Name: Navigating NextGen Procurement with Taslim Vastani, VP of Global Procurement at lululemon
Uploaded: 2026-03-11T16:16:11.425Z
Duration: 1 h 12 s
Description: Navigating NextGen Procurement with Taslim Vastani, VP of Global Procurement at lululemon

Transcript for "Navigating NextGen Procurement with Taslim Vastani, VP of Global Procurement at lululemon": Hello everyone, and welcome to today's webinar. I'm Ella Wilkinson from BizFix Studio. And today we're diving into the evolution of procurement in a world that refuses to stand still. Joining us is Tazim Bastani, VP of Global Procurement at Lululemon, a leader who has navigated large scale procurement transformation. And Aaron Dunn, a partner at Optus Consulting, who helps organizations bridge the gap between procurement strategy and execution. So my first question is always, why are you guys here? Tell me who you are and what makes you on this topic. So Tazan, you're on my screen, so let's start with you. Sure. It's funny. I started my career in procurement almost by accident back in 2010 in my management consulting days and realized really quickly that I was super passionate about all things procurement and really finding the value in the work that I was doing. And I could do that in a career in procurement. So I continued over the years to grow my capabilities in the space and then I guess one could say I stayed on purpose. I went back into industry almost eight years later and led procurement transformation for a large grocery retailer, eventually making my way into more of like a head of procurement type role leading high performing procurement teams. And really my focus has always been on how to take procurement to the next level. So that's kind of been my career in a nutshell. It's been quite the ride. And I certainly always have felt at home in this space. And you and Aaron have obviously had a quite a long history in this space as well. I mean, let me throw it to you. Yeah, thanks, Helen. Thanks, Taslim, for joining us for this. Yeah, for me, I started early days in management consulting too. I think it was by chance that there was a need for support and spend analysis and category management. And those were two things that I took to early on. Through the years, I've seen the space and the importance of procurement has grown. We've been thrown curveballs to keep it interesting over the last, like, it's almost fifteen years at this point. And we're at a point now which it feels like a bit of a new era or a new frontier, what's ahead for us. So yeah, it's been a great rewarding space personally, professionally. And we're really excited to keep going here. So you're both seasoned professionals in the procurement space, basically. So Tasm, I know you've been in like more of the strategy sort of senior procurement like management for about five years. How has your perspective and approach towards procurement strategy shifted over that time? Yeah, really good question, Ella. I would say because I've been in this profession for such a long time, as I stepped into more senior leadership roles in the space, it was really easy for me to lean on traditional approaches, thinking, you know, the focus on category management, analyze the data, find the benchmarks, run the procurement process through every single time. What I learned though is that while the process by which we execute and deliver the procurement capability is very important, what's most important is to run that process from the stakeholders lens and from their perspective. I tell my teams all the time, put yourself in your stakeholders' shoes. What are they trying to achieve? What are they trying to solve with our support? And then build the strategy from there. So I feel like once I started to really see the value in this approach, my leadership style and the way I practice procurement as a capability really started to take a different shape. Right. And Aaron, obviously, you've been in the procurement space for fifteen years as well. So what are the major shifts that you've seen? Yeah. There's been a bunch of them through the years. And it feels like, and you hear that things are rapidly transforming and it's completely different than it was. But I think we need to double click on that a little bit. Because while the enabling technologies and AI and geopolitics are reshaping supply chains and the roadmap to get there, what we're all chasing hasn't really changed over those years. I think for procurement and spend management, it's always been about value at the end of the day, about building a resilient supply chain. And then to Taslim's point, to supporting business partners building a procurement that's built to serve the organisation and the suppliers that they choose to work with, and are a great source of innovation and support and capability that can be a really game changing part of an enterprise. Yeah, like the AI front, I think we'll get into a bit more on how that's taking hold and what we're seeing. But through those changes, I think there's a consistency here. And we're working with our clients to be laser focused on those outcomes that remain. So you're obviously talking there about global volatility and how it's kind of peaked really. I guess I guess it's always been volatile, but it you know, it's now a it's now a part of your strategy to be resilient. How are you seeing from a consulting point of view, how are you seeing companies adapt their strategies? So I think it depends on where companies are in the maturity life cycle. Because never has there been a bigger divide between the most mature and the least mature. There are still organisations that in a digital global world are very reliant on paper and manual processes. And then you have some that are on the other end of the spectrum that are experimenting in pioneering AI use cases and autonomous procurement in areas like sourcing and supplier life cycle management and CLM. So yeah, if I focus more on those mature types of examples, I think number one, on the technology front, we have clients looking to experiment with the leading tools that are out there, that are certainly cutting edge, but also