Designing Category Management as a Business Capability - Not Just Procurement
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In this Procurement Over Fika session, we explore how organizations can elevate category management by addressing the five foundational pillars that determine success:
- People – leadership, mindset, skills, and behaviors required for strategic impact
- Operating Model – clear ownership, governance, and alignment in complex organizations
- Processes – consistent, scenario-led category management that goes beyond savings
- Organization – unlocking capacity and enabling flexible, value-driven ways of working
- Technology, Data & Information – digitization, intelligence, and AI that turn strategy into action
Drawing on insights from Procure It Right (PIR) and practical experience with akirolabs, the discussion focuses on how these pillars come together in practice - and how digital enablement and AI can accelerate maturity, enforce strategic discipline, and make category management scalable and decision-ready.
Who should attend
- CPOs and senior procurement leaders
- Category and sourcing leaders
- Business and functional stakeholders involved in category decisions
- Anyone shaping the future of procurement
About the series – Procurement Over Fika
Procurement Over Fika is a akirolabs exclusive "Nordic conversation series" where we pause, reflect, and discuss how procurement and category management are evolving in real organizations.
Over coffee and honest dialogue, we explore strategic topics that matter — combining consulting insight, practical experience, and modern technology perspectives.
Each session is designed to be thought-provoking, practical, and relevant, with a focus on building capabilities that create lasting business impact.
Hubert Verweij is a highly experienced procurement transformation leader and strategic sourcing expert with over 20 years of international consulting and industry experience. He is known for driving digital, organizational, and process transformations that elevate procurement from a cost-focused function to a value-creating, resilient strategic capability.
Throughout his career, Hubert has led complex procure-to-pay and procurement transformation initiatives across industries, designing future-ready sourcing strategies, target operating models, and digital procurement solutions. His expertise spans organizational development, category strategy, supplier management, and technology-enabled process optimization.
Previously, Hubert served as Director of Operations and Procurement Transformation at PwC Sweden, where he guided global and regional clients through strategic sourcing, digitization, and sustainability-aligned procurement transformations. He is recognized for his pragmatic, people-centric leadership style, his ability to simplify complexity, and his focus on delivering measurable, lasting business outcomes.
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Marvin Schaer is a dynamic procurement and supply chain leader with over five years of experience in management consulting and the automotive OEM industry. He currently serves as Manager at Procure It Right (PIR) in Stockholm.
Previously, Marvin served as Manager in PwC Sweden’s Operations practice, where he spearheaded project teams delivering transformative strategies and executing roadmap initiatives with precision. He worked closely with clients to optimize and fortify procurement functions and supply chain networks, focusing on defining robust sourcing strategies, driving process improvements, enhancing working capital efficiency, and ensuring seamless warehousing and logistics operations.
He is recognized for his structured, analytical approach and his ability to support clients in translating operational challenges into clear, actionable resolution plans.
Lutz Schirrmeister is a procurement and solution consulting leader with over 15 years of international experience delivering complex procurement and operating model transformations. As VP Solution Consulting at akirolabs, he architects and leads AI-enabled procurement solutions, helping organizations unlock strategic value, optimize operating models, and scale collaboration across global procurement functions.
Throughout his career, Lutz has led cross-functional teams across EMEA, delivering large-scale transformations for Fortune 500 clients and designing operating models for more than 25 organizations across 11 countries. His expertise spans strategic sourcing, category management, and technology-driven procurement transformation.
Previously, Lutz held senior procurement and sourcing roles at IBM, including Strategic Sourcing Specialist and DACH Category Manager. He is recognized for his analytical rigor, pragmatic leadership style, and ability to bridge business strategy with innovative technology solutions.
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Michael Pleuger is a pioneering procurement executive and digital transformation leader with over 25 years of international experience across industry, management consulting, and technology startups. As Co-Founder and CEO of akirolabs, he is driving the future of strategic procurement through AI-enabled solutions, helping organizations to unlock the next level of value and collaboration. Previously, Michael served as Senior Partner at Roland Berger and KPMG, leading global supply chain and procurement transformations for Fortune 500 clients and managing large multi-disciplinary teams. He began his career as a senior manager at Vodafone, playing a key role in designing and launching the Vodafone Procurement Company—laying the foundation for world-class digital procurement. Michael is widely recognized for his innovative thinking, his role as a keynote speaker, and his passion for positioning procurement as a value chain orchestrator and engine of business innovation.
