P2P Transformation Summit 2021
On Tuesday 8th June, 2021
If you attended our 2021 Summit event, you can view the sessions on-demand here from our event platform.
Opening Keynote
Ade Adepitan
After being struck with polio as a youngster, Ade went on to compete on an international level. Known as ‘The Michael Jordan of wheelchair basketball,’ he represented Great Britain at the European and World Championships and the Sydney Olympics, and won bronze in Athens.
Ade has since established a successful media career, presenting a range of sport, entertainment and factual programmes and ranging from children's television to travel shows to hard-hitting documentaries. One of his first TV projects saw him take part in the documentary series Beyond Boundaries, in which he trekked through rainforests, deserts, rivers and mountains in Nicaragua. In one episode he pulled himself to the summit of a 5000ft volcano - without his wheelchair. Ade has gone on to work as a presenter, reporter and film maker for the BBC and Channel4, in particular their Unreported World series where he's investigated everything from the benefits system to doping in sport. In his BBC series Africa with Ade Adepitan he explored the changing nature of the continent
Lunchtime Keynote - David Rowan
David Rowan explains compellingly how emerging technologies will impact business — and how leaders should prepare now. As founding Editor-in-Chief of WIRED magazine’s UK edition, David came to know the founders of WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Google, Didi, Spotify, Xiaomi, Nest, Twitter and countless other ambitious startups from Tel Aviv to Shenzhen. He has since invested in more than 80 early-stage tech companies, including three that became billion-dollar “unicorns”, and has built a health-tech and climate-tech fund; and he’s an adviser to Lakestar, one of Europe’s largest venture-capital funds.
His best-selling book “Non-Bullshit Innovation: Radical Ideas from the World’s Smartest Minds” (Penguin, 2019) has been translated to Japanese, Korean, Russian and Ukrainian. The book, a 20-country quest for bold corporate innovation in the face of technology-led disruption, sets out 17 proven strategies for future-proofing a successful business — from “Turn products into services” to “Empower your team” and “Become a platform”.
David has been a technology columnist for The Times, GQ, Condé Nast Traveller and The Sunday Times, and founded the VOYAGERS.io not-for-profit community of 400 innovators working to solve health and climate problems. He has received repeat requests to keynote for clients such as Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Google, KPMG, McKinsey, Chanel and Unilever, and has moderated events for the World Economic Forum and the UK and French governments. And he is still searching for the future.
David will customise a talk for your meeting. His recent themes include:
• How to build a radical culture of innovation
• How emerging technologies will transform your industry
• What AI, data analytics and blockchain really mean for business leaders
• How to optimise customer engagement
• What talent wants in the new world of work
• Why purpose plus profit is the new business mantra
Sessions:
Success Through Diversity and Teamwork
Ade Adepitan Opening Keynote
Our opening keynote is from the charismatic former Paralympian, Ade Adepitan, MBE. Born in Nigeria, he contracted polio as a child, which led to him not being able to walk. Determined to succeed in sport, his journey led him to the Paralympics as a wheelchair basketball player. Now a well-known TV presenter and broadcaster, for this session he'll draw on his remarkable experiences to highlight the importance of diversity to ongoing success.
All too often companies end up with employees and an executive team from surprisingly similar backgrounds. Although it may seem beneficial to have everyone on board with a project united in the approach, what if there was a better way or a better product that someone else could have brought forward if only they'd had a voice?
A recent McKinsey report shows a correlation between gender, ethnic and cultural diversity and financial performance and innovation.
Tales of the Unexpected
9:50 - 10:25 AM GMT
Lessons in Prompt Payment with Kier Group and Philip King
In this engaging and lively panel session, Philip King and Dan Foley will discuss the importance of paying suppliers on time, what happens if you don't and some of the surprising results of adopting a culture of best practice.
Innovation thrives where a team feels supported and during lockdown, Kier Group PLC took pains to listen to suppliers and create processes that supported them and the organisation. But it's not all been plain sailing and we'll be discussing the common pitfalls of being able to meet payment obligations and the part technology has to play. With the strengthening of the Prompt Payment Code and Duty to Report legislation, it's more important than ever to keep ahead to remain compliant.