recognising there's a journey that they have to take their team on. In those examples, I haven't seen the reduction in operating headcount in organisation that I think there's some other domains that might experience. And I think that comes back to the opportunity that we have here within procurement. That today's procurement organisations, mature or not, often there's more that they can do. And there's trade offs that they're making on a daily basis, and there's constraints that they operate within. But if we can harness the AI capabilities or just deeper automation, I think, and then re point some of that capacity towards more value added activities. The potential to drive more value, to spend more time working with your business partners and suppliers, and innovating and creating, that's what we're focused on. Tazim, I saw you nodding away during that. Yeah. You're just full of agreement. I would say, mean, of course, of agreement in the need to invest in the right places to continue to evolve the procurement function and capability in whatever business you're supporting. But I would say if I had to sum up how my perspective has changed, I would say my perspective then was really focused on make sure your process is solid. And now my perspective is actually focus on your people. Make sure you're learning the business that you're supporting. Make sure you're learning your supply network, their capabilities, how they're evolving, and make sure you have capacity because the floodgates absolutely will open with this approach. And I guess that final point to echo some of what Erin was saying is just really make sure that you're enabled in the right way with the right technology support so that you can maintain and unlock further capacity and efficiencies so your team has time to actually do this very, very important work and the work that takes a lot of brainpower. So you're talking a lot really about being as adaptive as possible, right? Yeah. So why is that so important to stay adaptive, to move to a fluid scalable model? I would say it's important to say adaptive because the more adaptive you are, the more innovative you can be, the more creative you can be in delivery of that procurement capability. I say to my team all the time, you need to learn the business you're supporting. You cannot come with a perfect procurement process and expect to see the same results. And when I say results, I don't just mean cost savings. I mean risk mitigation, value added service, optimized supplier relationships, scalable supplier relationships. There's so much more that we can deliver if we remain as adaptive as possible. The more you put yourself in your stakeholder shoes, understand the world from their perspective, the better suited your strategy can be. So right, let's look at that then. Let's look at that stakeholder centricity. You're saying it's the key, but obviously the execution is then where the challenge lies. So from your perspective, what needs to be true about the procurement function to operate this way? And where does the traditional procurement model actually need to evolve? Good question. I would say what needs to be true is the core capability of your team in procurement subject matter needs to be sound. Your team has to trust themselves to be able to adapt to what the business needs and to be able to get super creative in things like RFP approach, even direct negotiation strategy, things like that. Even when for a contract renewal, which traditionally would be, you know, run of the mill, change the date, adjust the terms slightly, make sure your pricing stays flat, things like this. But even the approach to contract renewals can be adjusted and can be made more creative, more from that place of future forward thinking business strategy and business need resolution. So I feel like make sure your team's procurement core capability is really sound because they're going to have to really trust themselves as they get more adaptive. And Aaron, you're nodding away again. Yeah, I mean, so much of that I think holds true and has helped to shape how I think about how our other clients and organisations should work. I think the empathy piece is really big, to understand that your business partners want to operate a certain way for the business, for a reason, sorry. And that they themselves are operating with their own set of constraints and limitations, just as your suppliers are. And I think having that type of respect for them, and then kind of coupling that with the credibility piece, so that you can come in, identify with those challenges, and provide real solutions too on how to best navigate those decisions. That's not just a playbook that you're executing, but it's a bit more nuanced than that. And I think that's where it takes a trusted procurement practitioner and someone who knows their craft and is dedicated from that side of things too. I hear this all the time actually from stakeholders when my team delivers value for them. I hear from them like, Man, your team really took that time to understand what I'm trying to do, and then they told me how to solve it. It's funny, when I first started taking this approach with my stakeholders, I'll never forget it actually. There was this one team member who said to me, Tessalyn, you're slowing the process down. You're taking too long. This business needs to go fast. And I said, well, hold on. Let's understand what they're doing and then guess what? We're probably going to end up helping them go faster. And sure enough that's what happened because when you truly understand what the business is trying to achieve and the problem they're trying to solve for, if you really really understand it you can go fast because you can go faster in negotiation, you can go faster in contracting, you can go faster in your RFP approach. I would say the list is endless really in how you can create speed and really accelerate delivery of what they're trying to achieve. So I guess this is a question for both of you. What separates that good plan then from what is written on paper versus how it actually happens in reality? So I think too, like around all of this, we've