BUILDING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE FUTURE
An Exclusive Interview with Martin Hayles, SVP of Global Alliances at JAGGAER
In today’s fast-evolving technology landscape, strategic alliances are more important than ever. As Senior Vice President of Global Alliances at JAGGAER, Martin Hayles is at the forefront of shaping the company’s partnership strategy to drive growth and innovation. With a wealth of experience in procurement, supply chain, and alliance management, Martin has navigated a diverse career path that has led him to lead JAGGAER’s Amplify Global Alliance Partner Program, a key initiative that has transformed the company’s global presence and approach to collaboration. In this cover story, Martin shares his unique journey, insights on building and managing global alliances, and the importance of strong, value-driven partnerships in shaping the future of procurement technology. Discover how JAGGAER is leveraging its alliance strategy to foster growth, innovation, and sustainability across industries.
Professional Journey
Can you share your career path leading up to your current role as Senior Vice President of Global Alliances at JAGGAER?
Like many procurement professionals, I didn’t set out, or have a specific desire, to work in this field—it just happened organically. Perhaps, you could say, procurement found me.
My procurement journey started in sales management. With a medical background, I became very adept at strategy selling to the New Zealand and Australian health sectors. The successes in the role led to an opportunity to move into the government side and eventually back to the UK, where I joined the Government Central Procurement Services Centre, the precursor to the Crown Commercial Service.
Through the procurement community in the UK and the connections I’d made over the years, I was presented the opportunity to design a new procurement operating model for BAE Systems. As part of that project, I on boarded and implemented a platform from a relatively new startup at the time called Coupa.
While deploying that software and collaborating closely with their leadership, I was asked to join the startup to design and build a new strategy and partner program. Fast forward nine years, and the strategy and alliances programs I’ve helped build for Coupa and Ariba are culminating in an incredible and unique program here at JAGGAER.
Amplify Global Alliance Partner Program
JAGGAER launched the Amplify Global Alliance Partner Program to enhance collaboration and growth. Could you elaborate on the program’s objectives and the impact it has had since its inception?
When I joined JAGGAER in 2021, the company had a few partner relationships, but these were primarily centred around services outsourcing. The board recognised that in order to scale and drive new business on a global level, as well as to achieve service excellence, they needed better partner collaboration. JAGGAER has an exceptional services function, and partners bring additional, dynamic skill sets to the value we provide, such as landscape design, change management, project governance, and, of course, customer reach.
I joined JAGGAER specifically to design, build, and scale a partner program from scratch. It’s not often you get the opportunity to create your own program in a greenfield environment. You can imagine the potential, the excitement, and the pride of building something so foundational to a growing organisation. The program has been hugely successful and has impacted every part of JAGGAER—from product, marketing, and sales to top-line strategy. We’ve grown to over 100 partners globally, experienced triple-digit percentage growth in sourced and co-sell activity, and in 2025, we’re launching some exciting partner programs in specific product areas to maximise both JAGGAER’s and our partners’ growth.
Right Partner - Right Deal
JAGGAER emphasises a “Right Partner - Right Deal” approach. How does this strategy influence your alliance-building efforts, and what benefits does it bring to both JAGGAER and its partners?
We maintain a strong balance between partners sourcing opportunities for JAGGAER and JAGGAER bringing in partners for value added opportunities. We recognise the significant impact that partners can have early in the sales cycle, as well as their contribution to project success. While it’s easy to add implementation partners to a deal cycle, not every partner fits every customer. So we need to take into account factors such as partner capacity, capability, sector knowledge, and customer preferences when deciding which partner to include on a specific opportunity.
To formalise this, my team created an internal multidisciplinary board that reviews every deal based on its merits, size, complexity, and sector. Together, we determine if a partner would add value to the customer, and if so, which partner would be the best fit. This approach allows us to identify gaps in our partner community, pinpoint where these gaps exist, and develop strategies to fill them—either by recruiting new partners or by expanding the experience within our existing partner community. This has been extremely effective in aligning our internal partner strategy with our stakeholders at JAGGAER.
Regional Partnerships in the USA
JAGGAER has a strong presence in the USA. How does the company tailor its alliance strategy to foster strong relationships within the US market, and what opportunities do you see for growth and innovation through these partnerships?
JAGGAER has a 30-year history of providing procurement tools to the US market, a presence that continues to grow today with JAGGAER One, our intelligent source-to-pay and supplier collaboration platform. Initially, JAGGAER focused heavily on serving Higher Education, and the early partnerships we had reflected this. However, over the past three years, we’ve expanded our partnerships to broader sectors, particularly in Manufacturing and other verticals with complex supply chains.
We’ve seen similar expansion in other regions, including Europe and MEA, where procurement organisations are increasingly growing into strategic value drivers for their companies. Our partners have strongly supported our growth and diversification in these markets, and as we’ve grown together, this approach has driven innovation across product development, marketing, and extended partnerships with adjacent technology providers.
Accelerating Procurement Impact:
The BearingPoint and JAGGAER Partnership in Industrial Manufacturing
Interview with Diego De la Garza, Supply Chain & Procurement Lead at BearingPoint USA
How has BearingPoint’s partnership with JAGGAER, particularly focusing on the Industrial Manufacturing sector, helped clients achieve quicker and more impactful results in their procurement processes, including savings capture, user adoption, and supplier integration?