Business Partnering – What is it and How to Make it Work
10:35 - 11:05 AM GMT
Anders Liu-Lindberg Partner, Business Partnering Institute
We've all heard of Business Partnering, but do we really understand what it is and what our role may be in our organisations to make sure we become one? To be a good partner to the business do we need to have it in our job title, or as part of our role, or can it be something that all team members can be?
Formerly leading Finance Business Partnering at Maersk, and now running the Business Partnering Institute, in this session Anders Lui Lindberg will talk about how successful parterning starts from the simple point of; INSIGHT X INFLUENCE = IMPACT.
Insight is when you have information that your customers/business stakeholders do not know about but can help them make decisions.
Influence is your ability to communicate those insights to your stakeholders. This is a function of how solid your relationship is to your stakeholders and the language you speak ideally something that non-finance people can understand.
Join this session and find out how you can become a better partner to your business and what the success of that will look like.
What Makes P2P Fraud so Easy to Do?
11:05 - 11:45 AM GMT
Robert Brooker Director of fraud and forensics, PFK GM Littlejohn
Whatever it is that makes it easy, it certainly happens more than it should. Do you know the weaknesses in your system that might be exposing your organisation to fraud? Join this session and find out from one of the country's leading experts on fraud how you might shore up your processes before they become vulnerable. Understand what fraudsters are looking out for and what their profile is likely to be. Find out what you can do to prevent your organisation falling victim to fraudulant activity and in the process become a more complaint, error and risk-free environment.
Finance and Procurement: A Match Made in Lockdown
11:45 - 12:20 PM GMT
Let's face it, even when we did all work in the same building, there was no guarantee of seamless collaboration, or effective communication with our colleagues. Take Finance and Procurement teams for example. However, it's obvious that there are common elements that both CFOs and CPOs see as important this year and into the next. With remote or hybrid working set to continue for the rest of this year at least, It is highly likely that Risk Management and effective ways of working remotely will remain high on the list.
Join this panel session to find out from two leading experts in their fields:
1. Why Procurement and Finance teams are just not that well aligned, despite having these common goals at heart.
2. Tangible ways for better collaboration between Procurement and Finance, in order to unlock greater value
3. Areas of the Source to Pay process where you can unlock this value, and importantly, quality these results
4. What factors could impact your ability to deliver on these promises?
The Power of People-led Transformation
12:20 - 12:55 PM GMT
Andrew Codd The Strength in Numbers Show
A business is its people. And yet, focusing on their needs is often seen as something that can be separated from other elements of transformative change. There’s often the assumption that people will naturally follow along on the company journey, and that their wellbeing, productivity or professional identity won’t be overly impacted during any transition. But as a business, we need to consider how to make predicted outcomes a reality given that the effectiveness of any transformation will be dependent on their support and buy-in.
When we map out what needs to be done within the technology and architecture practices, for example, the management focus is often on tools, processes and architecture. There is often an assumption that employees will know how to use these new tools, understand the processes and see value in their adoption. Further assumptions are made that they will naturally be motivated to learn new skills, or that they trust the changes being implemented will make their lives any easier.
But sometimes transformation can involve issues such as:
A sense of loss of control
Loss of Personal identity
Blame (if it’s perceived that the existing process is not working)
Join this session to find out how to deliver an effective strategy and achieve the outcomes you want, leading from the people at the heart of the business.
How to Manage Remote & Hybrid Finance Teams
1:50 - 2:30 PM GMT
Susan Ní Chríodáin Beyond the Numbers
Having a team in which some employees are co-located in an office and others are doing their jobs remotely presents a number of challenges for managers. As does an environment where a team divides its time between the two environments. As a manager it's worth taking a step back and asking: “What is the experience my employees are having at work, and how can I help them to achieve their potential?"
Some people may feel anxious or resentful that they are being asked to return to the office; others might feel that any amount of working from home leaves them at a professional disadvantage.
