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Product Keynote: Reimagining Pricing & Rebates with AI — Transcript

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0:00All right. Well, hi everybody. Welcome.
0:02I am so thrilled to be here with you
0:04today in Birmingham, not Birmingham. Uh
0:07I'm Amanda Groves. I lead the product
0:09marketing team as Leia shared and I'm so
0:12thrilled to be giving our product talk,
0:13right? Where have we developed over the
0:16the journey at Enable and how have many
0:18of you customers been along with us for
0:20the ride.
0:22So, what we're going to be talking about
0:23here is our our point of view on rebates
0:25and pricing and these how these big
0:27commercial levers are really changing
0:29the game for commercial trade at large
0:31and how everything is evolving. As you
0:33guessed it, if your bingo card isn't
0:35full of AI and pricing rebates quite
0:37yet, it will be by the end of this talk.
0:39And I can't help but want to do like the
0:40rebates. Yes. Uh from Kevin's talk, too.
0:43That's a good one to take away with. As
0:45I was preparing for this talk at home,
0:48uh just a lot of discussion over dinner
0:50like, "Mom, where are you going? what
0:51are you doing? And I have a seven and
0:538-year-old. And my seven-year-old, a
0:55very uh curious boy, uh as the more we
0:58were talking about trading economies and
0:59trade, the word trade was a key operator
1:02here. And he was like, "Well, mom, are
1:04are these people going to be trading
1:06Pokemon cards?" And at first, you know,
1:08I laughed and I was like, you know,
1:09probably not. I don't know. There could
1:11be still some adult collector fans and
1:13no shame in that. But the more I thought
1:15about it, you know, Pokemon is something
1:17that people are collecting cards,
1:19battling, competing, trying to complete
1:22their set, and that's not so off from
1:25like trying to get a better deal, right?
1:27Rebates and pricing are all about value
1:29exchange, negotiation, relationship
1:32building, and the only difference, well,
1:34not the only difference, but a key
1:35difference in not getting the rare
1:37Charizard card is we're managing margin,
1:40growth, and building trusted trading
1:42relationships. So that trading element
1:44is a big throughine here and really the
1:46bedrock of our product vision and how we
1:49structure our programs here at enable.
1:53So before we head to future product
1:55state, I want to take us through the
1:56journey of how we've evolved over the
1:58years and we're going to rewind the tape
2:00starting with how we got started, right?
2:01So enable was started on the the buy
2:05side with trading agreement development,
2:07helping distributors calculate and claim
2:09rebates that they were owed and then we
2:11expanded into the sell side, helping
2:14manufacturers design and manage programs
2:17more strategically. And this was a
2:18really critical inflection point for us
2:20because right we are crossing the chasm
2:22into a true network of harmonious
2:24trading relationships.
2:27And as the years progressed, we saw a
2:29huge opportunity
2:31to expand that commercial programming
2:33into incentives, right? How are we
2:35thinking about pre-sales incentives on
2:37the pricing side and post sales
2:39incentives on the rebate side? And
2:41that's where the acquisition of
2:42Flintthox has really helped us think
2:44about the larger opportunities and how
2:46these are really two sides of the same
2:48very important co coin in the value
2:50chain. And AI is certainly woven in
2:53throughout with how we're operating away
2:55from the 101 and the day-to-day and
2:57allowing you practitioners to use AI and
2:59think about how we're getting our next
3:01best actions out of pricing and rebate
3:04data so you can get back to the 2011 and
3:06the 301 of your day-to-day.
3:09So we've talked a lot about enable and
3:11flint fox really really exciting product
3:14innovation where together you know
3:16pricing and rebates we are building that
3:19future of AI powered pricing and rebates
3:22where you're building your programs
3:23collaborate collaboratively excuse me on
3:26their own each of these products were
3:28solving really important commercial
3:30problems enable again talked about
3:33rebate claims and management and
3:35settlement and pricing how are we
3:37pricing at the speed of what we're
3:39facing in the market, right? Things are
3:40going so fast. Things are changing.
3:43Volatility, right? Tariffs, you could
3:45price in the morning and then the
3:47afternoon it's going to be a different
3:48price point.
3:50So with these two products together,
3:52they are really a unified platform where
3:54we're able to settle in one place,
3:57design in one place, track in one place,
3:59claim in one place. And it's not just
4:02about again the separation but how they
4:05come together to be a worldclass
4:08commercial system. Sorry.
4:13So moving into our road map right we
4:15have five key focus areas and this
4:17roadmap has come together really from
4:19you all here in the room. our customers
4:21who are a part of our customer advisory
4:23board, our enabled product council, if
4:26you're talking to your CSMS, right?
4:28We're getting that feedback back into
4:29how we're thinking about delivering our
4:31product. So, the first main area is
4:33really artificial intelligence. We are
4:36moving beyond B dashboards, right?
4:38Dashboards have been around in the
4:40platform for quite a bit of time now.
4:42We're going to be embedding AI directly
4:44into your workflows. So, the system
4:46doesn't just report on what happened,
4:48right? It's automating away the busy
4:49work. We're getting more proactive and
4:52predictive and highlighting deal
4:53optimization opportunities at just the
4:55right time so you can take advantage of
4:57these programs. Our second investment
5:00area is platform right enterprise
5:02readiness. Do we have the right
5:03connectors into your ERP systems? Are
5:05they rich enough? Think SAP, Oracle,
5:08Epicore. So that's where things are
5:10going to get really exciting. And then
5:12also more system access in individual
5:16access management. So for those people
5:18who are in platform, do you have the
5:20right governance? Are the data set to
5:22what you want them to see right
5:24customization? So when we move into more
5:26connectivity, everything's secure and
5:28control and governance is at the center
5:31of how you're managing your trading
5:32partners within enable and outside of
5:34enable.
5:37Third, pricing and rebates. I mean
5:39again, bingo card getting full with
5:41flintox and enable. We're now unifying
5:43volume rebates at scale with the fastest
5:45pricing execution engine on the market,
5:48right? 5,000 SKUs and in seconds. It's
5:51pretty pretty incredible. And then
5:53expanded rebate capability. So, we have
5:56claims we're going to be investing more
5:58in settlements. Uh collaboration,
6:01collaborator, how you bring your partner
6:03ecosystem into trade with an enable. So
6:07your finance team, your sales team, and
6:09your training partners can all engage
6:10with confidence, clarity, and
6:12consistency.
6:14Together, these focus areas position
6:16enable not just as a rebate platform,
6:18right, but as a connected commercial
6:20management and optimization platform,
6:22unifying pricing, rebates, data at speed
6:25and security.
6:29Now, I know there's been a lot of polls
6:30and I think for this slide, I'm really
6:32excited about the road map. We've done
6:34so much work with our customers and our
6:35advisory team. So, I would love to hear
6:38one if you know you want to raise the
6:40roof. I didn't bring my my DJ booth with
6:42me, but if you want to raise your hand
6:44and share, you know, just a temp check
6:45on how much are you already using AI in
6:48your day-to-day? How much is your
6:50company already testing AI and
6:52forecasting for example or pricing or
6:55demand planning? Anyone in the room?
7:00Have you used AI to summarize a contract
7:03or Okay, excellent. Great. Have you used
7:06AI to analyze a contract or uh an
7:09analyze rebate data quite yet?
7:13Good. Good. We have some progressives.
7:15What about uh raise your hand if your
7:18leadership team has committed to making
7:19AI part of your three-year strategy,
7:22two to three year, one to year in the
7:24the near future.
7:26Excellent.
7:28What about last one? If you're cautious,
7:31you're just waiting to see, you know, is
7:32this an AI bubble? Are we in the AI
7:34hype? Will there really be ROI in this?
7:36So, raise your hand if you're one of the
7:38cautiously curious
7:41there. Yeah, there's a lot. I mean, I
7:44can steal the the rebate skepticism to
7:46AI skeptic skepticism. It's very real
7:49and palpable. So, a lot of different
7:51dimensionality with how we feel about AI
7:54and great talk this morning about, you
7:56know, different perceptions and how we
7:58can use AI and intentionality and and
8:00biases. Uh, and it's kind of the point,
8:03right? AI in theory is everywhere, but
8:05in AI in practice, it's a little uneven.
