408: Strategically Extend Your Enterprise Applications, with Relish
Ryan Walicki of Relish talks about why enterprise solutions rarely cover all bases; the rise of AI; & the importance of collaboration & customer experience.
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[07.28] The story behind the brand name Relish.
\u201cWhile I\u2019m more of a mustard and ketchup guy personally (!), Relish just really stood out to us \u2013 a word that can create certain emotions.\u201d
[09.02] Ryan\u2019s background, his love of procurement, and his journey to co-founding Relish.
\u201cI fell in love with it\u2026 I watched the perception of procurement go from \u2018people who buy stuff\u2019 to a strategic function, from analytics and sourcing all the way through invoicing and payment.\u201d
[11.53] An overview of Relish \u2013 who they are, what they do, and how they help their customers.
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to meet users where they are. A lot of users have succumbed to \u201cI\u2019ll just create a workaround\u201d or \u201cExcel can do that for me\u201d\u2026 Enough of that!! You should expect more, you should demand more from your enterprise software.\u201d
[15.37] The ideal client for Relish.
[16.45] Ryan\u2019s perspective on why enterprise solutions rarely meet all requirements; the biggest enterprise software challenges; and how those challenges have been compounded by the industry changes we\u2019ve seen over the last few years.
\u201cThese solutions are presented as \u2018It\u2019ll do everything you want \u2013 and cut your grass!\u2019 The customer takes that at face value, builds a business case, builds an ROI case \u2013 and they never meet it.\u201d
[20.37] How Relish is working to simplify processes, extend solutions, and bridge gaps in order to complement and enhance enterprise software.
\u201c5% of business revenue is lost due to fraudulent activity... there\u2019s too many workarounds and stale processes out there\u2026 But there\u2019s an end to this story that\u2019s a lot more positive, automated, safe, and economic than Excel workbooks.\u201d
[25.02] Why Relish is so passionate about collaboration, partnering with some of the industry\u2019s biggest names to create ecosystems that drive success for everyone.
[27.18] The rapid evolution of AI, and how Relish uses it to help clients streamline and enhance their processes.
\u201cThere are a lot of folks that present themselves as AI experts. But this is so new, it\u2019s moving so fast \u2013 there are no experts!\u201d
[31.47] Customer experience, and the importance of creating an effective chain of solutions for your customer, and your customer\u2019s customer.
\u201cOne of the most frequent phone calls finance gets is from suppliers asking: \u201cWhen am I going to get paid?\u201d
[35.34] A case study showing how Relish helped a global financial institution to solve its invoice challenges, increasing automation from 24% to over 95%, streamlining its source-to-pay process, and boosting its visibility and process speed.
\u201cWe felt like the root of all evil is in master data inefficiency, and so if we built a platform that had the capability to go after that core problem, we could manifest those as applications in invoicing, supplier, and automation.\u201d
[39.25] Ryan\u2019s hockey team, and whether or not they\u2019ll be making the finals!
[41.23] What the future holds for Relish, and for the industry.
\u201cThe time between point A and point B keeps getting shorter because innovation is happening fast\u2026 We\u2019re outgrowing applications very quickly.\u201d
RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED:\xa0
Head over to Relish\u2019s website now to find out more, and discover how they could help you too. You can also connect with Relish and keep up to date with the latest over on LinkedIn, YouTube and X (Twitter), or you can connect with Ryan on LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this conversation and want to hear more about procurement, check out The Three Biggest Challenges For Procurement \u2013 And What To Do About Them, Women In Supply Chain\u2122: Procurement Leader, Stephany Lapierre on Using Supplier Data to Empower a More Connected, Diverse Supply Chain or 243: Reinventing Freight Procurement with Emerge.