been seeing for twenty years papers coming out talking about how do I move my procurement department from tactical to strategic? Like that sentence there has been written a thousand, a million times. I think one of the big things that separates those that have a great strategy but can't execute to those that actually see that through, is this recognition of business partner centricity and adaptive procurement. And it's one thing to say that, it is something that's difficult to build and scale and execute. I think Taslim, you're probably a better person to speak to this than I am, but I think there's, from my perspective, there's key individuals that you need to have as part of your team in order to scale this across a group. When procurement is only one or two people or a handful, it's easier to do these things. But I think at scale, there's different levels of challenge. So key individuals, a management system that incentivizes and promotes this type of working, I think that ties into a framework for savings and value recognition that is rewarding those types of behaviours. And then just an enabling infrastructure that allows people to do what they do best and not get bogged down in the day to day transactional tactical grunt work. Yeah, I mean, I agree, Erin, with where you're coming from. Really what it feels like is, you know, for the last twenty years, when you talk about scaling procurement, scaling departments like ours, you really think about these three things of people, process, and technology. That kind of concept hasn't changed. It's the how you deliver on the people, the process, and the technology that's really evolved. And I would say the requirement for compliance to policy to maintain risk and control over your process, that also hasn't gone away. What I think has changed is the business doesn't necessarily need to worry about all of that. If they work together with the procurement team, if they trust you, if they see that you're taking that time to work with them and learn from their perspective, they're going to follow the process, they just might not realize it. So that's why I kind of say like having this core capability in procurement is super important in your people. Having a solid process remains important and critical. It's really just the how that we deliver it that's evolved. Yeah, and I think, do you know what, across the board, to be fair, every department works better once they're fully trusted, And just once they've got this solid operating model and these workflows that, you know, and the management trust essentially, and then the department runs smoothly. On the trust point too, Ellen, Tassel, Tassel, one of the things that I've co opted from our earlier management consulting experience was the trust equation. And I think that holds true in consulting, but it applies so much for procurement and category managers and business relationship owners. That's at the top, have credibility, reliability and intimacy over self orientation. But I think that credibility piece is so key. You need to have that and then consistently show your stakeholders that you're there for them in a manner that is motivated more by business interests than procurement looking to make a name for themselves. Or for us in the consulting world, being more motivated from a Optus interest for start clients. So I think that's something to keep top of mind. And we bring too many of our clients as they're looking to make similar types of journeys, but even if it hasn't been so front and center for your team, can kind of see it come through in a lot of the interactions with business partners and suppliers. I guess it just speeds up enough like Tasman was saying earlier, you know, everyone, everyone kind of, you know, trusts the vision. So we're all working for the same goal in the end. Yeah. So let's move on then to the next generation model and what that actually looks like in, like in practice. So as expectations rise, the procurement environment is evolving, so procurement models now must evolve. So, Tazim, how has your perspective changed on the operating model as it stood and where it stands now? I'm smiling and like low key giggling because I'm just thinking back to a few years ago, you know, drawing out what I knew the operating model needed to look like. And now when I look back at it, I'm like, well, things have really changed. You know, I would say traditional approaches to crafting the best fit operating model for your business, especially in procurement, traditionally it's been pretty straightforward. Know, you've got category management and then you've got analytics and then you've got market research and then you're good. I think nowadays it's not enough And not to say it's not enough people, but it's not enough from an approach standpoint because procurement does so much more than traditional sourcing now. We really are the first phone call and that honestly that's how you know you're successful in procurement. Once you become the first phone call, that's kind of, you know, the success measure, in my view anyway. And so when I think about the operating model and how it's shifted in terms of design and approach and design for that future, I actually think about technology, and I think about efficiency creation and productivity unlock. I need for my teams to be able to focus on strategy, focus on that adaptive approach to problem solving. And if they're so bogged down manually delivering a process, they're not going to have time to do the really important stuff. So the question really becomes how do we design an operating model that is rooted in the right tech stack and the right adoption of new approaches, I. E. Like the journey of AI that everybody's probably on. Oh yeah, that's changing Yeah, everything how do you draw out the right operating model such that your team actually is enabled to focus on procurement from that place of adaptive and stakeholder centricity? Yeah. So, Aaron, you were absolutely right at the beginning. We are going to talk about AI. So, yeah, why is that technology so pivotal? Obviously, it's changing every single minute. Yeah, I mean, is and it isn't