8:08We're here to explore, you know, how are
8:10we thinking about AI and enable? How are
8:12we making sure it's not a bolt-on,
8:14right? How is it really using our
8:16commercial data to get the next best
8:18actions? automate away the busy work and
8:21make sure that you're focusing on the
8:22right things at the right time. So
8:24really moving from hype to practical
8:26payoff
8:30which brings us to this as a a product
8:32marketer very excited. This AI powered
8:34anal analytics release for us was really
8:37our first big step into the AI journey
8:39at enable. It does prove that practical
8:42AI can really improve your AI and rebate
8:45programs and make the leap from buzzword
8:47to business impact. What you're looking
8:50at here is really the next step in our
8:51AI journey. So self-s serve insights, no
8:54more waiting on reports. You don't have
8:56to ping your your IT team and wait for,
8:58you know, hours or days depending on,
9:00you know, global circumstances can get
9:02them back in seconds and in plain
9:04English. Ask questions, big data
9:06questions, get big data answers back.
9:09Performance monitoring monitoring. So a
9:12recent update is now we have KPI tags
9:15and dashboards right in AI powered
9:16analytics where if you've certain things
9:18you want to monitor and make sure every
9:20time you're in the system you want to
9:21keep track of it and have proactive
9:23alerts you know threshold near or
9:25threshold being hit on your rebate
9:27programs that's something that you can
9:28now track you don't have to manage data
9:30silos and reports in different places
9:33change analysis so this is a show me
9:36what changed and why capability right
9:38you have two slices of data you're maybe
9:40not cautiously curious, but you're
9:42actively curious about what's going on
9:43in REI rebate programs. So you can make
9:45that shift and spot different changes
9:47with confidence. And then also smart and
9:50deep analysis. So maybe you know we're
9:52all very busy. It's practical that
9:54you're going to not be able to keep
9:55track of everything, right? So this will
9:57help you have that anomaly detection in
9:59real time, risk detection, why analysis,
10:02emerging trends may spot them before the
10:04human eye does. So surfacing those
10:06signals when they're most important to
10:08you and your team.
10:11And with that, we have a preview of
10:13what's coming with the enable AI road.
10:15>> Rebates should drive profit, not
10:17frustration. Yet your team spends hours
10:20sifting through dense agreements,
10:22causing delays and uncertainty. And when
10:26performance dips, it's hard to know what
10:28to change. There's a better way.
10:31Introducing more enable AI innovation.
10:34showcasing how artificial intelligence
10:36improves rebate management. With Enable
10:39AI, you gain immediate insights into
10:41your rebate performance.
10:44Explore your agreements with an
10:45intelligent assistant that understands
10:47your data intricately.
10:50Request performance scores.
10:54Uncover optimization opportunities.
10:57Choose the strategic direction you want.
10:59Enable AI to optimize and generate
11:02improved agreements aligned with your
11:04strategic goals. Visualize the potential
11:07outcomes and make informed decisions
11:09swiftly. Empower your finance team with
11:12better realtime data about rebate
11:15programs. Enable your sales team to
11:17accelerate deal closures. Align your
11:20agreements seamlessly with your business
11:22strategy. Stronger partnerships, better
11:25profit margins, growth without
11:27guesswork. Enable AI providing the
11:30clarity and confidence to trade smarter
11:32and outpace change. Want to see Enable
11:35AI in action? Visit our demo station,
11:38share your thoughts, and explore how we
11:40can innovate together.
11:43Let's shape the future of rebate
11:45management.
11:52It's really really exciting. I mean, we
11:54showed this back at Catalyze in Chicago
11:56if any of you were there. And, you know,
11:58this was just the the beginning. And we,
12:00as an AI research and development team,
12:03have been hard at work working with many
12:05of you in our, you know, innovation lab
12:08thinking about again how we can take
12:10these practical AI use cases and expand
12:12the art of what's possible in our
12:14platform. So from an AI research
12:16perspective, you know, we shared a
12:18little bit of where we have gone and and
12:22developed in AI powered analytics, but
12:24there's still so much more that we can
12:25do. I mean truly like boundless
12:27exponential opportunities. It's a really
12:29exciting time with enable AI. We are
12:32focusing on two main use cases at the
12:34start. So in early access right now
12:36based on customer feedback again from
12:38customer advisory board where do you
12:40have the long tale of agreements that
12:43it's hard to keep up with and negotiate
12:44you know you want to focus on your most
12:46strategic partnerships. So let AI do the
12:48work and optimizing those longtail
12:50agreements, right? Maybe you're
12:52onboarding your team or your partners
12:54and learning a new software is not the
12:56best use of your professional time. Have
12:59enable AI Q&A who has been trained on
13:02the entire ecosystem of our help center
13:05library. Very big brain onboard your
13:07team members and partners for you.
