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Reimagining Procurement: Exploring the Strategies and Mindsets That Will Move the Needle

Mauro Erriquez · 4 December 2025

Entrepreneur · Leadership · Artificial Intelligencein
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Key topicsWhy the Next Generation of Procurement Talent Will Not Look Like the LastMany leaders still picture procurement as a career for negotiators and category managers with a narrow remit; that view is rapidly going out of date. As AI, data, and sustainability move to the centre of the function, procurement needs people who can connect analytics, commercial judgment, and cross-functional influence-not just run tenders. Mauro talks candidly about what he looks for when building teams, how to make procurement an attractive career path for high-potential talent, and why capability building has become a strategic priority for CPOs. What the C-Suite Gets Wrong About AI’s Impact on Procurement DecisionsGenerative AI is already changing how information is gathered, analysed, and acted on in sourcing and supply markets, but most leadership teams are still experimenting at the edges. Many executives assume AI in procurement is just about faster spend analysis; in practice, it will reshape how negotiations are run, how risks are priced, and how strategic decisions are made across the value chain. Mauro draws on McKinsey’s 'Reimagining Procurement' work to show what this means at board level-what to centralise, what to automate, and where human judgment and talent become even more important. Reimagining Procurement as the Engine of Margin Resilience in Volatile MarketsEnergy, commodity, and tariff swings now move faster than planning cycles, yet many organisations still treat volatility as something to react to rather than something they can design for. The misconception is that resilience comes from hedging or tougher negotiations; in reality, it comes from reimagining procurement as a strategic function that shapes margins, not just defends them. That means rethinking sourcing choices, specifications, footprint, and how demand adjusts when markets shift. Mauro draws on work with steel, pulp and paper, machinery, and aerospace companies to show how analytics, digital twins, and modern operating models allow procurement teams to stabilise costs and protect competitiveness even in highly turbulent environments. View all topics →

About Mauro Erriquez

Mauro Erriquez, podcast guest

Senior Partner at McKinsey Reimagining Data-Driven Procurement and Industrial Resilience

Global Lead McKinsey product development and procurement13 Published McKinsey works listed9 Recent transformation engagements highlightedGeneral Motors Early-career purchasing team leader

Mauro Erriquez spends his days where volatility, technology, and industrial reality collide. A senior partner at McKinsey & Company based in Frankfurt, he leads the firm’s global Product Development and Procurement Practice, advising materials, chemicals, automotive, machinery, and other industrial clients on performance transformations, resilient growth, and supply-chain strategy.

Before joining McKinsey, Mauro began his career in industry as a purchasing team leader at General Motors. That early experience on the factory and supplier side still shapes how he talks about procurement today: not as a back-office cost cutter, but as a strategic function that directly shapes margin, resilience, innovation, and sustainability.

Over his career at McKinsey, Mauro has led large-scale procurement and supply chain transformations for global pulp and paper, steel, aerospace, machinery, telecoms, and advanced electronics players, including private-equity-owned businesses. His work ranges from designing “spend digital twins” to give procurement teams real-time pricing power, to helping industrials rethink their energy strategy in the face of shocks, decarbonization targets, and tariff uncertainty.

Mauro’s writing and research focus on what procurement looks like in an AI-enabled, net-zero world—covering topics such as generative AI in negotiations, data-driven decision making, digital marketplaces, long-tail spend, and the role of procurement in the energy transition.

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