Autopsy of a Zombie Category Strategy
30
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Category management was designed to be strategic. Yet in many organizations, what passes for strategy has flatlined — or worse, lingers on as a “zombie strategy”: technically alive and in use, but lifeless, valueless in practice.
Procurement aspires to drive innovation, resilience, and sustainability while unlocking measurable business value. But the reality is that too many strategies:
- are built once, in isolation, then shelved,
- obsess over cost while sidelining broader value levers,
- rely on outdated frameworks and siloed manual tools,
- and fail to evolve as business and market conditions change.
The result? Strategies that look good on paper but deliver little impact — disconnected from the enterprise agenda, ignored by business partners, and abandoned when disruption strikes.
This session conducts the autopsy. We’ll examine:
- The brain → outdated thinking rooted in 1980s cost-power models.
- The heart → diseased by a fixation on savings at the expense of real business goals.
- The lungs → suffocating under PowerPoint, Excel, and disconnected processes.
But this is not just about what died. It’s about what survives.
Category management can, and must, evolve into a living and Next Gen discipline: continuously refreshed, digitally enabled, co-created with the business, and aligned to enterprise value drivers.
Join Sabrina, Michael, and Robert as they dissect the past, expose the warning signs of “dead” category strategies, and prescribe the practices that will bring category management back to life, but as a true driver of growth, resilience, and competitive advantage.
Zombie Strategy
A Zombie Strategy is a procurement or category strategy that continues to exist in name, documentation or actual practice but lacks real vitality, alignment, or impact. Like its namesake, it is outdated, mechanical, and mindlessly repeated —appearing active in use by procurement while delivering little to no business value. Zombie Strategies are typically cost-obsessed, siloed, and reactive, leaving organizations vulnerable to disruption, value leakage, and strategic irrelevance.
Speakers
Sabrina Heuren
Manager - Strategy Consulting, Sourcing Champions
Sabrina Hueren is a dynamic procurement and sustainability consultant with a blend of technology and industry expertise shaped by an international career. As a manager and strategy consultant at Sourcing Champions, she helps leading organizations turn procurement into a driver of business transformation, value creation, and climate leadership. Sabrina began her career as a consultant at IBM, specializing in cognitive procurement transformation for global clients, and has contributed expertise in sustainability, net zero strategy, category management, and digital processes to Fortune 500 firms. Passionate about the critical intersection of procurement, technology, and sustainability, she is recognized for her thought leadership on supply chain decarbonization and her drive to embed impactful, pragmatic procurement strategies in organizations across Europe.
Michael Pleuger
CEO & Co-founder, akirolabs
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.
Robert Waalder
Founder, Sourcing Champions
Robert Waalder is a seasoned procurement executive and transformation leader with more than 25 years’ cross-functional experience spanning high-tech, industrial, and international environments. As Founder and Managing Director of Sourcing Champions, Robert spearheads procurement strategy and value creation for organizations seeking competitive advantage through sourcing excellence. Prior to founding Sourcing Champions, he held senior roles including Vice President of Procurement at Philips—leading global teams and overseeing portfolios exceeding €2.5 billion in spend. His career also includes business leadership as COO at Bitfury and general management within Philips, giving him profound expertise in operational transformation, strategic sourcing, and digital procurement. Robert is passionate about driving innovation, cost reduction, and sustainability in procurement, leveraging AI-driven solutions to deliver lasting impact for clients and teams worldwide.
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30
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM