CIPS Futures | The Procurement and Supply Chain Podcast

Mike Soutar on "three storms of change" reshaping procurement (and everything else)

The AI revolution, shifting geopolitical alliances, and a new generation in the workforce. Mike Soutar, author of Next Gen CEO and star from the BBC’s The Apprentice describes these as "the three storms". What does this mean for the next generation of leaders? Mike has 60 lessons, but here are just two: it's a leader's job to maintain momentum; and people don't follow pessimists.

Plus, why procurement and supply chain professionals are in a unique position to lead organisations in an uncertain, fast-moving world.

From creating space for constructive dissent to building culture in remote organisations, this revealing conversation with CIPS CEO Ben Farrell is a fascinating insight into the future of leadership.

This episode is sponsored by Vantify, the vantage point for connected compliance. Find out more at Vantify.com 

Related links...

• Where to buy: Mike Soutar's new book, Next Gen CEO
• What are your views on future leadership traits? Contribute to The Great Conversation
• Check out the GitLab Handbook mentioned by Mike
• Leadership training: Book your place on the CIPS behavioural leadership training course

Confronting nature loss and climate change: why it’s a procurement problem

At a point where biodiversity loss is higher now than at any other time in human history, the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) New Zealand CEO Kayla Kingdon-Bebb has an urgent message for procurement: every sourcing decision you make is a chance to shift the needle.

The picture is stark. Wildlife populations are in sharp decline, while nature loss and climate change are amplifying each other. The consequences are playing out before our eyes. For procurement and supply chain professionals, this is an economic risk as much as it is an environmental one. Economies are heavily dependent on nature – its destruction creates new risk exposure.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, assures Kayla. Sustainable procurement practices are a critical part of the solution to protecting nature and improving business resilience. This is “procurement’s moment” concluded CIPS’ global head of sustainability, Maxfield Weiss.

Plus: why the whales should offer us hope...

Related links...

• Join The Great Conversation - share your perspectives with CIPS on the future of the profession
• Find out more about WWF New Zealand and the global WWF mission
• Useful CIPS resources for sustainable procurement
• Connect with CIPS Global Head of Sustainability, Maxfield Weiss

Chokepoints, supply webs and risk concentration: is your organisation resilient enough?

As CIPS launches The Great Conversation – a world-wide dialogue about the future of the profession – we talk to David Shillingford, a leading investor in supply chain innovation. His message to procurement and supply chain professionals: extreme complexity is here to stay.

Also on the agenda: why procurement professionals must learn cross-functional scenario planning; where your hidden vulnerabilities lie; why conflict zones are everywhere; and the most important company you've never heard of.

Related links:

• Join The Great Conversation - share your perspectives on the future of the profession
• Visit the CIPS Situation Room - get more advice and insight on how current events are affecting procurement and supply professionals
• Watch the CIPS Webinar assessing the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict
• Follow David Shillingford for more insight

Managing supply chain challenges: insights from NHS Supply Chain

A critical supplier goes into administration. There are only eight weeks of stock left, yet it will take nine months to switch to a new supplier. What would you do? In this episode, we hear how the NHS Supply Chain's head of supply chain resilience, Tom Brailsford, and his team responded to ensure hospitals and healthcare providers never ran out of the stock they needed after an essential hand hygiene supplier went bust.

Brailsford also explains how the NHS Supply Chain have transitioned to a sophisticated resilience model to ensure that 600,000 healthcare products and services a year make it to the frontline of patient care. Plus, we uncover the "cliff-edge" risks keeping healthcare procurement professionals up at night and how a UK cross-government initiative is helping to map multi-tier supplier risk.

Further reading:

• Find out more about the NHS Supply Chain
• Read the full story on how the NHS Supply Chain navigated supply disruption
• Get more insight into managing risk - watch CIPS Risk & Resilience webinar week 2025 on-demand

From back office to boardroom: why supply chain leadership is now business critical

We're joined by Nick Nanos, chief supply chain officer and SVP of wholesale at the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO), an organisation on the frontline of navigating tariffs, labour disruption and complex global logistics. Hear how his team is spearheading change and innovation in practice to become the strategic lever the  crown agency now relies on to respond to challenges and consistently deliver value.

Nick reflects on the qualities required of procurement and supply chain leaders amidst today's volatility. And, as a member and advocate for both the National Institute of Supply Chain Leaders (NISCL) and CIPS, the role he feels professional bodies play in developing those skills.

Related links: 

• Discover more about the National Institute of Supply Chain Leaders (NISCL)
• Find out how you can achieve NISCL-CSCL and MCIPS dual designation and what it can do for you
• About the Liquor Control Board of Ontario

"Play the game in front of you": steering through trade and commodity price turbulence – without a rulebook

Are we witnessing a "rupture" of the rules-based international order? How have tariffs and geopolitical events played out on the ground? And what does this all mean for procurement and supply chain professionals? CIPS global economist Dr John Glen and Fastmarkets commodities expert Ross Yeo make sense of all the noise.

Related links

• CIPS Pulse results Q4 2025: Procurement professionals sound the alarm for sustained consumer price increases in 2026
• Find out more about commodity-pricing experts Fastmarkets, a CIPS Official Knowledge Partner
• Read Canadian Prime Minister's Mark Carney's full speech at Davos

Modern slavery: a survivor's story

Modern slavery survivor Moe Turaga shares his personal story of forced labour in the Australian horticulture sector. Moe offers a rare and vital insight into this complex crime as part of his mission to place people with lived experience at the centre of the global response to modern slavery.

His message for procurement and supply professionals is clear: you hold the leverage to make a real difference in the fight against human exploitation in supply chains. His advice? Ask uncomfortable questions, look deeper into your suppliers and partner with expert remediation services when you do encounter potential victims.

Further reading

• Find out more about modern slavery support services Domus 8.7 and Unseen
• Read more about the work the CIPS Foundation does

A time of change: why co-innovation and resilience will define procurement success

Departing CIPS Chair Alison Barto on horizon scanning, co-innovation with suppliers and why procurement's role is now about bringing the outside world in. Plus, the remarkable sense of belonging that CIPS members enjoy as part of a global community.

Alison also shares her proudest achievement as CIPS' Chair and the biggest changes she's made during her tenure.

Related links

• Find out more about becoming part of the global CIPS community
• Meet the CIPS Global Board of Trustees

CIPS Foundation tackles modern slavery: the five hundred billion dollar crime in your supply chain

An estimated 28 million people are employed in forced labour in supply chains. Procurement professionals are on the frontline of this global crime - one estimated to be worth half a trillion dollars. It is a challenge the CIPS Foundation is working with UK-based modern slavery charity Unseen to tackle head on by providing funding to turn data from its Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline into actionable insights for procurement professionals. 

In this CIPS Foundation special we lift the lid on an issue that exposes organisations to significant financial, legal and reputational risks - where "plausible deniability" is no longer an option and fundamental human rights are at stake. Andrew Wallis OBE, CEO of Unseen, and Sodexo's Madeline Fitton MCIPS, founder and chair of the BSA Modern Slavery Council, share what progress has been made 10 years on from the UK's landmark Modern Slavery Act.

We uncover the scale of the challenge facing procurement, address why effective legislation must be designed as a "spiky carrot", and provide essential advice on how to identify and respond to modern slavery in your own supply chain.

Further reading: 

• Learn more about the CIPS Foundation
• Read: How the CIPS Foundation is supporting Unseen
• Watch: CIPS Foundation & Unseen tackling modern slavery together
• Find out more about Unseen and the Modern Slavery & Exploitation Helpline

Navigating supplier disputes, part 3: dispute intelligence with AI

Is AI the answer to resolving disputes with your suppliers? Yes... and no - as we find out in the final instalment of this mini-series. While the human input and experience of professionals remains critical to forging and maintaining supplier relationships that keep businesses running, we explore where AI is reshaping procurement roles when it comes to negotiation, contract management and resolving conflict.

Hear from resolutiion's Fayola-Maria Jack and Katarzyna Hewelt on how AI is reducing costs caused by disputes by up to a third, and making contract management faster and more accurate at identifying risks - removing future sources of conflict at source. Acting as a co-pilot, AI gives procurement the time to focus on the strategy and relationships that drive true value for their organisations, explain our guests. 

Additional reading:

• Download: CIPS & resolutiion Breaking the Deadlock report
• Read: CIPS Intelligence hub - supplier relationship management
• Watch: Leveraging AI to improve conflict management in procurement
• Read: Interview with resolutiion CEO, Fayola Maria-Jack on how AI is benefitting procurement and supply

This podcast mini-series is brought to you by the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), in partnership with resolutiion.