too at the same time. Like, I still think from an operating model standpoint, there's just good practises to, one, really ground yourself on what it is that you're looking to provide to the organisation. Like what are those types of services that procurement is going to offer? And then that allows you to start thinking about, okay, well, how am I going to solution for those? I think we have more tools in our toolkit now to automate the transactional tactical use cases, things like buy desk or analytics, or tap into additional data sources that are out there when you look at the supplier risk space. So art of the possible, I think has increased significantly. But a lot of this does tie back to people and to look at technology and AI more as like that enabling and connective tissue layer, rather than the be all end all when it comes to things like procurement transformation and the procurement operating model. Yeah, so I was at dinner last night when we talked about AI and we got into a really, you know, I wouldn't say heated, but a really in-depth debate about, you know, the ethics behind sort of agentic AI and and how we're putting that into our into our models now. So, I mean, I guess, what what are your views on that? You're you're mentioning humans, so I feel like you clearly think humans should be very much involved in the loop. Yeah. Like, I don't think they're going away from a procurement standpoint. It's tough to predict fifteen years from now, but for where we're at today, and just the current levels of maturity of many organisations in and outside of procurement, I think there's a big and growing role for people to play in the supplier life cycle and spend management overall. I think it's just the way that we go about that is evolving. I think for people in procurement, we do need to think about shifting and building capabilities to support the future, and what that procurement workforce of the future looks like, the types of skills and just the types of minds that you have as well. And some of the softer skills like business relationship management and communication and all of that becomes so key because we're supported by analytical tools and things like that. Taslim, I'm interested in your thoughts in this whole piece too. When I think about the role of technology, I actually think about the role of the people. I said it earlier, but it's really really comes down to just this how how we deliver. When you think about the how you deliver, the makeup of your team likely will change or perhaps evolve. I think technology will always have a role. Like Erin shared, it's not easy to predict far into the future, but it is in a sense because the need for the human brain doesn't go away within the evolution of technology and procurement. I think just the way the human brain is applied and used is what changes. So I don't see the necessity for people to reduce with the onset and evolution of technology in procurement. I just see the way that our brains work and the space in our brains becoming unlocked so that we can focus on the right thing actually be the thing that happens as you evolve in technology, whether it's your tech stack or whether it's how you apply AI, I think the human brain doesn't go away. Yeah, I think that's absolutely right. I think that that next generation operating model we're talking about is, you know, it's technology first, but it's also what are the skills that we're gonna give our workforces now. So, Aaron, when we talk about that operating model of the future, how is Optis helping organizations transition? Yeah, so just background on Optus, we support our clients through transformation in this sphere through a methodology that we call Focus Launch Perform. And I think that's important because the jumping in point can be different in any organisation that we work with. And grounding ourselves on current state capabilities and people, but also from a process technology standpoint, is the first place that we turn to. From there, we recognize that we're on a journey. And I think informing people what part of the possible looks like across the tools that you can work with and where this market is going is important. And then we help them to build out a fit for purpose or a fit for your particular enterprise type roadmap that looks across some of these areas, from strategy to people process, organisation and technology. We are right at the front of working with our clients to one, deploy the enabling technologies and process, but increasingly we want to be part of delivering those outcomes. So to not just give our clients the ingredients to deliver to their objectives, but to be a big part in moving the needle in many of those areas. And then just like building in continuous improvement and agility into that operating model as a sustainment. Because often this isn't transformation is not just a one time done, now you're good type of things. It's more of a mindset. And I think clients that are positioned to best like capture and seize the opportunity in front of us here are thinking that way. So obviously we're talking about the procurement model moving to being more stakeholder centric, data driven, agile and integrated across the entire enterprise. So let's now dive into what that tech stack looks like. Aaron, what does that tech stack look like to enable that sort of scale within a modern operating model? Sure, yeah. So we think there's layers to this and increasingly they connect into many of the things that we've talked about here today. I think at the highest level, the way business partners and suppliers will work with organizations is through core tools for work, that procurement at the highest level will take more of a command center control tower type of approach to the way that they operate and then jump into the process from there. I think so beneath that experiential layer though, and this is a really exciting time, just the ability to use specialised functional agents connected to one another and connected into the enterprise. And each of those things individually bring something to the table, but the combination of that can be quite powering from an