Join this session to uncover the dos and don't of how to make the most of your finance team in the months and years ahead. The circumstances have given us a chance to become more flexible and open-minded to change. It's up to those managing the process to make sure they get it right for all involved.
The Dangers of Dirty Data
2:30 - 3:00 PM GMT
Susan Walsh Founder/MD, The Classification Guru
Are you struggling to get reliable insights from your data? Can you really track your KPIs and make good business decisions on the back of what they tell you? With the data on your side, you can make errors a thing of the past. Or at least, reduce the dangers that dirty data can present in your finance team.
In this engaging session brought to you straight from Susan's "Data Den" find out the dos and don'ts of scrubbing your data clean, that you can't afford to ignore.
DHL & The Digitalisation of Finance:
How can companies adapt to meet the new digital economy?
3:00 - 3:30 PM GMT
Christophe Bodin Speaker Picture
Christophe Bodin Chief Revenue Officer, Tradeshift
Denis Krivakov Speaker Picture
Denis Krivakov Global Head of P2P, DHL
The last year has affected every business and meant that they need to look at different ways of digital working. But the accelerated digitalisation brought upon businesses worldwide is far from complete. Global CFOs and CIOs worldwide are investigating strategies to simplify complex and time-consuming operations while preventing workflow disruptions and maintaining productivity levels. In this session Denis Krivakov from DHL and Christophe Bodin, discuss what organisations need to do now.
As workplaces gear themselves up for another potentially eventful year, innovative solutions may be key to peel off unnecessary labour from all financial operations. Facilitating remote working, removing manual activities like paper invoice processing and quickly identifying and preventing issues are some of the ways top leaders can focus on growth while adapting to a revolutionised work environment. By digitalising repetitive tasks, competitive companies can free up working capital and redirect their efforts towards more value added activities.
In what way is digitalisation bound to shape financial operations?
What tools are available to enterprises in their quest towards the most effective use of their resources?
How can modern solutions help businesses remain competitive in an increasingly globalised economy?
Sponsors
Whether you are in procurement, payables, or finance, you only need one trade technology platform. Tradeshift helps businesses digitize invoice processing, automate accounts payable workflows and scale without limits. We are a global network of buyers and sellers spread across more than 50 countries. Do business globally? We’ve got you covered with in-country experts who can help you navigate local laws and regulations to make sure you’re always in compliance. While other solutions “cloudify” legacy workflow processes, Tradeshift eliminates them by making digital the default for orders, invoices, conversations, and all other transactions between buyers and sellers.
Basware provides open, secure, cloud-based purchase-to-pay and e-invoicing solutions to organisations of all sizes, resulting in greater efficiencies in procurement, accounts payable and accounts receivable. Companies across all industries, from small businesses to corporate giants use Basware solutions to drive sustainable cost savings, proactive insight to cash flows and improved buyer–supplier relationships. The Basware Commerce Network is founded on the principles of openness, where all types of organisation can collaborate and trade, making it the largest in the world. Today we connect millions of business users in 900,000 companies across over 100 countries.
Documation is a certified ISO 27001 compliant, leading provider of finance process automation software, delivering services and solutions to businesses and organisations in the UK, Europe and around the World. As a company we have nearly 30 years’ experience of supplying solutions across markets and industries, offering a portfolio of solution templates for common business areas, from our Invoice Management Solution for Accounts payable to Purchasing, Expense management, Remittance delivery and more. We work with our customers in an ongoing partnership. We do whatever it takes to build long-term partnerships with our customers and that starts with service levels that earn us the highest praise, with many quoting us as their leading IT supplier.
FISCAL Technologies is the leading provider of forensic solutions that empower Accounts Payable and Procure-to-Pay teams across the globe to protect organisational spend. Incorporating unique technology to reduce risk in the supply chain, FISCAL's solutions are used on a continuous, preventative basis to protect supplier spend, defend against fraud, increase profitability and drive process improvement. Since 2003, FISCAL has safeguarded hundreds of millions of payments and is now relied on by over 250 leading private and public sector organisations.
