Ep 02: The Agentic Procurement Diaries: The Work-Work Balance: Building an Agentic Supply Chain at SLB W/ Jeffrey Ostrander

Dear Diary…

"I use AI a lot to help scout out things or pose challenges and see where solutions are being marketed along those lines."

Jeffrey Ostrander runs a nearly $5 billion business in one of the most dynamic supply markets on the planet. His team has left the starting block on agentic AI. What they are still deciding is how far into the race they want to run.

That distinction runs through this whole conversation. Jeffrey talks about pilots that stumble, business cases that change daily, and a supply base of machine parts makers who are not sitting in front of a computer.

Jeffrey is Head of North America Basin Supply Chain for SLB, the 100 year old company formerly known as Schlumberger. He returned to the same organization he started with 15 years ago, after time in global business services and other functions around the world.

In this episode of The Agentic Procurement Diaries podcast, Philip Ideson and Jeffrey discuss:

- Why sourcing and supplier performance sit in mirrored category structures, and how that builds a talent pipeline
- The use cases already in play, from tail procurement to freight pay assurance and contract scouring
- The "work-work balance" and why AI discovery has to be carved into paid time
- Where he will not yet take the human out of the loop, and who is legally responsible when an agent makes the call

Links:

Jeff Ostrander on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-ostrander/

Zycus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zycus/

AOP Provider Directory | Zycus: https://artofprocurement.com/provider-directory/zycusinc

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