\"f8dd2b8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-3a95f8f elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"3a95f8f\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-fda7511 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"93620\" data-id=\"fda7511\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-e18c74a\" data-eae-slider=\"50700\" data-id=\"e18c74a\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8d767f2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"8d767f2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-f1b0753\" data-eae-slider=\"60881\" data-id=\"f1b0753\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c866b76 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"c866b76\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>And I completely agree with you. You can&rsquo;t run before you can walk, and if you don&rsquo;t even have that basic in place, then there&rsquo;s no point trying to do something at the very high end with AI because you&rsquo;ve not got the fundamentals in place. So that&rsquo;s a, it&rsquo;s a really interesting answer that you gave. Thank you for that. It&rsquo;s highly dependent on organizational maturity and data quality in terms of how quickly you can get up to speed and leverage some of these technologies. And I think that&rsquo;s going to be even more important as time goes on to have these types of things in place. Finally, Sreeram if anybody would like to book a demo or connect with you, what&rsquo;s the best place that they can get in touch.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-46b93a5 elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"39610\" data-id=\"46b93a5\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-fa89f8d\" data-eae-slider=\"10365\" data-id=\"fa89f8d\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4dfa2de elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"4dfa2de\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Please. Welcome to go onto a website. We&rsquo;re putting an email address and our team will get back. Otherwise, you can reach out to me and I can arrange for something. It&rsquo;s www.Simfoni.com, Simfoni spelled as S-I-M-F-O-N-I.com.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-8537d84\" data-eae-slider=\"92292\" data-id=\"8537d84\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2aab988 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"2aab988\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-799088a elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"19789\" data-id=\"799088a\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-cc0867e\" data-eae-slider=\"39049\" data-id=\"cc0867e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-a9a58c3 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"a9a58c3\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33098\" alt=\"JAMES MEADS\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview-20x20.png 20w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/JAMES_MEADS-removebg-preview.png 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-c374154\" data-eae-slider=\"94946\" data-id=\"c374154\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-6674d01 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"6674d01\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Fantastic. Okay. Sreeram, it&rsquo;s been a great discussion with you and learning about AI Solutions for analysis data. I&rsquo;ve certainly learned a lot about how while&nbsp;<span style=\"text-align: left;\">Artificial Intelligence&nbsp;<\/span>can be a real game-changer, you still definitely need to have the human touch and the human expertise in place. and then both man and machine together are a pretty awesome combination. So if there&rsquo;s one lesson to take away from this interview, I would definitely say that is the key. Thanks again for joining me. Sreeram, it was great talking to you and look after yourself, keeping in touch. All the best.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<section class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-8d9c687 elementor-reverse-tablet elementor-reverse-mobile elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-eae-slider=\"42526\" data-id=\"8d9c687\" data-element_type=\"section\" data-e-type=\"section\" data-settings='{\"background_background\":\"classic\",\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-818080e\" data-eae-slider=\"85513\" data-id=\"818080e\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-9816fd2 elementor-invisible elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"9816fd2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-settings='{\"_animation\":\"fadeInUp\"}' data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>No, thank you so much for having me. I think these strategic discussions are great. We learned quite a bit. Thank you again and look forward to catching up sometime later and discussing more about how we enable compliance and move clients through their digital transformation journey.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"has_eae_slider elementor-column elementor-col-50 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-d9e88d8\" data-eae-slider=\"64736\" data-id=\"d9e88d8\" data-element_type=\"column\" data-e-type=\"column\" data-settings='{\"pix_scale_in\":\"none\"}'>\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-01ea768 elementor-widget elementor-widget-image\" data-id=\"01ea768\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"image.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-image-33099\" alt=\"Sreeram Venkitakrishnan\" srcset=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-35x35.png 35w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-80x80.png 80w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1.png 394w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-303x303.png 303w, https:\/\/simfoni.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/Sreeram-394x394-removebg-preview-1-20x20.png 20w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\"\/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AI in Procurement AI-Powered Spend Intelligence &ndash; Sreeram Venkitakrishnan from Simfoni Episode Overview The power of AI fuels Simfoni Analytics&rsquo; award-winning technologies to help our clients make fast, well-informed procurement decisions. Simfoni Analytics&rsquo; Head of Product Sreeram Venkitakrishnan recently appeared&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33105,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-33094","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>AI in Procurement [Podcast &amp; Best Practices]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn How Procurement Professionals Can Get AI In Procurement &amp; Archive Time &amp; Cost Savings Through Machine Learning And Auto-classification Of Spend Data In Procurement Organizations\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simfoni.com\/ai-in-procurement-podcast\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"AI in Procurement - Simfoni Spend Analytics Software Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn How Procurement Professionals Can Get AI In Procurement &amp; 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