13:08Right? So these are the kind of use
13:10cases we're thinking about. Automatic
13:12agreement creation. there's a lot of
13:14data to ingest, you know, thousands of
13:17agreements. And so, wouldn't it be great
13:19if instead of manually bringing in these
13:21agreements, you had an agent to do that
13:23for you, right? So, these are the kind
13:24of things we're considering right now in
13:26our AI labs and our our innovation
13:29center. Future state, we're thinking
13:32about again more proactive detection on
13:35margin leakage or getting to mar net net
13:38like margin profitability. Some of us
13:40are working with very thin margins and
13:43detection ahead of uh a surprise is
13:47absolutely on the radar for us. So we're
13:50looking at detecting, diagnosing,
13:52resolving, and setting up your plan for
13:55resolution resolving in real time.
13:59So double clicking into enable AI for
14:01just a minute, it is really designed to
14:04support you in the platform starting in
14:06your tra trading programs. It's learning
14:08from from your trading program data.
14:10It's stepping up with guidance and
14:12creating agreements faster and easier
14:13than ever. You're going to have
14:15immediate support. This is something
14:16we've heard a lot again from our our
14:18customer advisory team. Enable AI has
14:20the entire help center built into it.
14:22This means instant answers, step-by-step
14:25guidance. Hey, I need help setting up
14:27this report or what do you think about
14:29this trading program? It is your inuite
14:31collaborative rebate strategist.
14:34You're going to have trading programs
14:35expertise. So, you're chatting with
14:37Enable AI about your trading programs,
14:39getting immediate textbased responses,
14:41and giving it feedback, right? This is
14:43going to take time, and you're we want
14:45your feedback. We want you to help train
14:47this and make it purpose-built for your
14:49unique use case.
14:54And agreement creation. This is one I'm
14:55I'm really excited about again with all
14:57the talk we've had from customers about
14:58how important this is. You can still
15:00manually enter your program. We want
15:03human intervention where it makes sense
15:04for you and your teams. But soon you'll
15:07be able to simply upload a PDF of your
15:09rebate agreement and enable AI will
15:11generate the pro the trading program for
15:13you. So it's going to be faster,
15:15simpler, and way easier to add many many
15:17of your agreements. We know some have
15:19hundreds of thousands, right? So this is
15:21really really exciting from an
15:22optimization perspective.
15:24If you are interested in any of these
15:26early AI use cases or you have some that
15:29you know have just sparked from
15:31discussions here in the room or outside
15:32when you're getting tea or coffee, we do
15:35have as Leia mentioned, we have a demo
15:37booth upstairs. We have our lead AI uh
15:40product designer and well product
15:43designer here and our our product team.
15:45They would love to get your feedback. So
15:47thinking way into the future so future.
15:50So now I shared we do have those initial
15:53capabilities in early access but down
15:55the roadmap line we are thinking deeply
15:57about how we're applying the power of
15:59large language models. One of the
16:01toughest challenges that we have is how
16:04do we surround that around leakage,
16:06revenue leakage, margin leakage and the
16:09solution on detection is and it's really
16:12like nent stages but we're really
16:14excited about some of the prototyping
16:16we've been able to to come together as
16:18an R&D team and building a surround
16:20strategy around margin protection. So
16:23thinking about it in four key pillars,
16:25detect. AI is going to automatically
16:27detect potential margin leakage with
16:29anomaly detection, risk identification,
16:32and smart alerts. So you know, maybe you
16:34have a sales team out negotiating a
16:35deal, and you've set strict credentials
16:37for what they need to follow, but we're
16:39not omniresent. We don't always have the
16:41information on these other side. So you
16:43will have that automation, monitoring
16:45and provisioning to connect the dots and
16:48have more connected connectivity with
16:50your internal teams that are going to
16:51make your external contracts and deals
16:53way more profitable and safe and secure.
16:56Once that detection is alerting your
17:00team, you're going to be able to
17:01identify and AI will help you get to the
17:03root cause of what's causing this
17:05problem so you can solve that real
17:07problem faster.
