03 Nov 2020 Coupa enhances Business Spend Management with AI
The acquisition of LLamasoft will empower businesses to drive greater value across direct and indirect spend
Coupa, announced this week that it has acquired LLamasoft, a leader in AI-powered supply chain design and planning. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., LLamasoft’s technology is used by brands such as Boeing, Danone S.A., Home Depot, and Nestle. The acquisition will strengthen Coupa’s supply chain capabilities, enabling businesses to drive greater value through Business Spend Management.
In the press release announcing the acquisition, Coupa claim that the events of this year continue to demonstrate the importance of supply chain agility, as companies work to more rapidly adapt to changing consumer preferences, economic conditions, and the political landscape. They argue that with demand uncertainty on one hand and supply volatility on the other, companies are in need of supply chain technology that can help them assess alternatives and balance trade-offs to achieve desired business results. LLamasoft, they claim, provides these capabilities with an AI-powered cloud platform that empowers companies to make smarter supply chain decisions, faster.
Rob Bernshteyn, chairman and CEO: “We are witnessing an unprecedented shift in what businesses are demanding to effectively manage their supply chains. They need instant visibility, agile planning capabilities, and timely risk mitigation support. LLamasoft’s deep supply chain expertise and sophisticated data science and modelling capabilities, combined with the roughly $2 trillion of cumulative transactional spend data we have in Coupa, will empower businesses with the intelligence needed to pivot on a dime. Together, we will deliver a more powerful Business Spend Management platform to help organizations everywhere maximise the value of every dollar they spend in a smarter, simpler, and safer way.”
Launched in January 2020, LLamasoft’s newest product llama.ai, delivers AI-powered decision making across the supply chain to support an almost unlimited number of use cases. With llama.ai, organisations can create purpose-built applications that leverage an end-to-end decision data model and employ a library of proven supply chain algorithms. These applications can run what-if scenarios and surface valuable insights before organizations make key business decisions.
“We are very excited about joining forces with Coupa,” said Razat Gaurav, CEO at LLamasoft. “Combining Coupa’s market leading spend management execution core and broad market reach with LLamasoft’s AI-powered supply chain analytics provides a unique opportunity to bring together digital transformation solutions that drive decision making and operational efficiency across the enterprise. I am equally excited for employees of both organisations who share a culture that prioritises delivering innovation and exceptional customer value.
Most recently, LLamasoft was named to Inc. 5000 List of Fastest Growing Private Companies for the fifth consecutive year, the 2020 Detroit Free Press Top Workplace, and Supply & Demand Chain Executive Green Supply Chain Award 2019.
“This very timely acquisition comes as supply chains are undergoing tremendous disruption that is best navigated using AI-enabled decision processes surrounding a digital twin of the end-to-end supply chain,” said Mickey North Rizza, program vice president of enterprise applications and digital commerce at IDC. “Incorporating supply chain planning capabilities as part of a comprehensive BSM strategy will give companies more visibility and control across their direct and indirect spend.”
To learn more, visit https://www.coupa.com/.
