Mark Perera

A small thank you to everyone using Claude: We’re doubling usage outside our peak hours for the next two weeks.

What if your procurement function got measurably better every 90 days — without running a transformation programme? That’s the idea behind what I’m calling the Frontier Procurement Operating Model. It comes from a simple observation: Frontier AI models compound. Every 2-3 months, meaningfully better. New reasoning, new capabilities, growing intelligence. Most procurement operating models don’t. They were built for the SaaS era — static workflows, forms and clicks, configured once, rarely fundamentally better in December than January. The SaaS operating model delivered consistent value. The frontier operating model delivers growing value. Same team. Same spend. But what took 6 weeks in January takes 4 by April. Supplier risk signals get sharper each month. Sourcing recommendations improve because the intelligence layer learned from the last 200 decisions — not because someone updated a playbook. What it looks like: → Workflow-led, not just category-led. Category strategies don’t die — they become living models that adapt. → Orchestration over gatekeeping. Procurement becomes the commercial intelligence layer, not the bottleneck. → Agentic systems that actually learn. Real feedback loops. Not a chatbot on a legacy P2P system. 10-15% better per quarter on key workflows — through use, not vendor updates. → Humans as judgment providers. They train the agents. Handle the exceptions. Set the boundaries. With the right guardrails — human oversight, auditability, clear autonomy limits — this isn’t aspirational. It’s architectural. The sharpest CPOs across Europe are asking the same question right now: how do we redesign the operating model so it compounds? That’s the conversation we’ve been having across The Shift roundtable series — Amsterdam, Zurich, London — and taking to Munich next week with Zip & H&Z Is your operating model built to keep pace, or built to stay the same?

Guest travel can be 50–80% of spend in some industries. Still runs on phone calls and spreadsheets. @sfelsey & @devontivona built in this category once, exited during the pandemic and came back in the AI era with outcome-based pricing. Lesson for buyers: Modernize the interface. Align pricing to outcomes. Look for domain depth. Full interview 👇

By the end of 2026, every CPO will be asked by their board: "What's your AI strategy?" Most won't have a good answer. I just sat with senior procurement leaders in Zurich for @buyersxbuilders Shift roundtable. No slides. No pitches. Just honest conversation about what happens to the operating model when AI rewrites the rules. What I can say: the themes were raw and real. The parallels to when we moved from client-server to cloud. The gap between what's being adopted top-down versus what's already happening bottom-up. The build vs buy question — and who you really want building for you. The new costs that procurement will own that didn't exist two years ago. Here's how I see the timeline playing out: Late 2026 — CPOs need to articulate their AI strategy. The pressure comes from investors and boards, not IT. 2027 — Early adopters show results. The early majority jumps in. 2028 — Legacy SaaS contracts hit renewal. Big decisions get made. 2030 — A new operating model. More value, more growth, more resilience. The strategy has to be in motion now. Next stop: Munich. If your board asked you tomorrow — what's your AI strategy? — what would you say? Thanks to our friends at @theziphq for partnering in this series with us. #Procurement #AI #TheShift #ProcurementTransformation #BuyersxBuilders

AI Founder @mitchbregs : "Software Will Build Itself in Enterprise" youtube.com/shorts/TitVxUn… #buyersxbuilders #procurement

Off the record. On the screen. Just launched Buyers x Builders Dispatch. Candid founder interviews. Honest takes on pricing and adoption. The patterns we keep seeing across enterprise software. Subscribe: buyersxbuilders.com/dispatch

Enterprise buying changed overnight. 12 months ago: evaluating 200-person SaaS companies Today: assessing 20-person AI-native startups You’re not buying software anymore - you’re buying into a founder’s vision. Problem: buyers and builders are talking past each other. Solution: @MatthewZiskie and I are launching Buyers and Builders. Nov 4th | London | 120 people only Best enterprise decision makers + top founders/builders. No booths. No selling. Real conversations about what’s next. buyersxbuilders.com #BuyersAndBuilders #Enterprise #AI

We take a lead back to Anfield ✊ #UCL

deep research out for chatgpt plus users! one of my favorite things we have ever shipped.

🚨 BREAKING Anthropic set to release the Claude Sonnet 3.7 - SOTA coding capabilities - their most intelligent model to date - useful for AI agents and complex AI workflows - solve complex problems using step-by-step reasoning First Claude model to offer user choice b/w: • standard thinking for near-instant responses • extended thinking for advanced reasoning Supported use cases: - agentic computer use - RAG or search & retrieval - product recommendations - code generation, quality control

“DeepScaleR: Achieving Superior Performance with a Small Model Through Reinforcement Learning” by Jenray @jenray1986/deepscaler-achieving-superior-performance-with-a-small-model-through-reinforcement-learning-562a4381c11f" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">medium.com/@jenray1986/de…

Back in NYC with @DPWconference team for tomorrow’s DPW NYC Summit. Very excited to be hosting a fireside chat with @scottbelsky on the radical impact Ai on creativity & strategy. #futureofprocurement #procurement #ai @GlobalityInc

I was quoted in Bloomberg on the SBTi offsetting story. It seems impossible to reduce Scope 3, but I would argue it's just very hard and takes a lot of innovation, also on the measurement side. The use of some "environmental attribute certificates" will however almost certainly be needed to reflect some real reductions. The purchase of sustainable aviation fuel is one example, some forms of insetting too. Power purchase agreements and renewable energy certificates are already allowed for Scope 2. Opening the floodgates for all types of carbon credits towards targets would be bad, the SBTi board statement had that feel, but can also be interpreted more conservatively. It is possible for a responsible company to find climate projects without counting against their targets. Just focusing on carbon credits also leaves out a lot of support worthy projects. That's why we have Beyond value chain mitigation. (Permanent carbon removal has very little to do with this story, if cheap credits would be allowed to count against targets, that would be bad news for CDR.)

As businesses evolve, so does the role of procurement. From digital leaps to sustainability, the next five years will bring transformative changes. Here’s what’s coming: 👇

The @Viziblapp team have pooled together our combined decades of experience working with top-level procurement teams to create a SRM business case toolkit to help you secure the buy-in for your Supplier Engagement Programme. Access the toolkit: hubs.ly/Q02rQzZJO

Beyond the Boundaries: Unlocking Innovation for Climate Impact buff.ly/3V84ZSG via @markperera #Sustainability #Procurement #ClimateChange #CSR #ClimateChange #Procurement #Sustainability

Macca's cross 👏 Darwin's finish 😍 Late, great drama 💜

Homegrown. ❤️🏆