17:11And then once that issue is identified,
17:13you'll be able to get a plan that's
17:14tailored with next step suggestions,
17:16scenario planning, optimization, and
17:19deal scoring. Right? Maybe this is a
17:20deal that is a very strategic tier one
17:23partner. It's a critical priority for
17:25your business to solve it. You'll be
17:26able to hierarchy and have that deal
17:29scoring in place. And another use case
17:31is maybe you're setting up a deal and
17:34you know there's things that you can
17:35improve. So AI will automatically help
17:37you understand the conditions and the
17:39variables that you could put in place to
17:41get that to a top tier score in your
17:43trading program and then resolve and
17:46manage. So we'll be looking into
17:48integrations. It's great you know having
17:50this data in enable but we're building
17:52an ecosystem of trading partners and
17:54within that an ecosystem of connectors.
17:57Your data is only as good as where it
17:59lives. Is it out with your team? Is it
18:01in your PowerBI tool, your ERP system?
18:04So making sure we have the connectors so
18:06the data is getting to where it's most
18:08useful for your teams.
18:11So again I mentioned Jamie Lee Everett.
18:13He's our uh senior product manager,
18:15principal product manager for this
18:17project. He is here. He may be upstairs.
18:20Oh, he's in the back waving his hand. So
18:22if you're interested in being a design
18:24partner or a data partner, you have
18:26ideas for what enable AI could do for
18:28your business, definitely get some time
18:30with Jamie. We have our prototypes here.
18:32So if you want to take a look and see
18:33more in action, please do.
18:36So I could stand up here all day and
18:38talk about product. Uh I'm few I'm sure
18:40a lot of us could, but I think the best
18:42part of being here is hearing how the
18:44product has helped our customers and
18:46celebrate their success stories. So uh
18:49as we shared, we are really excited to
18:51spotlight Cromwell Tools today. one of
18:54their great successes. I mean, they've
18:56managed so much. 300 suppliers, 38
18:59branches across 30,000 customers with a
19:02wide range of industrial tools and
19:04equipment. Uh, just a little bit of
19:07their origin story. Rebates used to be
19:09very manual on spreadsheets and email
19:11threads and individual people. So, the
19:14load on how you're managing all of these
19:16things in one place is really
19:18burdensome, which I'm sure a lot of us
19:20here in the room can resonate with. But
19:22with enable enable has but with enable
19:25kroml has totally transformed rebate
19:27management cutting administrated time by
19:2975%.
19:31Uh centralizing all their agreements
19:32into a single source of truth enable and
19:35what once was really manual time
19:37consuming processes has allowed them to
19:40build more of a strategic advantage in
19:42their trading experiences. They have
19:44stronger supplier relationships and
19:47greater profitability. that net net,
19:49right? It's directly tied to all of the
19:52good work that they've done in pro
19:54progressing their rebate programs and
19:55upleveling and challenging challenging
19:57themselves to do more with the data and
19:59tools that they have. So to share their
20:02story firsthand, we have Alan Milner
20:04from Cromwell Tools commercial director
20:07and we would love if you could welcome
20:08him on stage to have some discussion.
20:10Thank you.
20:11>> Thank you very much.
20:12>> Of course. So welcome to the hot seat.
20:15We don't have any buffalo wings. I'm
20:17sorry. for next time.
20:19>> Uh so could you start just by
20:20introducing yourself? I know we gave a
20:22bit but yeah would love to hear more.
20:24>> Yeah sure. Um so I'm Alan Milner
20:25commercial directoral tools. I've been
20:27in the world of pricing for near on 20
20:30years now. Uh stock and trade and kind
20:32of data analytics um and then moved into
20:35kind of commercial output from that um
20:38probably the last 10 years or so.
20:40>> Amazing. Well, welcome again.
20:42>> Thank you. from your vantage point, what
20:43is the most exciting or challenging part
20:45of leading commercial and and the
20:47pricing side of the business? I know
20:48you're a pricing specialist, so yeah.
20:50>> Yeah, sure. So, I reflect on this and
20:53there was once upon a time in my career
20:54where I was very much fixated with the
20:57data to the point where I didn't really
20:59even care who the customer was, you
21:00know, that was just a a number or a data
21:03point in the spreadsheet and I kind of
21:04went from there. as my kind of career
21:06developed, what I started to realize was
21:08that the biggest thing that I enjoy the
21:10most is building those commercial deals
21:13with our customers or our suppliers. Um,
21:16you know, in particular, being able to
21:17walk away from a deal knowing that both
21:19people on both sides of the table have
21:21got something out of it and that's going
21:23to be a sustainable future for me.
