The Procurement Show podcastwith Jonathan O’Brien

Tackling the hot procurement topics we all need to be thinking about.

The Procurement Show podcast sets out to explore the more interesting aspects of procurement!

Hosted by procurement expert and award-winning author of a series of acclaimed procurement and negotiation books, and the CEO of Positive Purchasing, Jonathan O’Brien, alongside Co-Host, Managing Director of a leading communications agency, Fresh Air Studios, Paul Philpott.

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Streamed in 84 Countries

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Latest Episode

June 2026 | 55:35

Episode 69: Crafting Supply-Side Data Collection & Insight 

What is behind getting good supplier data and intelligence? That’s a good question! So, Jonathan and Paul are asking that very question to the CEO of Craft, Ilya Levtov. He set up Craft in order to solve the problem of looking up information about companies, so he has all the information about finding information!

May 2026 | 27:24

Episode 68: No Data, No AI – Why Clean Data Matters So Much

We all need clean data. But did you know that if we don’t have good clean data, we don’t have AI! To help keep Jonathan and Paul clean is a man who has emerged from the dark side of sales and is now a Managing Partner with ProcureVue. They specialize in analyzing spend data within companies. It’s Andy Symmonds.

September 2025 | 35:31

Episode 60 – The Connected Ecosystem – How Procurement and Supply Chain Can Unlock New Benefits with Ecosystem Thinking

In this episode Jonathan and Paul are being asked to change their mindsets. Not easy. But the man who is bravely trying his best is Jeff Bever, VP Sourcing and Procurement for Russel Stover. His big idea is to think of procurement and supply chain as part of one big, connected ecosystem, rather than a function. Let’s see if we can all unlock new, big benefits!

February 2025 | 46:29

Episode 51 – What’s Trending in Procurement Tech?

If you’re drowning in a sea of procurement tech, you need someone to throw a lifeline; and on this episode, Jonathan and Paul have found just the man. They are joined by Chief Research Officer and MD at Spend Matters, Pierre Mitchell. He’ll guide us through all the latest tech and will teach us one or two new bits of jargon.

November 2024 | 34:50

Episode 47 – Lessons from the Frontlines

There’s an old song by Oasis where they sing about starting a revolution from their bed. In this episode we meet someone who did exactly that. Well, from his bedroom in Pennsylvania during lockdown. Luká Yancopoulos founded Grapevine – a company using tech to reimagine the world’s medical supply challenges – and without any prior knowledge of procurement. Jonathan and Paul find out how and why he did it. We also discover that Jonathan and Paul are quite old.

September 2024 | 35:31

Episode 44 – Cyber Security in the Supply Chain

In procurement, cyber security is extremely important, because you’re not only dealing with your information, but also the information of your clients and suppliers. So, how do we tackle threats? And how do we make sure our information is secure in the hands of others? To take us through the dilemmas and the solutions, Jonathan and Paul are joined by the Chief AI Officer at Resilinc, Sumit Vakil. And listen out for what you should and shouldn’t measure in Ask Jonathan.

May 2024 | 38:35

Episode 39 – The Future of Digital Category Management

How do you think digital category management will transform how we determine and implement breakthrough sourcing strategies into the future? Well, in this episode, Paul and Jonathan ask that very question to Stephane Morel, who is Director Procurement Capabilities & Standards for Fresenius Medical Care. Not only will you find out his answer, you’ll also find out in this episode that Excel spreadsheets are quite exciting.

March 2024 | 41:37

Episode 36 – How We Will Negotiate in 2050?

Jonathan and Paul hop into their very expensive time machine and travel 26 years into the future to find out how we will negotiate, the domination of AI and if people will actually be required in the negotiation process. We also discover whether or not Paul is a human being.

February 2024 | 41:36

Episode 35 – The Future of Procurement Intake and Orchestration with Nick Heinzmann

Jonathan and Paul are joined by Nick Heinzmann. Nick is Head of Research at Zip, providing “intake to procure and intake to pay solutions”. We discover exactly what intake is and what it means for the global marketplace and for the future of procurement teams in every industry. Jonathan also has the latest traffic news, particularly for ice truckers…

October 2023 | 45:05

Episode 32 – The Future of Procurement

Jonathan and Paul are joined by Dr Elouise Epstein. Elousie is the author of Disruptive Procurement and the new book, Trade Wars, Pandemics and Chaos. She is also a partner at Kearney. Together they discuss the future of procurement, including the impact of AI. Elsewhere in the podcast we learn how to pronounce Arkansas.

May 2023 | 38:39

Episode 27 – Navigating the Procurement Tech Landscape

In this episode, Jonathan O’Brien and Paul Philpott discuss the immense procurement tech landscape, which is no easy thing to navigate. They’re helped through this overwhelming topic by digital procurement advisor, Founder of the site 'ProcurementSoftware.site' and Presenter of the Procuretech podcast, James Meads. Together they attempt to understand what’s out there and James might even get in some skiing and possibly a kebab!

February 2023 | 40:28

Episode 24 – The Procurement Show Meets Kelly Barner

In this episode, Jonathan O’Brien and Paul Philpott are joined by Kelly Barner, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Buyers Meeting Point, a Partner and Head of Content with Art of Procurement and host of Dial P for Procurement and Sourcing Hero. They take a general look at what’s going on in the world of procurement and give us plenty to think about in 2023.