Ben Freeman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Omnea. During this conversation, he discusses prioritising user experience, the importance of simplicity, staying true to what you’re best at, and hiring missionaries over mercenaries! 

Omnea is bringing consumer-grade user experience to procurement. Underpinned by Omnea AI, their platform automates previously manual processes, orchestrates disparate systems, and provides each user with a personalised experience from Intake to renewal. Omnea is laser-focused on providing a seamless experience and enabling requesters, approvers, and process owners to focus on strategic work, not systems administration.    

1. What is Omnea’s mission? 

Our mission is to transform the reputation of procurement. Our research shows that 74% of businesses consider procurement as their least favoured internal process, and we think this ultimately stems from legacy tools and processes that fail to handle the complexity of modern procurement. 

We’re all about providing an incredible experience for everyone involved with the view that by transforming the experience, you transform the reputation of the function.

Omnea makes requesting something as simple as having a conversation - for the requester, it’s effortless. That simplicity is what sets our Intake apart. From there, we ensure the right approvals go to the right people, at the right time, with the right context. Approvers in Omnea know exactly what’s needed from them without digging through threads or endless email chains, so they can make quick, informed decisions. We’re also automating everything from supplier management to renewals management.  

To address what truly differentiates Omnea: we approach everything from a UX-first viewpoint. For every release, we ask ourselves, “How can we make this simpler for the end-user?”. 

What we’ve realised is that when the user experience is great, the user adoption is great, and that is the tip of the spear that enables better spend visibility, and more time spent on strategic management rather than manual processes.

Another key differentiator is that we are committed to being the best intake and orchestration platform, prioritising depth over breadth in our product offering.  

While other providers aim to be one-stop shops, they often end up being average at everything by releasing as much functionality as quickly as possible.

2. What have been the most significant milestones in Omnea’s journey so far? 

As we scale they’re coming faster and faster now! But two come to mind.  

The first was launching our platform with our very first customer. People say you should, “build fast, break things, and be embarrassed about your first product”, but we were patient. We weren’t the first to market, so we had to be the best. That meant holding off until we had something great. I remember the excitement in the office of seeing requests come through when we went live with that first customer. 

The second milestone was our first Executive Business Review (EBR) where we had to present the value we’d delivered to a customer after they'd used the platform for a certain number of months. It was a slightly poisoned chalice, because there was a brand new CFO that had joined this company and they’d inherited a fairly mature procurement function, and their procurement leader had purchased Omnea. They hadn’t seen procurement as a value driver in their previous businesses and seemed quite anti-procurement.  

What started as nervousness quickly turned into pride. The new CFO recognised it as the best ROI project they’d seen at the company. Since then, they’ve become a huge advocate, speaking on panels and championing our platform. 

For us, milestones are about humanising the experience. Yes, we’re a technology company, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the people who use our platform.

 3. What do you look for in the perfect customer? 

We support companies ranging from scale-ups all the way to Global Fortune 500s, and neither is necessarily more perfect than the other. What we really look for is engagement and ambition. When we find an ambitious procurement leader who wants to make a big impact, that’s when we get excited and commit everything we can to help them succeed. 

Sometimes, we work with a procurement leader who has strong buy-in from the business, a clear vision, and knows exactly what they want to achieve. This makes for a structured project where we can focus on enabling their vision. From a business perspective, that’s ideal because the project moves quickly and smoothly. 

However, we also often find procurement leaders in businesses where procurement hasn’t been valued historically. They’re trying to transform an unpopular process and haven’t yet received formal recognition. These projects are harder, but they can be even more exciting for us, because it means we get to act as advisors, sharing how we've seen similar businesses succeed and the pitfalls to avoid. We often come out of these projects feeling like true business partners, with amazing stories to tell. 

Sometimes, you inherit a tough situation, but that makes the transformation even more rewarding. Other times, you work with an ambitious leader who gets things done quickly.

