From Strategy to Practice
When Linda Grubbström, Head of Strategy & Way Office at Scania, opened Day 2 of CPO Outlook 2025, the focus shifted from theory to lived experience.
Day 1 had presented models, data, and visions of procurement’s future. Now the conversation turned to what those ambitions mean for people — for the teams who must keep operations running while changing how they work.
As Linda described it, procurement’s scope has expanded dramatically: “We’re expected to deliver on sustainability, resilience, diversity, and innovation — on top of cost, quality, and delivery.” Her message was pragmatic: transformation only works if people have the structure, skills, and trust to succeed in their daily realities.
Mapping Competence in Motion
Insights from EBG | Xperience Stockholm 2025
Her story resonated strongly with EBG’s own survey findings. At EBG | Xperience Stockholm 2025, that Linda joined, participants explored how procurement structures, capabilities, and competences are evolving. Most described their operating models as in development, with several stating their
approach to building future- proof procurement capabilities as focused on creating a hybrid procurement model, combining traditional expertise with digital transformation roles and AI-driven procurement assistants/Agents.
When mapping future capabilities, many organizations highlighted Risk management & resilience planning, Supplier collaboration & relationship management and Digital tools & automation proficiency as the competences they most need to strengthen — confirming that capability building is still catching up with ambition. The reflections shared in Stockholm set the tone for what Linda later emphasized at CPO Outlook 2025: that transformation cannot rely on structure alone; it needs continuous investment in people and ownership.
She explained that Scania’s approach blends clear responsibility with flexibility: “We have to ensure everyone knows their role, but we also need to allow for autonomy and development across functions.” In her view, strong structures and freedom to act are not contradictions but necessary complements.
Learning, she emphasized, is no longer linear.
“The competence you need today will not be enough tomorrow. Learning is continuous — it’s part of the job, not something we do aside from it.”
She contrasted today’s evolving competence landscape with the way procurement used to look.
“Before, career growth was a clear ladder — you advanced step by step, role by role,” she said. “Now, it’s more of a network of capabilities. People need both breadth and depth, and the ability to connect functions, data, and sustainability goals.”
This shift, she explained, demands more from leadership: to create conditions where people can experiment, collaborate, and learn continuously — not just follow predefined paths.
Leading Through Trust and Values
Linda described Scania’s leadership culture as rooted in shared values — a stabilizing factor during change. But she also noted that stability can slow momentum if not paired with openness and curiosity.
“People need to understand why we are changing, not just what needs to change,” she said. “That’s how we create engagement and build trust.”
Performing While Transforming
Procurement at Scania is balancing two timelines: maintaining high delivery performance while driving innovation and sustainability initiatives.
“We need to own today and shape tomorrow,” Linda said. “That means being accountable for what we deliver right now while preparing for what’s next.”
This dual focus — short-term performance and long-term transformation — reflected one of the clearest findings from EBG’s spring Xperience Focus Days: nearly all organizations described themselves as “stretched,” managing operational pressure and development goals simultaneously.
For Linda, success lies in rhythm and clarity. Teams must know what matters today, but also see how their work connects to future goals. “You can’t fix everything at once,” she said. “But you can make progress step by step.”
Learning in Context
A recurring theme throughout her talk was that competence development has to stay connected to real work.
“Our people learn best when they see the direct effect,” Linda said. “When data or sustainability goals are integrated into sourcing and supplier decisions — that’s when competence becomes capability.”
Her message was clear: transformation is not a side project. It happens in the daily moments where decisions are made, feedback is shared, and collaboration improves.
Balancing Clarity and Adaptability
Linda concluded with a reminder that leadership in change is not about having every answer, but about creating the conditions for others to act.
“We can’t control everything,” she said. “But we can build systems and cultures that make it easier to do the right thing.”
In doing so, Scania exemplifies what many at CPO Outlook 2025 discussed: the shift from managing processes to enabling performance — ensuring that people, not systems, remain at the center of procurement’s evolution.
Networking with EBG
The conversations continue.
Join us for CPO Outlook 2026 in Stockholm on October 14–15, and through the EBG | Xperience 2026 workshop series — smaller, hands-on sessions where shared insights become concrete actions.