21:24That's that's definitely what I'm most
21:25enjoying in the role at the moment.
21:27>> Yeah. Amazing. I know your your team is
21:30currently implementing special pricing
21:31agreements and investing more there. So
21:33I'm curious, you know, you just shared
21:35you got started at Enable with rebates,
21:37you're expanding into special pricing
21:38agreements or spas. Uh how does that fit
21:40into your broader business strategy? How
21:42are you all thinking about that?
21:43>> Yeah, sure. So rebates obviously as a
21:46mechanical thing. You know, it's a way
21:47of managing our income and cash flow.
21:50But I think more strategically speaking,
21:52it's allowing us to um kind of develop
21:54guardrails in which behaviors we want to
21:56create. So particularly for spars um
21:58that's all about ensuring the
22:00relationship between the supplier and
22:02the end user. to a distributor in this
22:04space. Um, and when you've got that
22:06working really well, you've got the
22:08loyalty from the supplier, but you've
22:09also got what the customer wants, but
22:11there can be a lot of administrative um,
22:13burden on that as we discussed in the
22:15previous um, session. So, having it in
22:17one system u makes it by far easier and
22:20then you can scale as well. It's really
22:21hard to scale if you don't have
22:22something you can scale from. Um, so
22:24that's why we're looking to introduce
22:26SPARS and have been.
22:27>> Very cool. What role do rebates play in
22:30aligning with bigger business
22:31objectives? you talk about guard rails
22:33and but like more playing defense on the
22:35retrospective side and and margin
22:37protection.
22:38>> Yeah, sure. Sure. So, we like many
22:40businesses, we have um you know,
22:42specific targets, monetary targets, but
22:44I think more and more now we're starting
22:46to let's say mature and I think um I'm
22:49seeing this across the industry as well
22:50where you know the money side of things
22:52is one thing but the behaviors that have
22:55been driven is by far more by far more
22:57powerful. It's hard to put a target on
22:59that but it's definitely within our
23:00strategy. So the example given earlier
23:02about the finding the angle in which
23:04both parties can come to mutual benefit
23:07that's what we're looking for all the
23:08time because there's only so much you
23:10can you know push a zero sum rebate. You
23:13have to be looking for those wider
23:14objectives and if you can't get them
23:15then they're not strategic objectives.
23:17You know you just don't need to accept
23:19that and move on and find the ones that
23:20are strategic.
23:21>> Makes sense. So you work with over 300
23:25suppliers. What qualities would you
23:27consider make a strong trading
23:29relationship and truly strategic versus
23:32transactional? How do you separate the
23:33difference?
23:34>> Yeah, sure. So, 300 suppliers is what
23:36we've got in uh for rebates. We work by
23:38by far more, but those are the ones that
23:40we work on a rebate basis.
23:42>> So, for me, uh for them to be strategic,
23:45they've got to be really transparent on
23:47the goals that they have as a business
23:49so that we can align our goals to them.
23:51I think if you're unable to do that, I
23:53think Andrew explained it earlier, you
23:55know, back to pre207 that very linear
23:58thin model of uh supply chain, you're
24:01only going to be able to talk about
24:02volume rebate at the most, I would
24:04suggest. So, if you can't go beyond that
24:07in terms of understanding, well, how can
24:08I leverage um you know, their supply
24:11chain? What do I bring to the party?
24:13What do they bring to the party? What
24:14access can I create? So on so forth. If
24:16you're not talking about those things,
24:18you haven't got a strategic relationship
24:19in my opinion. Mhm.
24:20>> Um, yeah. So, that that'll be that
24:22>> makes sense.
24:24>> When you think about innovation and
24:26supplier collaboration, what does a
24:27win-win future look like for you and
24:30your training partners? I think
24:33understanding their over objectives and
24:36knowing that when we've both left the
24:38table of negotiation that we've got a
24:40way forward towards that.
24:42>> I think you know we can understand that
24:44I might go with a certain objective and
24:46it completely contradicts to someone
24:47else but there's always a way of
24:49circumventing background to be able to
24:51get what you want um on both sides. uh
24:54and and if you can't then maybe we need
24:56to face into the fact that maybe that's
24:57not a good relationship because it's not
24:59going to be sustainable. At some point
25:01something will snap in that trading.
