GEP Europe Tour 2025, London: Q&A with Prashant Ram
The GEP Europe Tour 2025 made a significant impact in London, showcasing advancements in AI-driven procurement and supply chain solutions.
Hosted at St Ermin's Hotel, the event embraced the venue's historical significance, likening the anticipation of AI's role in procurement to the excitement of its storied past as an MI6 hub.
Attendees gained valuable insights through keynotes covering topics such as digital payments and procurement's future.
One highlight was the Procurement Leaders Panel, which explored themes such as frictionless buying and data security. Esteemed speakers, including Simon Hannak (Costa Coffee), Phil Singleton (Swiss Re) and Sarah Willmott (Nationwide), provided practical lessons and actionable strategies.
The London stop was part of GEP’s broader European tour, spanning 11 cities and aimed at fostering collaboration among procurement leaders. The event highlighted GEP’s commitment to innovation and its role in shaping the future of procurement through AI-powered tools and solutions
Procurement Magazine caught up with Prashant Ram, a VP at GEP, who told us exactly what the tour means for the industry.
Please introduce us to the GEP Europe Tour - what is it all about?
So we do this every year and at the start of the year we put together our view of the way procurement is evolving around the world.
It's our way to tell the world what's going on. We typically go around about 15 cities in Europe and we tend to do this in North America and Asia as well.
It's just about telling the world what's happening in the world of procurement and informing them of the latest trends to look out for. Right now it's all about spend and AI, for example.
The GEP Europe Tour is growing at an impressive pace. Why is it so important to bring industry professionals together in one place?
I think back to maybe five years ago, when we used to do a lot of events like this and then after the pandemic it all died down.
A lot of people weren't coming into the office and if you think about just the city of London, it used to be dead and people weren't meeting in person.
I think that's part of the problem. This is just our attempt at trying to get people back, meeting each other face-to-face a little bit and just interacting.
I think for us as a company, we recognise we're not particularly well known, so it's nice to just get our name out there, get people in the room interacting and learning a bit about us.
Why do GEP solutions stand out when it comes to driving value for business?
As a company, unlike a lot of other firms, we have a laser focus on procurement and we do nothing else.
We’ve got a consulting practice, managed services and a technology practice and they’re all very much procurement focused.
I like to think we understand procurement better than most people do and I think for that reason we do stand out.
What does GEP hope to achieve from today's event?
I think it's about getting people together.
For a lot of people I've spoken to today, the first thing they say is ‘I haven't been to an event like this in five or six years,’ and I think that's true for most people.
Just getting out there, meeting your peers and understanding what's going on is so important.
I think we all get stuck in a little vacuum and it's nice to hear different perspectives and about what's going on in the world - I think that's how we all grow.
Why should companies join GEP in the era of enterprise AI?
As a firm we've always been at the forefront of technology. We've always liked to stay one step ahead of the game.
So AI is something we've been using in our solutions for close to a decade.
We are at the forefront of that breakthrough and I think it's just our way of connecting the world to some of the projects that we’re already working on.
Remaining tour dates
- Zurich, 25 February 2025
- Paris, 5 March 2025
- Geneva, 6 March 2025
- Copenhagen, 11 March 2025
- Stockholm, 12 March 2025
- Helsinki, 13 March 2025
- Lisbon, 19 March 2025
- Madrid, 20 March 2025
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