The Bravery of Leadership: Making the Hard Decisions in Procurement

In this jam session of Proc n Roll, Conrad sits down with Limor David-Sternfeld, a seasoned executive with a fascinating career journey that spans from the defense industry to leading global sourcing and procurement in the Bay Area's big tech sector. Limor shares her practical insights on navigating unfamiliar sourcing categories, the changing dynamics of enterprise tech, and what it truly means to be a courageous leader.

Whether you are an individual contributor looking to level up your stakeholder relationships or a CPO evaluating your next major software investment, this episode is packed with actionable advice.

Topics Discussed in This Episode:

• The Accidental Career Path: How a job in defense procurement derailed an accounting career and sparked a lifelong passion for sourcing and procurement.
• The "Figure It Out" Mentality: Why curiosity, dedicated research, and cultural tenacity are your best tools when tackling brand-new procurement categories and challenges.
• Agents vs. Humans: A look at the future of complex enterprise negotiations, and why the most strategic relationships will still require humans, at least for now.
• Tech Stack Warnings: Why procurement organizations should be highly cautious about locking into long-term tech arrangements while the AI landscape is shifting so rapidly.
• The Bravery of Leadership: How to lead by example, have the hard conversations, and show up with confidence to support your team.
• Slashing Cycle Times: The urgency of incorporating AI into your workflows to reduce repetitive tasks before your stakeholders lose patience.

Due to technical difficulties, the transcript of this episode is unavailable. We apologize for this inconvenience.