In this issue:
For the last year and a half, vendors, thought leaders, and industry analysts have done much rhapsodic proselytizing about the potential of process orchestration and AI.
What we’ve actually gotten out of AI and orchestration tools, however, are mostly chatbots that help users navigate siloed UIs and policy documents. Or AI that’s good at making movies and writing blogs and code, but not so good at doing the work we actually want AI to do for us—the bureaucratic, time-consuming busywork.
And these tools haven’t moved the needle. Enterprise employees still spend too much of their time hacking through manual work—jumping between tabs, filling out forms, chasing stakeholders, learning how to navigate other teams’ preferred systems.
We need AI that works for humans. That sits above—and works across—our existing policies and tools. That meets us where *we* work, and that actually does busy work for us. That fulfills AI’s initial promise to free US up to make the art, instead of doing art for us.
Last month, we launched an AI-powered orchestration copilot that we designed to do precisely that.
It’s called the Tonkean Enterprise Copilot.
It’s a transformative AI and advanced orchestration solution that helps internal teams like procurement, legal, and IT anticipate employees’ needs, guide employees through requests, unify processes that span many different systems and departments, and automate manual steps. It empowers shared service teams to move at the speed of business and increase process adoption—all while eliminating the burdens of change management.
Another way of putting it: the Enterprise Copilot works behind the scenes to do everything employees want AI to do for them—the bureaucratic, back-office busywork—so they can focus more completely on creating unique, strategic value that drives the business forward.
“Technology should work for humans, not force humans to work for it,” said Tonkean CEO and co-founder Sagi Eliyahu. “AI and orchestration have done much to help enterprises integrate their applications, better manage complex processes, and make concrete progress to this end. But software’s great enterprise promise, which is to elevate performance at scale by freeing employees to focus completely on work for which they’re uniquely suited, remains unfulfilled. The Enterprise Copilot works behind the scenes to give corporations what they need to finally make good on that promise.”
Now, the response to the Copilot release has been absolutely incredible. Which we interpret as a testament to the simple fact that this is the sort of AI and orchestration tool the enterprise has been waiting for.
And for good reason. A few days after we launched the Enterprise Copilot, CPO Strategy published a webinar and case study about what Alejandro Fernandez, Head of Global Procurement at Semrush, has been able to accomplish with Tonkean’s AI-powered orchestration tools.
As Alejandro told us, “With the deployment of Tonkean’s new tools, we've taken our cycle time from 19 days to 10. We've dramatically reduced the time it takes to sift through all of these orders that are coming through via email, via Slack, and other web forms. It's created all of that efficiency, allowing our teams to do more with a lot less.”
You can watch and read Alejandro’s case study here, and read more about it below, in this month’s Procurement In the Field Feature.
But first, the latest in procurement.
If you have some insightful news or knowledge about the world of ops to share, let us know!
“We’ve taken our cycle time from 19 days to 10…”
“We’ve dramatically reduced the time it takes to sift through all of these orders that are coming through via email, via Slack and other web forms…”
“Making sure that your P2P is natively talking to contract lifecycle management (CLM), that's just not something you can easily do… and that's something that Tonkean is doing for us…”
This is Alejandro Fernandez, Head of Global Procurement at Semrush.
Earlier this summer, he sat down with CPOStrategy Magazine for an exclusive interview about how Semrush has used AI and orchestration to dramatically improve the performance of its procurement function.
Here’s the executive summary.
Alejandro’s story surfaces many key themes we’ve been tracking at Tonkean, including how important genuine, holistic integration is to orchestration—how AI and orchestration must sit above and interact with ALL your organization’s tech, policies, and people—as well as what putting people first with technology really looks like… and what’s possible when you do.
We’re thrilled to now host the article and interview on the Tonkean site.
Read the case study and watch the webinar here. (10 minutes)
Tell us about clever solutions and success stories you want your procurement peers to know about for future newsletters!
Michael V. is the CPO of Coupa Software. As you read above, he was recently featured on the cover story of Procurement Magazine. He’s a big deal!
He also knows a thing or two about leveraging innovative technology to drive change in procurement.
Recently, he joined Tonkean co-founder and CEO Sagi Eliyahu for a wide-ranging discussion about precisely that.
"Technology enables you to go from where you're operating today, to where you *could* be operating," Michael says. "What's the art of possible?"
Key Takeaways:
(1:05) Leveraging automation can significantly increase procurement efficiency.
(3:45) Data analytics are critical in making smarter procurement decisions.
(7:20) Building resilient supply chains helps withstand disruptions.
(11:30) Enhancing supplier relationships through innovative technologies.
(15:10) Strategic procurement is vital for driving business value.
(18:40) Advanced technologies empower procurement teams to achieve more.
(22:05) Sustainable procurement practices impact overall business strategy.
Listen to the episode here.
Subscribe to the Modern Business Operations podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Here’s everything we did in the most recent Tonkean release notes:
Module Builder
We've increased the maximum archival period for items, from three to seven years. This update supports customers with requirements for extended audit trails. You can configure module item archival periods in the module settings.
Custom Item Interfaces and Workspace Apps
Board Management
You can now update the search prompt text on the Tonkean homepage and display a homepage title if not using a homepage cover logo. This update provides users with another level of customization for their homepage.
Enterprise Components
You can now integrate with Cvent, the event planning and management software, with your Tonkean solutions.
Additionally, we've enhanced the following data sources:
Bug Fixes
That’s it! Thanks for checking out Ops Digest! If you’d like to learn more about who Tonkean is or what we do, we have a few different kinds of trials that you can sign up for. They walk users through our most powerful solutions, including Legal intake, Customer onboarding, Employee onboarding, and Email inbox automation. Sign up for one here!
