Interview with Fabien Guionnet, Chief Operating Officer, Synertrade
As procurement becomes increasingly strategic — driven by data, AI, and growing demands for performance and resilience — companies’ expectations are evolving rapidly. Following his appointment as Chief Operating Officer at Synertrade, Fabien Guionnet shares his perspective on market evolution, procurement transformation, and the priorities shaping the next phase of growth for organizations worldwide.
From Consulting to COO: Building Operational Excellence at Scale
Fabien, you recently took on the role of COO at Synertrade. Can you tell us about your background and what led you to this position?
I started my career in consulting and IT services companies, where I quickly evolved into project-driven roles working directly with clients. I had the opportunity to work across a wide range of industries — including manufacturing, energy, retail, and banking — which gave me a strong understanding of how organizations operate and the operational challenges they face.
After starting with a technical background, particularly in software development, I rapidly moved toward project management, business analysis, and eventually program and competency center leadership. What has always motivated me is understanding how to improve operations in practical ways and create measurable value for customers.
I later joined the software industry, where I found a particularly interesting balance between business, product, and delivery. That is the context in which I joined Synertrade at the end of 2022, initially to help structure and transform the company’s delivery model.
Over time, my responsibilities expanded: harmonizing project practices internationally, securing contracts, leading services operations, and integrating Customer Success teams. Combined with the broader transformation underway at Synertrade, this naturally led me to the COO role.
Procurement Expectations Are Changing: From Process Management to Immediate Business Value
Through your previous role, you’ve been in direct contact with customers. How do you see their expectations evolving today?
Customer expectations have changed significantly. Today, organizations no longer want a platform that simply structures or stores procurement processes. They expect solutions that help them accelerate operations, improve efficiency, and generate value in a simple and immediate way.
For companies beginning their digital transformation journey, expectations are highly operational: fast wins, intuitive user experiences, and visible value from the early stages.
For more mature organizations, the challenge is different. They expect deep integration into their information systems, high flexibility, and the ability to fit into — or even drive — complex enterprise architectures.
We also see a growing demand for support around international deployments, particularly when it comes to harmonizing practices and scaling procurement maturity globally. In this context, services and customer support become just as important as the platform itself.
Procurement at a Turning Point: Between Strategic Impact and Operational Pressure
In your discussions with the market, what are the main challenges procurement teams are facing today?
Procurement teams are currently in a somewhat paradoxical position.
On one hand, their role has never been more strategic. Cost control, risk management, compliance, operational performance — procurement is now at the center of critical business challenges.
On the other hand, procurement leaders do not always have the level of recognition or resources that such a strategic role requires. In many organizations, procurement is still heavily viewed through the lens of cost reduction and remains structurally tied to finance.
This creates a real tension: expectations continue to rise, while available resources often remain limited.
At the same time, priorities are evolving quickly. We see a strong push toward faster, data-driven decision-making, improved visibility into supplier rationalization opportunities, and greater anticipation of operational or geopolitical risks.
We are clearly entering a pivotal phase for the procurement function.
Data, Integration & Orchestration: Why Connected Procurement Matters More Than Ever
To what extent do data and integration challenges remain central? And what makes Synertrade stand out in this area?
Data and integration challenges remain absolutely critical — and they will continue to be.
Organizations need the right data, at the right time, in the right system. But in reality, enterprise IT environments are heterogeneous and constantly evolving.
One of the biggest challenges is avoiding additional complexity. At Synertrade, our approach is precisely to make integration as seamless — almost invisible — as possible.
Thanks to our integration capabilities — APIs, middleware, and connectors — we can connect with a very broad ecosystem of systems and data sources. This ensures data consistency and enables smooth information flows across the organization.
We also go further through an orchestration approach: helping customers align processes, systems, and operational data flows. Integration is no longer just a technical requirement — it becomes a business performance driver.
The Future of Procurement: From Reactive Operations to Predictive Decision-Making
How do you see the role of procurement evolving over the next few years? And how is Synertrade supporting that evolution?
Procurement will become increasingly proactive and strategic.
Teams will no longer operate solely in execution or control modes. They will need to anticipate, identify risks early, and support better-informed business decisions.
Supplier risk management is a perfect example. Organizations need to identify financial, geopolitical, ESG, or operational risks upstream and integrate those insights directly into decision-making processes.
That requires access to reliable, consolidated, and actionable data.
This is exactly where platforms like Synertrade create value: by structuring information, integrating external data sources, and making insights available at the right moment within operational workflows.
Scaling Value: Synertrade’s Priorities for the Next Phase of Growth
What are the main priorities and initiatives you want to drive in the coming months?
Our priority is clear: build on the strong foundations we have established and continue improving our ability to deliver value to customers.
This involves several key areas:
- continuing to evolve our platform to meet market expectations,
- strengthening delivery excellence,
- and further structuring our service offerings to support customers even more effectively.
The objective is to go beyond software implementation alone and provide a comprehensive approach aligned with our customers’ business challenges and transformation goals.
Continuous Improvement, Entrepreneurship & Customer Value: What Drives Fabien Guionnet Today
Finally, what motivates you the most in this new role?
What motivates me most is the opportunity to actively contribute to the transformation and growth of both the company and our customers.
I’ve always had an entrepreneurial mindset, and today I have the ability to act directly, improve things continuously, and see the real impact of what we put in place.
We strongly believe in continuous improvement: every achievement is another step forward, and every challenge is an opportunity to do better.
That pragmatic, results-oriented mindset — focused on creating value — is what drives me every day, both for our teams and for our customers.