Finance Leaders Head to London for SAP NOW AI Tour

SAP’s NOW AI Tour lands at ExCeL London on 22 October, bringing finance and procurement professionals together to explore how artificial intelligence (AI), data and applications can deliver measurable business results. Designed for leaders in procurement, spend and finance functions, the event offers direct insight into AI-powered sourcing, supplier risk, contract intelligence and integrated spend transformation.

The tour provides demos and hands-on sessions tailored to teams under pressure to achieve savings, improve compliance and build resilience. SAP positions the event not only as a conference but also as a practical opportunity to trial live use cases, consult experts and understand how return on investment (ROI) can be realised through AI and digital tools.

Finance-focused sessions aim to help organisations accelerate transformation across spend, sourcing and supply chain, connecting applications that support change across finance, manufacturing and retail environments.

Finance and procurement experts share operational insights

The event highlights procurement and finance leaders from major enterprises such as GSK, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP) and The AA, who bring a mix of transformation experience and operational expertise to the stage.

Karl Ace, Head of Procurement Digital Transformation at GSK, focuses on product lifecycle management, new product introduction and packaging innovation. His work targets quality, speed and cost efficiency across pharmaceuticals and consumer manufacturing, embedding continuous improvement into operations.

Anthony Breach, Director of Procurement Centre of Excellence (CoE) at CCEP, has nearly a decade in procurement and finance. Based in London, Anthony leads a multi-market strategy delivering change and process improvement across CCEP’s finance operations. His leadership has been central to transformation programmes in sourcing and cost optimisation.

Joseph Harrison, Head of Procurement Operations and Third Party Risk at The AA, leads transformation in source-to-pay and third-party risk management. Working in regulated and non-regulated environments, Joseph focuses on capability building across people, processes and technology. He has experience designing operating models and simplifying procurement processes to adapt to economic and regulatory pressures.

SAP executives bring a regional perspective on finance transformation

Several SAP leaders present strategic and solution-focused sessions aimed at finance transformation across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Mo Ahmad, Head of Market Strategy and Development, Finance and Spend Management, EMEA, offers a broad view developed across over 20 years in cloud computing, Software as a Service (SaaS), and channel leadership. He connects data intelligence with product knowledge across SAP’s solution ecosystem to support enterprise-wide change.

Mervi Saarikorpi, Senior Director, Market Strategy, Finance and Spend Management, EMEA, works with clients to integrate strategic sourcing, category management and analytics into a unified model. She focuses on enabling faster, better spend decisions and unlocking visibility into enterprise procurement.

Jamie Taylor, Regional Leader for Solution Advisory in Spend Management, EMEA, leads SAP’s work on strategic solution alignment. She supports procurement leaders in developing supply chain and spend management strategies that improve supplier performance, payment processes and sourcing outcomes.

Manuel Palanca, Chair of Strategic Customers for Finance and Spend Management, EMEA, leads customer and partner engagement across SAP Ariba, Concur, Fieldglass, oCFO, S/4 Finance Public and Taulia. His focus lies in linking finance and spend transformation to operational control and resilience.

Julien Barthelemy, Senior Director of Market Strategy and Development, Finance and Spend Management, EMEA, draws on over two decades in industry and consulting. His work involves designing governance models and purchasing structures in decentralised businesses. Julien is known for helping organisations achieve fast, visible impact in procurement.

Business transformation tools take centre stage

Beyond core procurement and finance, SAP’s business transformation advisers present solution-led approaches for adapting to political and economic change.

Emily Gastle, Senior Solution Advisor for SAP Business Transformation Management, advises clients on cloud procurement for services and external workforce spend. She supports firms in gaining tighter spend control while navigating complex conditions. Her experience spans solution consulting, partner management and supply chain practices.​​​​​​

Peter Anderson, Solution Advisor Expert for Business Transformation Management (BTM) WalkMe in EMEA, brings sector experience from firms including Vodafone, Sony, Lloyds and E.ON. Since joining SAP in 2015, Peter has worked in solution engineering and advisory roles, now focusing on BTM through WalkMe, a digital adoption platform integrated into SAP.

Don’t miss out

SAP NOW AI Tour London is aimed at finance and procurement professionals keen to understand how data-driven decision-making and automation support enterprise transformation. With practical demos, case studies and expert-led discussions, the event shows how AI integrates with finance operations to build compliant, resilient and cost-effective procurement models.

SAP NOW AI Tour takes place at ExCeL London on 22 October.