ITESOFT, leader in business process automation, delivers powerful software and services to financial departments in all industry sectors.Combining 3 unique pillars essential to any organisation performance: information capture, process automation, and risk detection, our goal is to alleviate time-consuming, repetitive tasks within AP departments, freeing up time and energy for teams to work on higher value added tasks, and turn AP from a cost centre into a profit centre for businesses.With solutions based on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence technologies, we transform your business process in a way they're smarter, faster and safer.
Proactis enables digital trade for all, by helping organisations around the world to control 100% of their spend. We work with our customers to transform their Source-to-Pay processes; to help them save money and create efficiency gains while increasing compliance and reducing risk. From sourcing projects, contract management and procurement transactions to supplier collaboration and automated invoice processing, our integrated spend management solutions streamline and control all purchasing and spend. Proactis serves over 1,000 enterprise clients and 2 million suppliers. Our solutions are used daily by over 3 million people in 100+ countries. The company was admitted to the AIM market of London Stock Exchange in June 2006.
Scaling your existing AP Invoice Automation (APIA) depends on inbound invoice integration capabilities. Developing a seamless inbound invoice process relies on adopting the latest technologies. Our aim is to help eliminate AP backlogs, optimize your DPO and achieve a higher AP turnover ratio for your teams by better managing inbound invoices. You can enhance your existing procurement system with straightforward incoming invoice EDI processing. Click here to read more about this. Compleo Gateway provides a flexible way to deliver inbound invoices both through the ability to accept any file format and through a SaaS application that offers three different ways to connect. Suppliers can send invoice via API, Web Portal or Folder.
SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives.
Taulia delivers working capital solutions that make it easy for businesses to free up cash, accelerate payments, and improve supply chain health. Since founding in 2009, we’ve envisioned a world where every business thrives by liberating cash. Our technology powers a network connecting more than 2 million businesses across 168 countries and has accelerated more than $100 billion in early payments.
Summit speakers
Andrew Codd, The Strength in Numbers Show
Andrew Codd is a bestselling author, speaker, coach, trainer and podcaster, regularly contributing finance thought-leadership via the top-rated Strength in the Numbers Show (#SITN), listened to in 160+ countries worldwide, helping create more influential finance professionals who solve meaningful problems for their organisations. He has over 20 years’ experience in leading and effectively developing Global Finance and Sales talent at recognisable brands like Pepsi, Three, Virgin and Dell in a variety of countries across different continents. Andrew graduated top of his faculty at University College Cork, holds an MBA with distinction from Manchester Business School and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant.
He is also a registered Mind Coach and a licensed NLP Practitioner. When not writing books, podcasting, coaching, speaking or leading a business, Andrew can be found enjoying the treasures of the Wild Atlantic Way with his family in the southwest of Ireland.
Jenny has over 20 years of experience in international procurement. Having started her career as a supply manager with Owens Corning, she went on to work with FreeMarkets (Ariba) managing the sourcing projects of global enterprises. While there, Jenny first encountered colleague Jason Busch, who later co-founded Azul Partners and Spend Matters. After several years at FreeMarkets, working in Europe and Asia, Jenny co-founded e-Three in the UK. It specialized in procurement consultancy facilitated by strategic procurement technology. e-Three became a global partner of Oracle and was one of the first organizations to configure and host Oracle technology in the cloud. e-Three successfully merged and subsequently sold to a global Oracle partner based in North America. 
Robert is a leading industry figure with more than 20 years’ experience. He specialises in the prevention and detection of loss, and the investigation of crime including online fraud, security breaches, cybercrime, IP and the insider threat. His investigations have resulted in regulatory sanctions and criminal, disciplinary and recovery actions. He delivers risk-based strategic fraud awareness, prevention and investigation services to a range of listed and private businesses and to the public sector. Prior to joining PKF GM, Robert was Head of Fraud at Transport for London where he managed a team of investigators, prevention staff and data analysts to support the authority’s risk and assurance strategy. He has extensive international fraud investigation experience and has worked across the globe. Robert is the Chair of the London Fraud Forum, a public-private partnership dedicated to the prevention and investigation of fraud. He’s also a regular commentator on fraud issues in the media and a speaker at numerous industry events and conferences.
Philip King, Interim Small Business Commissioner
In a career spanning over 40 years, Philip has held senior credit management roles in the high-tech and communication sector and in distribution and retail, which included spells at Olivetti and Vodafone. He was appointed Director General of the ICM in 2005, and later Chief Executive. Philip was behind the Institute’s drive to become a Chartered body (becoming the CICM in 2015). Philip is the author of the Managing Cashflow Guides for government, and the architect of the Prompt Payment Code which the CICM has administered on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). He has worked closely with successive governments in championing best-practice credit management and supporting small business.
In his time leading the CICM, Philip has helped transform the Institute and elevate its profile, keeping professional credit managers in the minds of government and key influencers.
Dan Foley, Finance Shared Services Director, Keir Group
Dan is an international award-winning senior professional and leader with over 20 years’ experience in various blue chip organisations. He has significant strategic, transformation, organisational, operational and change delivery experience from working as a consultant as well as holding various operational leadership roles across the FMCG, media, retail financial services, construction and outsourcing sectors. Dan has been Head of Finance Shared Services with Marks & Spencer, ITV and Mouchel before the latter was acquired by Kier Group whereby he has led the successful transition from 11 legacy SSC sites to one consolidated new operation in Manchester, hiring 300 staff over a 18 month period in 2016-17.
Anders Liu-Lindberg, COO, Business Partnering Institute
Anders co-founded the Business Partnering Institute because to crack the code on Business Partnering and unlock the value potential hidden in finance functions around the world. By helping them adopt a business partner mindset, they'll instantly move closer to the business and start creating value together. BPI aim to be the catalyst for change in Finance and help individuals and organisations to change in a digital world where the finance function of tomorrow looks very different from that of yesterday. Anders draws on his experience as a Senior Finance Business Partner at Maersk.
Susan Walsh, The Classification Guru
With nearly a decade of experience fixing your dirty data, Susan Walsh is The Classification Guru. She brings clarity and accuracy to data and procurement; helps teams work more effectively and efficiently; and cuts through the jargon to address the issues of dirty data and its consequences in an entertaining and engaging way. Susan is a specialist in data classification, supplier normalisation, taxonomy customisation, and data cleansing and can help your business find cost savings through spend and time management - supporting better, more informed business decisions.
Susan has developed a methodology to accurately and efficiently classify, cleanse and check data for errors which will help prevent costly mistakes and could save days, if not weeks of laborious cleansing and classifying. Susan is passionate about helping you find the value in cleaning your ‘dirty data’ and raises awareness of the consequences of ignoring issues through her blogs, vlogs, webinars and speaking engagements.
You can contact her on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Chris Argent, Founder, Generation CFO
Frustrated by poor systems, poor reporting and lack of time to work with the business, in 2009, Chris Argent set up a LinkedIn group looking for technology-minded accountants and finance professionals to help him out. After moving from SME CFO to Enterprise Finance Transformation Lead, Chris experiences first-hand advanced technology being used in multiple organisations and can see the massive potential for finance use.
The demand for digital transformation and strategic finance business partnering continues to grow and Chris believed pressure will be applied to CFOs to create a more data-rich, digital finance function, so started to collate and curate some of the most relevant information posted on his LinkedIn group to his blog, Generation CFO. The aim to bring digital native innovators in accounting together with the senior finance leadership change makers.
Susan Ní Chríodáin
A qualified accountant by profession and with experience as an auditor at Deloitte, Susan has also had experience as a Financial Controller. Moving around the globe from Dublin to Australia to Switzerland, Nairobi, Ethiopia and DRC and beyond, she provided comprehensive technical guidance and training to Senior Management Teams and Project Teams in respect of financial issues to limit exposure to risk and mitigate losses.
Susan is the founder of Beyond the Numbers, where she delivers her belief that with people, there is no single formula or input that will ever generate the same result, but if you trust and give space so everyone can bring their best selves to work, you will have fantastic working relationships, enjoy work and achieve amazing results. Susan writes blogs, advises companies and enjoys delivering podcasts and thought provoking, fun presentations.