What metrics does akirolabs impact?
akirolabs positively impacts several key metrics including time-to-strategy (reduced by streamlined workflows), stakeholder satisfaction (improved through collaborative processes), strategy execution success rates (enhanced by better alignment), and procurement influence (expanded through strategic positioning).
What technology integrations are available with akirolabs?
akirolabs integrates with various procurement and enterprise systems. We use API connections to AI market intelligence providers to curate content on categories from the web, and our platform is designed to complement existing sourcing, supplier management, and spend analytics tools.
What results have customers achieved with akirolabs?
Customers have reported significant improvements in strategy development speed, stakeholder alignment, and value delivery beyond savings. The platform has helped teams digitalize strategic procurement workflows, accelerate strategy development and execution, enhance compliance and traceability, and boost category manager productivity.
What specific challenges does akirolabs solve for procurement teams?
akirolabs addresses key challenges including fragmented strategy development processes, limited stakeholder engagement, inconsistent approaches across teams, difficulty scaling strategic capability, and the struggle to demonstrate procurement's strategic value beyond savings.
Can akirolabs grow with us globally?
Absolutely. akirolabs is multi-lingual, multi-region, and built to scale across business units and geographies without additional configuration or pricing penalties.
Does akirolabs replace our existing tools?
No, akirolabs doesn't replace your existing tools. It acts as a strategic layer that sits upstream - seamlessly integrating with and complimenting your sourcing, supplier, analytics, or intake-to-pay systems among others to unlock greater value across the procurement lifecycle.
Is akirolabs for specific industries and categories?
No - akirolabs is category- and industry-agnostic. Whether you're managing direct materials, logistics, IT, marketing, or complex cross-functional spend, our platform adapts to your taxonomy and workflows.
How does akirolabs ensure alignment with corporate strategy?
Every strategy in akirolabs is developed with business input through structured workflows and stakeholder engagement tools. Our Strategy One-Pager and governance features ensure strategies directly support overarching company goals like cost leadership, innovation, ESG, or risk mitigation.
Does akirolabs integrate with our existing procurement systems?
Yes. akirolabs is designed to complement—not replace—your existing systems. We integrate via APIs or iFrames with tools such as spend analytics, supplier management, and intake-to-pay platforms to ensure seamless data flow and strategic alignment.
What is the Strategy One-Pager feature?
The Strategy One-Pager simplifies communication between procurement teams and cross-functional stakeholders by translating complex strategies into clear, concise narratives aligned with business objectives. Using visual elements like charts and summaries, it ensures stakeholders from various departments can easily understand and engage with procurement strategies, fostering alignment and collaboration.
What is akiroAssist, and how is it different from generic AI tools?
akiroAssist is our proprietary AI engine designed specifically for procurement strategy. Unlike general-purpose AI, it’s trained on procurement logic, equipped with a prompt library, value levers, risk signals, and always-on strategy context. It enhances—not replaces—category managers by helping them move faster, spot risks, and surface smarter options without losing control.
What makes akirolabs different from other procurement solutions?
Unlike tools based on traditional frameworks like the Kraljic Matrix, akirolabs offers a transformative, business-driven methodology that repositions procurement as a strategic enabler. Our approach integrates holistic value dimensions into category strategies, prioritizing long-term impact over short-term savings to deliver 4.4x higher value through our industry-recognized Category Strategy Workbench.
What is Strategic Scenario Modeling in akirolabs?
Strategic Scenario Modeling in akirolabs allows procurement teams to visualize and evaluate the outcomes of various strategic options. This capability enables category managers to simulate multiple scenarios based on different value dimensions of business importance, facilitating informed trade-offs that align category strategies with overarching business objectives.
How does akiroAssist work?
akiroAssist is our proprietary AI engine built on a specialized large language model (LLM) designed specifically for procurement. Rather than attempting to fully automate strategic decisions, akiroAssist augments human intelligence by providing tailored recommendations and strategic guidance throughout the strategy creation process, helping procurement professionals make better, more informed decisions.
What is the akirolabs Category Strategy Workbench?
The Category Strategy Workbench is the core engine of akirolabs — a guided, modular workspace that enables teams to analyze data, develop collaborative strategies, and ensure execution with measurable impact.The three phases — Analyze, Strategize, and Realize — reflect the complete strategy lifecycle: from insight generation, through structured planning, to execution and value tracking. This ensures continuity, governance, and business alignment throughout the strategic process.
Ready to Transform Your Procurement Strategy?
There’s a better way to do procurement. This is IT.
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