Transforming Spend Management: Insights from SAP’s Industry Roundtable
As businesses face new challenges, SAP and industry experts explore how advanced spend management solutions can unlock efficiencies.
In today’s polycrisis world where businesses face complex geopolitical and economic challenges, spend management has emerged as a pivotal strategy. From optimising working capital to enhancing supply chain visibility, managing organisational spend efficiently is more crucial than ever.
SAP, as a global leader in enterprise software, has a deep understanding of these challenges. Through a comprehensive suite of solutions that combine to create end-to-end spend visibility and control, SAP has a ringside view of the challenge and opportunities that come from inefficient or ineffective spend management. SAP also leverages AI and machine learning to empower organisations through intelligent category management, supplier risk assessment, and automated processes, in addition to facilitating better visibility, efficiency, and cost control across the entire supply chain through SAP’s Business Network
To dive deeper into these areas, SAP has convened a diverse panel of industry leaders for a series of insightful roundtable discussions. The second roundtable brought together luminaries like Vineet Sharma, Director of Finance, Emids; Madan Sampath, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Healthcare Global Hospital; Praneet Agarwal, General Manager-Finance Controller, Maia Estates; Ajitabh Banerjee, Head of Strategic Finance and Investor Relations, Razorpay; Prakhar Keshariya, Deputy General Manager Finance, Narayana Healthcare; Pawan Rao, Head of Finance, TATA Advance Systems Limited; and Sivaiah Kota, AVP Supply Chain Management & Operations Natural Remedies in a discussion moderated by CNBC-TV18’s Ruchiraa Sharma.
Together, they explored the transformative potential of AI, digital tools, and automation in streamlining spend management.
Prioritising spend management in strategic agendas
Vineet Sharma emphasised that spend management is crucial in an era where budgets need to be scrutinised with precision. “Every dollar spent is minutely scrutinised,” he said, highlighting the company’s use of SAP’s tools to manage spend effectively, including sero-based budgeting.
Similarly, Prakhar Keshariya shared how the company drives affordability without compromising on quality. “We plan our costs at a granular level and have automated repetitive processes to achieve operational efficiencies,” he explained. Narayana’s in-house digital tools, such as their hospital information system and analytics application, have transformed how they manage key assets and costs.
Optimising working capital: A crucial imperative
In the face of ongoing economic pressures, ensuring effective working capital management has become a critical priority for financial leaders. Ajitabh Banerjee outlined how Razorpay reduced the number of suppliers, optimising economies of scale and deepening relationships with fewer auditors, which led to significant cost savings. “It helps us optimise our spend and avoid unnecessary repetition,” he noted, stressing the importance of tracking the number of suppliers and how much the company spends per supplier.
Pawan Rao echoed this sentiment. His organisation tracks cash conversion cycles and regularly audits processes to ensure budgets are effectively managed. “We do not only audit numbers but also audit processes, which provides insights into where we can minimise overspend,” he explained.
The Role of Digital Tools in Supply Chain Visibility
Supply chain visibility is another area where digital tools are helping organisations future-proof their operations. Madan Sampath from Healthcare Global Hospital discussed how tangled supply chains and inflation are placing unprecedented pressure on healthcare systems. He underscored the importance of digital transformation in tracking supplies from pharma manufacturers to the patient’s bedside, minimising risks and ensuring the safety and authenticity of drugs.
At Natural Remedies, Sivaiah Kota, AVP Supply Chain Management, shared that visibility across the supply chain is essential in maintaining the company’s impressive 99.9% compliance rate for on-time delivery. “We have achieved significant efficiency by integrating our supply chain with SAP tools,”he said.
AI and Automation: The Future of Spend Management
Generative AI was a recurring topic of discussion as panelists explored how it can unlock hidden efficiencies in spend management. Prakhar Keshariya detailed how AI-driven predictive analytics has helped Narayana Healthcare reduce inventory write-offs and optimise resource deployment. “We have experienced zero write-offs for the last two years,” he noted, attributing this to AI’s role in predicting slow-moving inventory and operational costs.
Sivaiah Kota added that AI’s role in supply chain planning is invaluable, particularly in demand sensing and inventory management. “When it comes to sourcing Gen AI can be helpful because when you are in need of a certain material, it can guide you to where it is available readily, reducing the time and cost spent on procurement,” he explained.
Praneet Agarwal of Maia Estates, a real estate company, highlighted how AI plays a role in both building design and material cost estimation. “Gen AI gives us trend-based cost projections, which are invaluable for budgeting future projects,” he said, especially when it comes to estimating the cost of materials like steel years down the line.
The Power of SAP in Spend Management
Throughout the discussion, SAP’s role as an enabler of digital transformation was a central theme. SAP’s comprehensive suite of solutions takes a connected systems approach with Ariba for procurement, Fieldglass for contingent workforce management, and Concur for expense management, providing organizations with end-to-end visibility and control. By centering the customers’ needs, SAP solutions are able to create a comprehensive solution that makes it easier to identify gaps and provide coverage.
As Ashwani Narang, Vice President & Head – Spend Management at SAP has pointed out, SAP’s comprehensive approach to spend management has culminated in the Intelligent Spend Business Network, or ISBN, which is synonymous with Total Spend Management. “Anything where you’re spending money in your organisation sits within ISBN’s purview – all the aspects under supply chain procurement, employee expense, supply chain financing, falls within this amalgamation that SAP has done. We are very uniquely placed in the market with the breadth and depth of the solution that allows us to give these benefits back to the customer.”
Transforming Spend Management in the Polycrisis Era
The roundtable discussion underscored the need for organisations to rethink their approach to spend management. In an era marked by volatility and complexity, spend management is no longer confined to finance teams. It’s a strategic lever that can drive resilience, unlock efficiencies, and position businesses for long-term success.
By leveraging AI, automation, and integrated digital tools, businesses can streamline operations, optimise working capital, and mitigate risks. SAP’s comprehensive suite of solutions is at the forefront of this transformation, offering organisations the tools they need to navigate through today’s polycrisis world.
For greater insight into this discussion, watch the conversation:
