Inside Next-Gen SAP Ariba: Rebuilding Procurement for the AI Era

Procurement has been chasing true productivity gains for years, but legacy systems and incremental upgrades haven’t delivered the breakthrough many hoped for. What happens when one of the world’s most established procurement platforms decides to start over? In this podcast episode of Art of Procurement, Philip Ideson sits down with Baber Farooq, Senior Vice President of Market Strategy, Procurement Solutions at SAP, to unpack SAP’s decision to reimagine Ariba for the AI era. The conversation explores how this shift changes everything from user experience to data strategy, transparency, and trust. You’ll learn: Why next-gen procurement platforms must be rebuilt for AI, not just retrofitted How structured, high-quality data fuels reliable AI outcomes Real examples of how generative AI is reshaping sourcing, category strategy, and decision-making This episode is a must-listen for CPOs, technology leaders, and practitioners who want to understand what “next-gen” truly means—and how to prepare their teams for it. Subscribe to This Week in Procurement for the latest in procurement news, insights, and information: https://resources.artofprocurement.co... Visit www.artofprocurement.com Listen to the Art of Procurement podcast: https://artofprocurement.com/podcast/ About Art of Procurement: Art of Procurement was founded in 2015 to empower professionals at all levels to align procurement performance with corporate objectives. Whether it is based on the inspiration of the #1 procurement podcast hosted by Founder Philip Ideson, or through targeted advisory and content creation offerings, we guide our clients and brand partners on their journey to 10X the impact of procurement.