👀 Rumors are swirling about OpenAI & Windsurf (formerly Codeium) for $3B. Why would a model company buy an application-layer startup? 𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐀 Most valuable company data isn't public — it's buried in internal systems: codebases, procurement workflows, financial approvals, legal docs, slacks. Do you think a Fortune 500 company is going to put journal entry memos on Reddit for models to train?

The role of 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 and 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 isn’t all that different. Both are elite capital allocators—deploying 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦’𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 with the goal of maximizing return and minimizing risk. So why do people trust them with capital? Because they have: -Superior sourcing capabilities -Better assessment and scoring frameworks -Deeper risk mitigation strategies -A track record of delivering outsized returns

Last week, I came across David Kern's Keynote speech from Supply Chain Digital's event from London. If you haven’t seen it, it’s worth a watch. Dave highlights the crucial shift from viewing procurement as a mere compliance function to recognizing these teams as a strategic value driver. While there are certainly elements of compliance in procurement, the best procurement leaders in 2025 are helping business partners and projects succeed by: -Streamlining sourcing processes to accelerate project timelines. -Facilitating clear communication and negotiation to gain alignment from diverse stakeholders. -Optimizing costs through effective supplier management and contract negotiation.

𝗗𝗼 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗱𝗱-𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁? My take? Absolutely. More teams are updating their processes so that even requests tied to existing vendors still route through procurement. Why? • 𝗔𝗜 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 — legal, privacy, and security implications • 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 — visibility into future spend • 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘆 — accruals before the invoice hits • 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗰𝗹𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 — making sure the budget owner is in the loop • 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 — procurement can align with the business on the use case

I've been traveling with the family this week, taking morning calls from a room with this very fishy background. Since we use our customers' preferred platforms, it’s been fun testing how Zoom, Teams, and Meet handle background blur. Verdict? Zoom wins—other platforms let a few fish sneak through! 🐠

On this Pi day, I’m super excited to help moderate FIF Collective’s AI in Finance Discussion. Meghan Curtin McKenna 🔥 Dana Forfa CJ Gustafson Kate Mikolenko, CPA Carmen Li Jessica Chen Rebecca Schwartz Ruchi Varshney Amy Kux and so many more smart people. Chat soon!!