65 to help companies stay agile and aligned with their long-term goals. GEP GREEN is a core environmental, social and governance solution that empowers enterprises to seamlessly measure, manage and improve sustainability performance across their supply chains, driving toward net-zero goals. The firm’s offerings are accessible to a wide audience of Microsoft customers who can use GEP capabilities directly within their existing Azure environments. “This integration enhances our value proposition and solidifies our position as a leading provider of comprehensive procurement and supply chain solutions within the Microsoft cloud landscape,” says Nair. GEP’s strong investment in AI drives value and return on investment for its customers around the world. “By working closely with clients to understand their priorities, co-create solutions and align procurement with broader business objectives, we ensure our tools deliver meaningful outcomes,” says Nair. “We also help streamline procurement budgeting by allowing clients to set clear priorities, track spending in real time and ensure alignment with financial and strategic goals.” GEP also supports customers by identifying key trends that are shaping the future of procurement and supply chain management, and helps them to overcome those challenges. “Our experience working with chief procurement and supply chain officers highlights the fear of uncertainty to new software and automation,” he says. “Yet, the alignment of legal, IT, finance and business units with AI is essential for maximising the value of strategic partnerships, avoiding miscommunication, ensuring procurement initiatives are fully integrated with company goals.” Another challenge for procurement and supply chain leaders is ongoing tariff uncertainty. “Tariffs don’t only affect procurement – they ripple across finance, sales, logistics and legal,” says Nair. “Forming cross-functional war rooms ensures faster, more aligned decisionmaking across the business. Procurement and supply chain leaders can prepare strategies for this by enabling impact analysis and scenario modelling so teams can simulate tariff changes by region, supplier or product and adjust sourcing, pricing and fulfilment accordingly.” These pressures are also accelerating the need for more resilient sourcing strategies, particularly in the face of geopolitical uncertainty. “Leaders should start by mapping multitier supply chains to identify upstream vulnerabilities,” says Nair. “Visibility into sub-tier suppliers, especially in high-risk geographies, allows you to proactively mitigate exposure and build early warning capabilities. It’s also important to avoid overdependence on any single region or supplier. Dual sourcing or multisourcing, regional balancing and nearshoring can help maintain continuity.” And firms should consider strategic suppliers not just by cost, but by resilience potential. “Forge deeper, collaborative relationships with key suppliers,” says Nair. “This includes sharing forecasting data, jointly managing risk and establishing flexible commercial terms such as buffer capacity or variable pricing tied to external volatility indicators.” Additionally, firms should embed geopolitical risk insights, trade data and market intelligence into category and sourcing decisions. “Intelligent category management solutions help by incorporating data and analytics into sourcing strategies for dynamic risk adjustment,” says Nair. “Plus, shifting from rigid long-term sourcing to modular, agile contracts that allow faster pivots enables organisations to respond quickly to market volatility, minimise disruption and maintain supply continuity.” NOTE FROM MICROSOFT “We’re excited to offer GEP’s AI-powered procurement software suites via Azure Marketplace, helping our mutual customers make smarter decisions and thrive in today’s fast-moving world. GEP SMART and GEP NEXXE were built natively on Azure to help organisations manage spending, uncover savings and risks, and build more sustainable supply chains.” Yvonne Muench Senior Director, Marketplace and Independent Software Vendor Journey, Microsoft “ Forming cross-functional war rooms ensures faster, more aligned decisionmaking across the business”
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