EP 11: Provider of the Week: Valdera

Chemical procurement's complexity isn't news, but the pace of change – and risk – is climbing fast. With AI sweeping through every corner of the business, leaders charged with sourcing chemicals and raw materials have reached a fork in the road: modernize, or fall behind. Dheev Arulmani, COO and co-founder of Valdera, brings deep chemical and consulting experience to this Provider of the Week episode of the ProcureTech Insider podcast. He shares how Valdera's AI-powered sourcing platform is transforming the end-to-end procurement workflow, empowering both seasoned category managers and less specialized teams to deliver better costs, reduced risk, and faster innovation.  If you want practical advice on what "AI-native" procurement looks like in chemicals and where the value is proven, this is an episode to queue up. In this episode, Dheev discusses: -Why "one size fits all" tech rarely delivers for chemical sourcing  -How to equip non-specialists to manage sophisticated materials at scale   -Digitizing high-impact steps like spec-sheet mapping, tariff estimates, and supplier feedback  -How to move quickly by starting small (then expand after proving ROI)  -Balancing cost, resilience, and innovation to drive measurable outcomes