Inside the Room: 5 Learnings From the Sustain 2026 CPO Circle

At Sustain 2026 in Paris, while thousands of sustainability and procurement leaders gathered in person and online to discuss what it takes to achieve “Sustained Advantage,” a much smaller, more intimate conversation was taking place behind closed doors.

A group of 20 chief procurement officers (CPOs), representing a combined €320B+ in revenue and more than €100B+ in procurement spend, came together for the EcoVadis CPO Circle. These leaders are responsible for shaping some of the world’s most influential supply chains, and the decisions they make ripple across thousands of suppliers and industries.

More than a closed-door discussion, the CPO Circle created space for honest, peer-to-peer dialogue about the realities of sustainable procurement: what’s actually working, what’s not, and where leaders must push harder if they’re serious about transforming global supply chains.

Across industries and geographies, the conversations revealed a clear theme: the role of procurement is undergoing a profound transformation. The modern CPO is no longer responsible only for negotiating contracts and controlling costs. Today’s procurement leaders sit at the intersection of risk management, sustainability, supply chain resilience, and long-term business growth.

What emerged was not a list of theoretical trends, but a set of practical shifts already underway inside some of the world’s most advanced procurement organizations. The insights from these sessions are too important not to share beyond the room.

Here are five of the biggest learnings from inside the CPO Circle and how procurement leaders everywhere can begin acting on them today.

1. The end of the “cost-only” CPO

Historically, a CPO’s value was defined almost exclusively through the lens of cost reduction. That era is officially over. The Circle confirmed that meeting sustainability standards is no longer just a “license to operate” to satisfy regulators; it is now a primary commercial engine used to win RFPs, secure customer retention, and differentiate in the market.

• The learning: CPOs now rank top-line growth levers as equal to traditional cost levers for demonstrating the value of sustainable procurement programs. This represents a fundamental shift in the procurement business case, moving the function from a back-office task to a front-line value driver.
• How to take action: Audit your current KPIs; if they don’t track “revenue enabled” alongside “savings,” your business case is outdated.

2. Escaping “PoC purgatory” with agentic AI

Many organizations are stuck in “proof of concept (PoC) purgatory.” The leaders in the room, led by Accenture’s Matias Pollmann-Larsen, are moving toward agentic AI – systems that move beyond merely surfacing data to autonomously handling complex workflows.

• The learning: The ambition of top CPOs is to achieve 50% efficiency gains in support functions by automating high-volume “paper-pushing” tasks. This allows AI to act as a bridge, scaling sustainability ambitions without a proportional increase in headcount.
• How to take action: Identify one high-volume manual workflow, like supplier evidence validation, and move it from a static dashboard to an autonomous AI agent.

3. Resilience is the new global currency

With global supply chain disruptions costing an estimated $1.6 trillion annually, supply chain resilience is the most critical pillar for protecting corporate value. The consensus was clear: you cannot build resilience while “flying blind” on industry averages.

• The learning: True resilience is built on data maturity. CPOs are shifting toward proactive protection built on reliable, verified, supplier sustainability data to ensure business continuity in a volatile market.
• How to take action: Replace average risk scores with primary supplier data to identify which €1M contract could cause a €100M disruption.

4. Leadership is a moral choice

The session was anchored by a candid exchange with Paul Polman, who challenged the room to lead with a purpose that transcends short-term pressures. Procurement holds the most significant levers for global change, specifically Scope 3 emissions and value chain innovation.

• The learning: In Paul’s words: “If it’s important to you, you can do it.” The goal is to move beyond “being less bad” to becoming “net positive,” positioning the CPO as a strategic architect of the company’s future rather than just a functional leader.
• How to take action: Schedule a “purpose audit” with your team. Ask: “If our procurement strategy succeeds, how does the world actually get better, not just less bad?”

5. Closing the multi-trillion euro blind spot

Within the EcoVadis network, made up of thousands of companies committed to sustainable procurement, we already see the “flywheel effect” in action across a collective €4.3+ trillion in managed spend. Of this, €2+ trillion is already actively covered by EcoVadis Ratings. This represents a major achievement: more than half of the network’s footprint is now mapped, verified, and managed for impact. However, that still leaves a multi-trillion euro blind spot.

• The learning: CPOs are committed to closing this gap and expanding visibility across the full spend base. That visibility is essential to moving from a cost-focused CPO model to a more strategic value architect role.
• How to take action: Calculate your own “blind spot” – the percentage of spend not covered by sustainability ratings – and develop a 12-month roadmap to close it.

Why the CPO Circle Matters

What makes the CPO Circle unique is not just the scale of the organizations represented, but the level of candor and trust within the discussion. Procurement leaders are navigating an increasingly complex environment where regulatory pressure, investor expectations, and supply chain volatility are all intensifying simultaneously.

In this context, peer learning becomes incredibly valuable. The Circle provides an ongoing forum where leaders can openly share both successes and challenges, accelerating progress across the entire procurement ecosystem.

Perhaps most importantly, the conversation reinforced a shared belief: procurement holds one of the most powerful levers for global change. With billions of euros in purchasing decisions flowing through their organizations, CPOs have the ability to reshape supplier ecosystems, influence industry standards, and drive measurable sustainability improvements at scale.

When procurement leaders align around common goals and exchange real-world strategies, the ripple effects extend far beyond any single company.

Join the Movement

The role of procurement is evolving faster than many organizations realize. What was once considered a back-office function is rapidly becoming one of the most strategic drivers of resilience, innovation, and sustainable growth.

The discussions inside the CPO Circle made one thing clear: the leaders who will define the next decade of procurement are those willing to rethink traditional models, embrace data-driven decision making, and collaborate across industries to tackle shared challenges.

The shift from cost-only CPO to strategic value architect is already underway.

The question now is not whether procurement will transform, but how quickly organizations can adapt to this new reality.

If you are ready to close your sustainability blind spot, strengthen supply chain resilience, and unlock the full strategic potential of procurement, the time to act is now.

Ready to close your blind spot?👉Join the CPO Circle | EcoVadis