Max HenryFounder & Executive Director, Global Supply Chain Council (GSCC) · Founder & Executive Director at Global Supply Chain Council (GSCC)

Procurement's Future: The CVO Role for Survival #shorts

16 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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In this YouTube short, the speaker argues that procurement must evolve from a traditional cost‑center function into a Chief Value Officer (CVO) role. As CVO, procurement protects organizational value by managing costs while also driving top‑line growth, thereby contributing to both revenue and profit. The speaker stresses that the longstanding mindset of procurement as a purely transactional, cost‑saving activity must change for the function’s survival; otherwise, automated systems could replace manual purchasing. He concurs with a colleague named Philip that procurement is often mistakenly perceived solely as a cost function, underscoring the need for a strategic, value‑focused repositioning.

Chapters

I feel it's more of a CVO role, Chief Value Officer, because you are protecting the value of the organization. You're protecting the value in terms of cost, you're safeguarding that cost, but at the same time, you're also contributing to both the top and bottom side of the equation, seeing that how are you contributing that. And that onus is all onto us as procurement as a fraternity, that how are we placing ourselves. The mindset which has not changed over years has to change because that's our survival. Because if we continue doing what we're doing today, I do not see the need of us sitting over there. A simple robot can buy cheaper options online rather than me sitting over there and placing an order manually. So, so, so, so, so to me it's more of a CVO role that is coming into play, that what value am I bringing in for my organization rather than just talking about procurement, which I tend to agree with what Philip is saying, is always perceived as a cost function somehow, unfortunately.