25:05>> All right, moving on to AI and
25:07optimization which is yeah the the topic
25:10of the hour. So AI is moving fast. Uh
25:13how do you see it reshaping your
25:14commercial and pricing strategy? I mean
25:16the next three years it's that's far
25:18right like maybe let's focus on the next
25:20few months even with how much
25:22>> I'm happy to try and give a future
25:24vision because it's it does it does
25:25fascinate me.
25:26>> So I think it really depends on what
25:28market segment you're you're looking at
25:30and where you play. So if I reflect on
25:32let's say the smaller end of of the
25:34market so very much you've got a product
25:36and a price on on the customer side. I
25:39think that's going to become more and
25:40more priceled. um content as well
25:43actually we're seeing it already uh
25:45where customers are going to AI and
25:47saying I' I've got this problem I need
25:49these things where do I go so the
25:51content becomes so much more important
25:53what I'm also potentially forecasting is
25:56the end of PPC or SEA so the search
25:59engine um payments and a move more to
26:02charging the consumers for that
26:04privilege so if you haven't got a ticket
26:06for chat GPT2 or something similar it's
26:09be very difficult for you to find a good
26:11because you'll just be on the websites,
26:12you know, going for normal SEO. And so I
26:15think that's going to be a real shift
26:17change. You know, there's huge marketing
26:19budgets at the moment for for Google,
26:21for example. I think that's going to
26:23shift and that will create more budget
26:25to go into product enrichment and things
26:28like that because you can't simply just
26:29boost your ranking anymore. You have to
26:31be really good on the content and the
26:33service and solutions. So that's the
26:35smaller end of the base. I think if you
26:37when you start to go up it's going to
26:39become more and more value based.
26:41>> So how do you move away from the price
26:43of the product or service to there is a
26:46price because we have to recognize some
26:47income but also I can do all of this
26:50other stuff for you and that is aligned
26:51to what you need and what's going to
26:53benefit you. Um I think if we're not
26:55doing that sooner or later those c those
26:59companies are going to really struggle
27:00to differentiate because they're not
27:02going to be able to explain everything
27:03through the price of product. has to be
27:05that we have to give more to our to our
27:07customers.
27:08>> Yeah. I I'm reminded of in earlier the
27:11day Andrew talking about his keynotes
27:12and if you know you're if you're not
27:14able to adopt and and you're going to
27:17get swept away. So you have to look at
27:18this opportunity to to be competitive
27:20and test and try and Yeah, absolutely.
27:23If you're not making those big bets, you
27:25will
27:25>> yeah fall out of by the wayside. That
27:28was great. If AI could instantly analyze
27:31your global rebate and pricing data,
27:33which you know we're getting very close
27:34to as we just talked about, what kind of
27:36hidden opportunities do you think
27:39companies might discover? So, I think
27:41there are two key ones. So, one is
27:44conflicting agendas. We've kind of
27:45touched upon it a few times today, but
27:47there's this innate trade-off between
27:49the cost of goods and the rebate, but
27:51also what the market's doing as well.
27:53So, I've probably all seen it where
27:55we've got too much leverage in rebate,
27:57our sale prices, sorry, our cost price
27:59is too high and we just can't compete in
28:01the market. So, you end up in this kind
28:02of circular kind of circle of doom. I'
28:05probably refer to it as um so I think it
28:07would highlight some of that where is it
28:09not being effective and where where do
28:10we need to redeploy that that trade-off
28:12between cost and uh and rebate. Um but I
28:16think also it will start to um you know
28:19address where the behaviors or the
28:21intended behaviors are not being seen or
28:23felt.
28:24>> Um it was a really good example made
28:27earlier. You know those those rebate
28:29calculated sorry those rebate agent the
28:31gentic agents will start to say the
28:33reason you did this rebate was for
28:35reason X but we're not seeing that
28:37behavior. So you have a conversation
28:38with the supplier or customer however
28:40you sit on that fence.
28:44So, we're we're getting there, right?
28:46We're we may have agents talking to each
28:47other and I'm I'm just curious, you
28:49know, with AI suggesting optimizations
28:51that will improve profitability and
28:53getting to that holy grail of netnet,
28:56what would it take for you to feel
28:57confident on acting on those
28:58recommendations? I I do I'm fascinated
29:01by, you know, where we are at this
29:02crossroads of AI, but human intervention
29:05is so important. So, yeah, what are you
29:07thinking about? It's it's a it's a great
29:08question and you know I'm an advocate of
29:10not just taking something at face value.
