{"id":5507,"date":"2026-05-04T15:00:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T13:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interim-manager-einkauf.de\/?p=5507"},"modified":"2026-05-03T10:24:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T08:24:54","slug":"2026handelsblatt-cpo-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interim-manager-einkauf.de\/en\/2026handelsblatt-cpo-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"Handelsblatt CPO Summit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"break-words          tvm-parent-container\"><span dir=\"ltr\">2026 Handelsblatt CPO Summit<\/p>\n<p>Once again, attending the 3rd Handelsblatt CPO Summit was time well spent. 75+ top procurement leaders from multinationals &amp; SMEs came together to exchange and learn. Especially the workshop sessions stood out, with open, honest discussions on real challenges beyond polished slides. And, as expected, AI dominated the discussions. Not a big surprise, but one thing became very clear this time:<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc49The conversation around AI has fundamentally shifted from talking about AI as an advisor, a source of data, intelligence, and decision support to AI as an OPERATOR.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc49It\u2019s no longer just about prompting. It\u2019s about agents that execute. And I have talked to plenty of CPOs who have moved from the experimental stage. They OPERATE AI agents as part of their teams.<\/p>\n<p>Another indication that AI may not be the future (we often talk about Procurement 2030 or 2035, or something happens in that magic future). It&#8217;s here today, and this rapid evolution raises some important questions.<\/p>\n<p>In a workshop with Mattea Herzberg (CPO Tesa), we explored some of these questions further under the idea of \u201cAI shoring&#8220; and how AI impacts our organizational design. Additionally, Mattea shared practical insights on Tesa&#8217;s impressive AI journey.<\/p>\n<p>\u2753Do we still need to offshore operational tasks to low-cost countries, or can AI agents take over these activities?<\/p>\n<p>\u2753How do we design organizations where humans and AI agents work side by side as coworkers?<\/p>\n<p>\u2753What does accountability look like when decisions are made -or executed- by machines?<\/p>\n<p>\u2753How do we build trust in this hybrid setup?<\/p>\n<p>\u2753The governance challenge: Do we need guardrails to prevent uncontrolled behavior and ensure alignment without avoiding overregulation that stifles innovation?<\/p>\n<p>We had an intense exchange about adoption, leadership, and accountability, and it became clear: This isn\u2019t just a cost or technology discussion!<\/p>\n<p>\u261d\ufe0fIt\u2019s about courage and adoption, rethinking operating models, speed, control, and value creation. AI is no longer just enhancing how we work. It\u2019s already reshaping our organizational design, (shared) roles &amp; responsibilities, development plans (humans and agents), and who or what does the work.<\/p>\n<p>Thanks to the entire Handelsblatt team for another excellent event and to all participants. It was great seeing many of you again.<\/span><\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2026 Handelsblatt CPO Summit Once again, attending the 3rd Handelsblatt CPO Summit was time well spent. 75+ top procurement leaders from multinationals &amp; SMEs came together to exchange and learn. Especially the workshop sessions stood out, with open, honest discussions on real challenges beyond polished slides. And, as expected, AI dominated the discussions. Not a big surprise, but one thing became very clear this time: \ud83d\udc49The conversation around AI has fundamentally shifted from talking about AI as an advisor, a source of data, intelligence, and decision support to AI as an OPERATOR. \ud83d\udc49It\u2019s no longer just about prompting. It\u2019s about agents that execute. And I have talked to plenty of CPOs who have moved from the experimental stage. They OPERATE AI agents as part of their teams. Another indication that AI may not be the future (we often talk about Procurement 2030 or 2035, or something happens in that magic future). It&#8217;s here today, and this rapid evolution raises some important questions. In a workshop with Mattea Herzberg (CPO Tesa), we explored some of these questions further under the idea of \u201cAI shoring&#8220; and how AI impacts our organizational design. Additionally, Mattea shared practical insights on Tesa&#8217;s impressive AI journey. \u2753Do we still need to offshore operational tasks to low-cost countries, or can AI agents take over these activities? \u2753How do we design organizations where humans and AI agents work side by side as coworkers? \u2753What does accountability look like when decisions are made -or executed- by machines? \u2753How do we build trust in this hybrid setup? \u2753The governance challenge: Do we need guardrails to prevent uncontrolled behavior and ensure alignment without avoiding overregulation that stifles innovation? We had an intense exchange about adoption, leadership, and accountability, and it became clear: This isn\u2019t just a cost or technology discussion! \u261d\ufe0fIt\u2019s about courage and adoption, rethinking operating models, speed, control, and value creation. AI is no longer just enhancing how we work. It\u2019s already reshaping our organizational design, (shared) roles &amp; responsibilities, development plans (humans and agents), and who or what does the work. Thanks to the entire Handelsblatt team for another excellent event and to all participants. It was great seeing many of you again.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5508,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5507","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Handelsblatt CPO Summit - targetP<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Handelsblatt CPO Summit: How does AI impact organizational design, roles and responsbilities? 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