DCT Abu Dhabi: Rebuilding Procurement for Value Optimisation

Over the last two years, the Supply Management team has been at the helm of the entities’ procurement transformation, pivoting from a transactional and reactive function to one of the region's most prominent standards of excellence, setting the benchmark for Abu Dhabi Governmental departments.

At the start of 2024, procurement at DCT was operating at a clear inflection point, ready for change. While the department supported the entities’ diverse portfolio of spend requirements, underpinning Abu Dhabi’s reputation as global leader in tourism, the function itself showed pockets of fragmentation.

Although the team exhibited strong skills and operational resilience, Procurement was largely perceived as reactive, with involvement occurring late in the business lifecycle. This timing diminished the ability to strategically influence procurement planning efforts, shape budgets and optimise category management strategies to support evolving business needs.

Structurally, the operating model reflected one of organic growth over deliberate design. Roles and responsibilities had expanded with time and category-related activities were not clearly delineated, resulting in visible duplications of effort and inefficiencies. 

Digital enablers supporting the end-to-end procurement lifecycle were few and far between, resulting in paper-heavy and manual processes that lacked traceability. However, the department was not standing still, elements of change were already underway, but practices, maturity levels and ways of working lacked consistency across the function warranting unified improvement.

Defining the ambition and executing the transformation

As a public-sector organisation supporting Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Strategy 2030 — plans to boost visitor numbers to 39.3 million and increase the sector's GDP contribution to AED 90 billion by 2030 — DCT faced rising expectations to deliver greater value, productivity and transparency amid increasing complexity of requirements. This warranted a calculated transformation.

Led by the Director of Supply Management, Khalifa Ahmed Al Marzooqi, the ambition was to reposition procurement from a transactional service function to a strategic, value-driven function. This meant establishing Category Management as the core operating model across addressable spend, alongside parallel strengthening of Procurement governance, processes, tools and capabilities.

The Category-Led Operating Model: The backbone of the transformation involved adoption of Category Management as the primary operating model, with end-to-end spend managed through a structured framework that incorporates proactive demand analysis, market insights and supplier development opportunities into procurement. 

Categories were addressed in order of spend value with Events and Marketing (representing 80% of spend) addressed first, before subsequent addressal of Professional Services and Indirect Categories. Seven formal category strategies have been established to date, covering 100% of the addressable spend. 

The Category Management transition has already showcased stronger alignment with business objectives, alongside tangible savings improvements. This transition positions DCT as the first Government Entity in the emirate to adopt such an operating model. Further to this, DCT has since assumed leadership of Events and Marketing categories across over 30 Abu Dhabi Government Entities through the shaping of shared playbooks and approaches, solidifying its reputation as a Centre of Excellence for Events and Marketing Procurement.

Process & Governance: To drive efficient ways of working, multiple new procedural playbooks have been developed to drive consistency and adherence to new ways of working. Twenty end-to-end Procurement processes have been redesigned spanning five core procurement lifecycle pillars. Furthermore, a Non-Compliance to Procurement Processes (NCPP) procedure was implemented, successfully reducing violations from over 150 in 2024 to 10 in 2025.

Digital Enablement: Digitisation efforts have been an underlying pillar to the function’s transformation. Significant digitisation improvements have been achieved across the procurement lifecycle, from initiation through to award and post contract management activities, anchored by full ERP integration. Multiple in-house enablement tools have also been developed by DCT, including but not limited to:

• Bespoke Procurement Committee Management System to streamline governance activities and approvals
• Bespoke Contract Management Systems
• Technology driven cost optimisation opportunity identification
• Single Source of Truth Reporting Portals to track initiatives across the procurement lifecycle
• SANAD platform implementation to optimise and integrate Procurement Planning efforts

This marks a sharp contrast against DCT’s digital landscape at the start of the transformation, where systems were used solely for Purchase Requisition and Purchase Order activities.

Capability Building & Change Management: To ensure adoption and long-term sustainability and success, structured change management and ongoing end-user engagement were embedded, alongside targeted efforts to strengthen the Procurement team’s capabilities. 40 staff have enrolled into CIPS pathways with five members progressing into credited Abu Dhabi leadership programmes since 2024. Ten targeted procurement trainings were delivered to the function in 2025 to embed newly aligned ways of working. Finally, employee engagement saw a boost, raising satisfaction levels to a territory that exceeds UAE and Regional benchmarks by over 20%.

Outcomes and impact

The implementation of the Category Management framework has yielded strong commercial outcomes. A savings increase of upwards of 50% was observed in 2025, up from AED 206 million in 2024. Forecasted savings are expected to continue growing, showcasing the financial benefits of pursuing a Category-Led model. Further to this, a 15% Return on Investment on a single AED 100 million media contract had been achieved, demonstrating value creation beyond savings.

From a planning and operational standpoint, enhancements to procurement procedures have delivered a 23 percent reduction in procurement cycle times, evidencing material efficiency gains from improved process design and ways of working. In parallel, deviations from the Procurement Plan decreased by approximately 24 percent, strengthening predictability and alignment with business requirements. Additionally, unplanned procurement activity was significantly reduced, declining from 30 percent in 2024 to below 17 percent by the end of 2025, reflecting improved demand discipline and planning maturity.

Governance, risk and assurance outcomes also strengthened materially. External validation through the Department of Government Enablement maturity assessment confirmed a 92 percent maturity score, complemented by the achievement of ISO 9001:2015 Quality Management and CIPS Ethical Procurement & Supply certifications, a first for UAE government entities. In parallel, more than 60 audit management action plans were fully implemented, achieving a 100 percent closure rate for all due actions, demonstrating robust accountability and effective control remediation.

Building on success: The future roadmap

While the transformation has delivered significant and measurable benefits, the journey remains continuous. The near future will involve focus on embedding long lasting strategic value. This includes implementing an in-house Category Management Academy to build and sustain capability across the entire function. The Academy will entail bespoke learning paths for SMD colleagues, aimed at further evolving the maturity of the category-led operating model and deepening strategic ways of working. In parallel, emphasis will continue to be placed on refreshing category strategies to ensure alignment with the Tourism Strategy 2030. 

From an operational perspective, focus will continue to be placed on designing best-in-class Sustainable Procurement procedures and implementing these processes across the end-to-end procurement lifecycle. In addition, and on theme with firms’ commitment to striving for regional excellence, SMD has committed to upholding a significant role in leading a cross-governmental initiative geared toward harmonising and elevating Procurement policies across Abu Dhabi’s Government Entities.

Data and digital technology will remain a core enabler of DCT’s future evolution. A key in-flight initiative involves the development of an Artificial Intelligence Benchmarking Tool to identify cost optimisation opportunities and strengthen the effectiveness of supplier negotiations. In parallel, a bespoke reporting portal is under development to monitor and assess progress against SMD’s five-year procurement strategy. The portal will also incorporate a digitised, standardised methodology to formally recognise, validate and govern cost savings.

The journey ahead is one of continuous improvement, strengthening procurement’s role as a strategic capability that adapts, matures and delivers lasting impact.