29:13Um so I've recently got into perplexity
29:15which I think a good example of what I'm
29:17going to describe. So what perplexity
29:19does it list if for those who haven't
29:21used it it lists all the sources that
29:22it's referred to. So you know there's
29:24quite often a case of you ask it a
29:26question it gives you an answer but chat
29:28GPT is a failure to list you know it
29:30won't tell you how it's got that answer.
29:32It would just say well this is the
29:33answer take it or leave it. Blexity
29:35gives you those sources. So coming full
29:37circle, if I'm making a key commercial
29:39decision, I need a full breakdown as to
29:42how that agent, you know, bit of
29:44software has got to that answer. Um, and
29:47also as well, what I'd like to see is,
29:49you know, some best case, worst case
29:50scenario of what could happen if I took
29:52that decision. Not just this is the best
29:54decision, but but be bear in mind this
29:57could happen in a catastrophized
29:59example. This could happen in the best
30:01case and what those catastrophized
30:03levers might be. And it's up to me as a
30:05human to understand and try to interpret
30:07what the risks and and severity and
30:09likelihood of all of that happening is
30:11so I can take a good decision going
30:13forward.
30:14>> Super smart. I like that. Constraint
30:16focused with uh just we're getting close
30:19to the end of our time together. Uh but
30:21not yet. We'll have more time later. But
30:22if I I love this question. It was
30:24similar to uh a panel earlier in in the
30:27day with just prompting, right? We're
30:29all pseudo prompt engineers. Uh, if you
30:32could could ask AI one perfect, which I
30:34mean perfect that's no pressure. Uh, one
30:37perfect actionable question about your
30:39rebate and pricing programs, what would
30:41it be and why?
30:42>> Yes. So, I'm going to take this from the
30:44context of a world where the AI has all
30:47of my negotiation like audio clips from
30:49calls from meetings, the documentation.
30:52It's got a view on what the agendas of
30:54the suppliers and that is. So, if that
30:57was all in there, I'd simply ask it,
30:59give me a three to five year plan that's
31:02going to allow both parties to get to
31:03where we want to be. Uh, particularly
31:05for my strategic suppliers. Um, and I
31:08think that's and and also as well, you
31:10know, plan activity on how we're going
31:13to get to that plan as well. So, that
31:15would be my my thing. I'd want a
31:16long-term plan from it.
31:17>> Long-term planning. Smart. Uh finally,
31:20what piece of advice would you offer and
31:22share with professionals here about
31:23preparing their organizations for the
31:25next wave of supply chain and rebate
31:28innovation?
31:29>> Yeah, sure. So, um I think this is
31:31really where we have to start leaning
31:33into our what I'd call unfair market
31:35advantages. I talked a bit earlier about
31:37especially as you get to more highv
31:39value customers, you know, what else you
31:41bring into the table that's going to
31:43help offset that that very big fight.
31:45This is going to be another period of of
31:48great leveling. You know, the small guys
31:50are going to be able to do as much as
31:52the big guys because of the tools that
31:53are coming to market. And if we don't
31:55adapt by differentiating and leaning
31:58into those unique um opportunities,
32:00customers will always go to the cheapest
32:02proposition because the baseline is just
32:04so even. Um I think if you can't, you
32:07know, do that, my other advice would be
32:09to figure out how you can do it the
32:10leanest, cheapest. I mean, the likes of
32:13a team at the world scare the hell out
32:14of me because they've got the best
32:16supply chain, you know, the biggest
32:17warehouses. They can move goods
32:19anywhere. Now, that's very attractive
32:21because they can keep their cost down.
32:23They don't have to necessarily have a
32:24unique proposition. Um they, you know,
32:26that's that's what you'd be competing
32:28against if you don't, you know, kind of
32:30step up and um you demonstrate your
32:33unfair market advantages.
32:35>> Excellent. Well, I think do we have some
32:38time to ask if anyone has some questions
32:40for Alan?
32:41sometime.
32:44Any questions?
32:48And once again, twice. All right. Well,
32:51thank you so much, Alan. I appreciate
32:52you being here. Appreciate it.

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