From practitioner to product: Procurement experience, influence, and the future of technology

What does it take to build real influence in procurement - and what happens when that experience shapes the tools being built for the profession? In this episode, Tom Mills sits down with Guy Lowe, Procurement Lead at Baringa, and Johan Mills, VP Product Strategy at Vertice and former Global Head of Business Services at Thoughtworks, for a wide-ranging conversation that spans careers, teams, technology, and what procurement is becoming.

Guy and Johan reflect on the lessons that shaped them - from early mistakes to the slow, humbling work of driving change in complex organisations. They dig into the differences between public and private sector procurement, why small teams can punch well above their weight, and how building social capital and influence is often more valuable than any process or framework.

The conversation also turns to technology - and Johan brings a sharp perspective, having moved from procurement practitioner to product strategy. He and Guy explore why generic platforms so often fall short, what genuinely good user experience looks like in procurement software, and where AI and automation are actually heading versus where vendors claim they are.

Throughout, both guests make the case for patience, humility, and incremental progress - and for the kind of in-person connection and community that remote work has made harder but no less important.

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