JOHN MODESTO
PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
The approach has been dubbed by some as‘ procurement by design’ – in other words, systems created to embed compliance, intelligence and strategic thinking into the very fabric of every transaction.
Intelligence is now a space in which each and every request – be it a PO, contract, supplier or sourcing need – is automatically routed, enriched and policychecked before it even enters the system.
The architectural philosophy extends beyond mere functionality to encompass flexibility and future-proofing. Modern procurement platforms must be modular yet unified, configurable yet stable.
John says this requires platforms that are“ purpose-built yet designed to work seamlessly... forming a unified, intelligent backbone”.
JOHN MODESTO
TITLE: VICE PRESIDENT OF ENTERPRISE SALES
COMPANY: ZYCUS
INDUSTRY: SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT
LOCATION: DELAWARE, US
John is a results-driven sales leader with proven expertise in enterprise applications and cloud solutions across manufacturing, aerospace, healthcare, high tech, telecommunications, financial services and insurance. He champions team development through innovative methodologies.
AI as the great accelerator At the heart of this shift is AI – first generative, now agentic. Even as the latest article in Procurement Magazine is being written, agentic AI is being moulded to create new solutions capable of autonomous decisionmaking and execution.
Zycus prides itself on being agentic built“ into its core,” adds John. One of its tools ensures fully-automated negotiations for specific transactions.
“ Through ANA( Autonomous Negotiation Agent), Zycus fully automates high-volume, low-value negotiations,” John continues.“ Think tail spend sourcing, spot buys and RFPs that used to drain bandwidth. Now they’ re handled end-to-end by intelligent agents, with minimal manual intervention.”
AI is achieving better outcomes across a broader range of activities. The technology isn’ t replacing human judgement, instead amplifying it and extending it to areas where manual intervention was previously impractical.
Navigating the integration challenge While all these improvements may sound perfect, there is still a grim reality for most organisations to face: integrating new capabilities with existing enterprise systems. This challenge has historically been a significant barrier to adoption, particularly for large, established companies with complex legacy infrastructures.
However, innovative approaches are emerging to address these integration challenges.
70 November 2025