intake to triage and sourcing, supplier management, contracting. Like through the flow, we can shepherd our business partners and their needs in a more autonomous way. Powering all of this, and what is really a pass or fail type piece in the overall tech stack, is data in context, number Today's agents are only as good as the data that they have access to, and the context that you're willing to provide them. And that doesn't just mean you can pull data in from outside. I think there's contextual information, like if you think of the supplier record, where is the supplier situated? What are they good at? What are they not? How is that trending? What are my categories I'm willing to go to them for? Like there's additional contextual information that may not exist in a supplier master, but is so key in unlocking a lot of these autonomous use cases that we're starting to see more and more of. Orchestration is another huge part of this too. The ability to not just work in a very linear fashion. Often this is a complex web and the ability to shepherd your users through different platforms that you may have from a procurement tech stack standpoint today, or to orchestrate into other enterprise areas like IT or HR, legal or operations. I think fundamentally, are two key pieces that many are putting in place today, but I do feel like it's an area of the market that many people have a long ways to go there. Eventually they're going to be asked, what are we doing with AI? And how are we seeing the value from that in procurement? In order to have a good answer to that question, There's things that we need to start doing today around data orchestration integration today. So let's kind of hone in on that data because dirty data is the death of AI essentially. What steps are Optus clients taking to ensure their data infrastructure is AI ready rather than just a collection of silos all over the place? Yeah, I mean, it starts again with an assessment. So we do have a procurement data readiness assessment that's tied into our view of the next gen tech stack. There's a data universe, would encourage people to prioritize things like supplier data, contract data. But think beyond the way we've traditionally thought about this data universe from more of a ERP type of perspective. And then there are a host of tools that are available that can support you in this journey. I think there's a make versus buy versus blend type of decision in here as well. And yeah, there's a methodology to go through and determine what's the best for your organisation. I don't think this is one size fits all. But then start to chip away at it towards what you know the future needs to look like. And Tazan, have you experienced this isn't one size fits all in your experience? Absolutely. I think, Erin, you touched on a thought that I have quite consistently lately around data and data readiness. When I think of an example of like the supplier master, it's not just about what fields do we need to be able to populate in our system as the driver to what you need to ask your suppliers or what you need to keep in your supplier master, for example. The fields, if you will, in your supplier master are changing. You don't just need the address of your supplier anymore. You need so much more and you need all this in order to be ready to adapt to this new world of AI driven capabilities. Fabulous. So, I mean, we are rapidly approaching the end. This has been an incredible discussion, but I always like to end on, yeah, one piece of advice. So, Aaron, if we start with you, what are your top three recommendations Optus gives to CPOs who are looking to evolve into next gen procurement? I think number one, understand where you're at today and your fit for the future and positioning to realize some of the benefits that like it's only accelerating now. So get yourself in the right position and be honest about where you're at today. You're doing yourself a disservice. I think if we just we focus on what's working well. I think the procurement data piece is something to prioritise too. That needs to be started two years ago and just get on top of that. That doesn't mean that you're reorienting your organisation just to be a data factory. But I think there's smart initiatives that you can have to start getting that data ready to establish the governance, so that everything will fit into this and you'll have cleaner data into the future. And then lastly, just to prime the organization for what's coming. I don't think many people are expecting things to stay the way they are, but make sure it's known where procurement's going and what skills and capabilities are most important for the business in five years time from now. And let's start to build the path to those things and to build capabilities and encourage experimentation and creativity and all those types of things. Fantastic pieces of advice. So Tazim, word goes to you. What is one piece of advice you would give to your CPO community? Okay, I'm gonna cheat because You're not allowed to cheat. I I'm gonna cheat anyway. I because I agree with everything Erin shared. So that plus focus on your people, keep an open mind, and while it's important to understand where you're at and be honest about that, also don't be afraid to challenge status quo. Well, very succinct as well. Thank you very so much. Unfortunately, that is all we have time for. If you would like to learn more about building a resilient procurement strategy or have any further questions inspired by this webinar, please pop them in the chat and a member of the team will get back to you shortly. This webinar will be available online very shortly, so you can come back and watch it again and again. And of course, share with your friends, your family, your colleagues, whoever will listen. Attendees will also receive exclusive materials related to all the themes discussed today. Taslim, Aaron, thank you so much for joining me today. This has been an incredible masterclass, and it's clear that the future of procurement is less about the buy and more about the orchestration. So thank you both again, and thank you to everyone watching. Bye bye for now.