The truth is, both situations can be perfect—it ultimately comes down to the people involved and their ambition and engagement with the project and with procurement. 

4. What are the foundations of growing a great team? 

I don’t know another company that has put as much effort and focus into building its early team as we have at Omnea. Many might argue it’s too much or that it’s slowed us down, but I can’t overstate the importance of getting the foundational team right.  

If you focus on finding incredibly smart, ambitious people who care deeply about their careers and are passionate about building something exceptional, you’re off to a great start.

At Omnea, we’ve always been focused on assembling a lean team of high performers . We want missionaries, not mercenaries. That mindset is critical to scaling quickly and effectively. To guide this process, we’ve built a foundation on six core company values: act like an owner, customer-centric, grit and perseverance, craft at speed, team before self, and positive mindset, solution-focused. These values define who we are, who we want to become, and how we behave as a team. They serve as our North Star for recruiting and decision-making. 

Our market is highly competitive, and success requires long-term dedication and sacrifice. That’s why we prioritise hiring individuals who are obsessive about achieving outcomes and building a great company, even if they’re not naturally passionate about procurement itself.

Finally, I believe in authenticity and transparency. If something goes wrong, we talk about it openly—not in a critical way, but constructively. High-performing people hold themselves and others to a high standard, and it’s crucial to avoid accepting mediocrity. I’ve found in this journey that great people have such a high bar, and it’s important to identify when that bar isn’t met. 

5. How do you incorporate GenAI/advanced technologies, and what will be your next major digital innovation? 

We’ve built an AI layer across the entire platform to enhance the experience for different types of users. For example, requesters can talk to a conversational intake, while approvers benefit from AI-generated task summaries that provide context for faster decision-making. Process owners can use Omnea AI to draft supplier questionnaires, legal teams can leverage it to review documents, and finance teams can extract and push data to other systems seamlessly. 

We’ve been thoughtful about how we deploy AI, guided by a simple decision criterion: will it meaningfully improve the user experience?

Our goal is to make it easier for anyone in a business to quickly understand which suppliers already exist, which are faster to onboard, and which are best suited to specific tasks.  

Our intelligent supplier relationship management (SRM) approach leverages AI to enable conversational intelligence. This means that stakeholders across Omnea can ask tailored questions, and the system will surface the right information based on their role, department, and the context of existing suppliers. Everything is personalised for each user and business, ensuring the experience is highly relevant and efficient. 

6. What’s the vision for Omnea? What does great look like in three to five years’ time? 

For us, it all began with what we call the “procurement operating system.” Initially, we focused on providing employees with a simple way to initiate requests. We call this the “Intake”, which seamlessly routes requests to the right people at the right time for approval. From there, we transitioned into the era of procurement orchestration and automation, which is how the market refers to it today. This phase is about connecting different systems to ensure end-to-end seamless procurement processes and providing each user with a tailored experience. 

Put simply, we want Omnea to be the go-to place for any employee with a procurement or supplier-related query or request, no matter how simple or complex. They don’t need to know anything else—they just need to know to start with Omnea. From there, the entire process is orchestrated for them. 

If we’re being honest, traditional P2P systems haven’t achieved this. At Omnea, we aim to engage users from the very beginning—from the moment they have their first idea of what they need. In terms of achieving the vision, I think it ultimately comes down to resourcing, building the right teams, and setting clear priorities.  

Some companies try to do too much at once or position themselves as one-stop shops, but I think this approach can dilute their focus. Instead, it’s essential to be the best at something, and our focus is user experience.

7. What are you doing that is good for the planet?

We have several internal initiatives focused on sustainability and responsible practices. For example, we’ve digitised all processes, and implemented a cycle-to-work scheme. We also offer volunteering days and environmentally friendly pension schemes.  

However, for me, the key impact lies in how we help our customers better manage ESG. This far outweighs anything we could do internally. Many of our customers, especially this year, are coming to us with a strong desire to improve their environmental and social impact but lack the systems or tools to do it effectively. 

To address this, we’ve built automated ESG assessments into our product. These allow our customers to evaluate their suppliers using scoring systems that can directly influence procurement decisions. For example, if two suppliers are similar in other aspects, but one is far better from an ESG perspective, that information can now be factored into the decision-making process thanks to Omnea. 

Interestingly, we’re seeing ESG considerations increasingly influence our customers’ procurement decisions, especially as reporting on these metrics has become a standard requirement.

INSTANT INSPIRATION 

1. What is your favourite book/blog? 

For my favourite non-business book, I’d go with The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It’s a story I often recommend to people, because it’s a great reminder to enjoy the journey, which is especially helpful when you’re facing tough challenges. 

For a business perspective, my current favorite is Amp It Up by Frank Slootman. 

2. Who is your favourite inspirational leader? 

This changes every year, but for now, I’m going to go with Frank Slootman. His focus on operational excellence and maintaining high standards is incredible. Everything is about execution. It’s a refreshing reminder that while business is really tough, it’s not rocket science. Too often, people overcomplicate things, but then someone like Frank comes along, speaks plainly, removes distractions, and achieves results that others can’t. I like the simplicity of that. 

3. What is your favourite piece of technology? 

The latest Apple AirPods. I can’t work with any background noise and their noise cancellation is incredible. 

4. What is your favourite cocktail or guilty pleasure? 

Favourite cocktail is Old Fashioned and guilty pleasure is spa days—try not to do both together.   

5. What is your favourite way to celebrate success? 

Big group holidays. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS 

1. Transforming Procurement’s Position: Procurement is often seen as an inefficient and cumbersome process. Companies in the industry are working to improve this perception by focusing on enhancing user experience and simplifying procurement processes, particularly through modern, intuitive tools.
2. The Importance of Intuitive User Experience: By prioritising user experience, organisations are seeing higher adoption rates and more effective engagement with procurement systems, leading to better spend visibility and more strategic decision-making.
3. Deep Specialisation vs. Broad Functionality: Many companies are shifting towards providing highly specialised, focused solutions in the procurement space, as opposed to offering one-stop-shop platforms with shallow functionality. 
4. Intelligent Automation and AI Integration: AI is being used to automate tasks, such as supplier management and approvals, and enhance decision-making with intelligent insights, thereby streamlining procurement processes and improving efficiency.
5. The Growing Influence of ESG in Procurement: Companies are focusing on integrating ESG considerations into their procurement processes, helping customers evaluate suppliers based on their sustainability and social responsibility practices.
6. The Shift Towards Procurement Orchestration: The industry is moving toward “procurement orchestration” rather than just basic procurement automation. This trend focuses on ensuring that procurement processes seamlessly connect with other enterprise systems like payments platforms, CLMs, and ERPs to deliver a more integrated and efficient experience.
7. Recruitment and Team Building as a Core Priority: Companies are prioritising hiring people who are passionate, dedicated, and committed to achieving long-term outcomes, even if they aren’t specifically passionate about procurement itself.

About Omnea

Omnea is bringing consumer-grade user experience to procurement. Underpinned by Omnea AI, their platform automates previously manual processes, orchestrates disparate systems, and provides each user with a personalised experience from Intake to renewal. Omnea is laser-focused on providing a seamless experience and enabling requesters, approvers, and process owners to focus on strategic work, not systems administration. 

Founded in 2022, and backed by Accel, First Round Capital and Point Nine, Omnea is one of the world’s fastest growing Procure Tech companies, and is trusted by businesses such as Spotify, Adecco, Deluxe Corporation, Hargreaves Lansdown, McAfee, and Reach. 

About ProcureTechSTARS  

ProcureTechSTARS are the digital procurement CEOs and Founders who are transforming procurement and the enterprise. In an open conversation with these leaders, Lance Younger discusses the highs and lows of building the future, the challenges they’ve faced, their perspective on the latest developments, and what motivates them.