Over the past few years BearingPoint and JAGGAER have built a global and synergistic alliance centered on the platform’s deep and expansive functionality, and value driven system integration delivery from BearingPoint that is supported by our global center of excellence that has emphasised procurement leading practices expertise for the Industrial Manufacturing sector. This surgical focus of our alliance has enabled our clients to capture a higher value in expedited fashion by deploying tailored functionality with bespoke implementations to provide full coverage of business requirements so to expedite true speed to value inclusive of savings capture, user adoption and supplier embracement.
Given BearingPoint’s collaboration with major technology suppliers like JAGGAER, how do you see this partnership evolving to address emerging challenges in the procurement landscape, and what innovative solutions are being developed to meet these challenges?
The next stage of our partnership will thrive by enabling the already existing and the upcoming AI capabilities with BearingPoint advisory and innovation hubs, which are designed to deliver solutions to clients that are unique in delivering strategic perspective with tactical applications. We are also creating artifacts and accelerators to clients to enable undisrupted connectivity across technical architecture to unleash the potential of the platform within our clients’ ecosystem bringing IT and Procurement closer.
We will also double down on client value capture via cost-take out initiatives that will be powered by JAGGAER’s advanced sourcing functionality and delivered by BearingPoint. The key differentiation to our alliance in the market is client value centric and our dedication to generate tangible outcomes that help them re-invest in their business to make them more competitive.
“BearingPoint is one of our premier SI partners, having worked with us for over five years. They are our strongest global partner in the Direct Materials space, and together we are driving a significant pipeline of enterprise opportunities within the manufacturing vertical. Their outstanding contributions to these efforts led to them being named our Global Partner of the Year for 2023, an honor awarded in June 2024.”
Martin Hayles SVP of
Global Aliances
Driving Procurement Transformation: The Strategic Partnership Between BearingPoint
and JAGGAER
By Ralf Dillmann, Partner and Global Procurement Consulting Lead at BearingPoint Europe
A Partnership Built on Shared Values
Our collaboration with JAGGAER is founded on a shared commitment to driving procurement excellence. JAGGAER’s comprehensive suite of solutions, particularly the JAGGAER One platform, seamlessly integrates with our strategic consulting capabilities to deliver end-to-end procurement transformations. Together, we help organisations navigate complex supply chains, mitigate risks, and achieve sustainability goals with measurable impact.
Transforming Procurement at Scale
A prime example of our successful partnership is the transformative journey with TK Elevator. By leveraging JAGGAER One’s advanced procurement platform and BearingPoint’s deep consulting expertise, we helped TK Elevator digitise its global procurement operations. From defining a global core model for Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) and Source-to-Contract (S2C) to enhancing Procure-to-Pay (P2P) processes, our joint efforts have streamlined operations, improved supplier collaboration, and elevated sustainability performance. Our role at BearingPoint goes beyond implementation. We work closely with clients to define strategic KPIs, ensure seamless data integration, and foster continuous improvement. This holistic approach not only enhances procurement efficiency but also supports long-term resilience and growth.
Driving Innovation Through Collaboration
The synergy between BearingPoint and JAGGAER lies in our ability to combine technology with strategic foresight. While JAGGAER provides the robust digital infrastructure, BearingPoint adds value through tailored consulting services that address unique business challenges. This collaborative model has proven effective across industries, from manufacturing to healthcare, where procurement leaders face increasing pressure to deliver cost savings, manage risks, and support ESG initiatives.
Adapting to Market Changes
In the face of evolving market dynamics, how does JAGGAER ensure its alliance strategies remain agile and responsive to industry shifts?
In this sector, there’s a high degree of movement and collaboration between partner leaders , alliances leaders, and sector experts. We form a tight-knit ecosystem, where professionals frequently collaborate between organisations. This constant strategising between partners and vendors keeps us well-attuned to industry changes and market shifts.
Working alongside our partners, rather than relying solely on direct sales, provides a faster and more effective feedback loop. We leverage these relationships to continuously monitor evolving agendas, buying trends, emerging technologies, and, in recent times, changes in compliance and regulations. To ensure we stay ahead, we meet with all our top partners on a quarterly basis to review market dynamics and assess how we can respond to shifts. More importantly, we focus on emerging news and trends. Given that most sales cycles in this segment last at least six to nine months, it’s essential to identify and measure new opportunities well in advance to remain competitive and agile.
Technology Integration in Partnerships:
How does JAGGAER collaborate with partners to integrate emerging technologies into your solutions, and what role do alliances play in driving innovation?
We are delivering a single platform augmented with best-of-breed 3rd-party technologies to meet the expanding needs of the procurement community. Over the past few years, I’ve observed a significant shift at conferences, with large single-solution booths being replaced by a host of smaller, API-connected solutions. From a customer standpoint, this evolution is a positive one, as it offers greater flexibility and choice.
However, this shift also makes it increasingly difficult to identify emerging solutions, choose the right partners, or even decide whether we should build something ourselves. The pace of innovation is so rapid and constantly changing that we need to review emerging technologies in groups, rather than individually, and assess their potential for integration. It’s essential that they connect seamlessly and deliver meaningful data or processes that solve customer problems while adding value to the JAGGAER One ecosystem.
Maximising Supply Chain Optimisation:
The Long-Standing Partnership Between RiseNow and JAGGAER
RiseNow and JAGGAER have a long-standing collaboration. Can you discuss how your partnership with JAGGAER enhances supply chain optimisation for clients, particularly through the JAGGAER platform and user optimisation?
It’s always been my vision as the founder and CEO of RiseNow to bring a truly differentiated level of care to our clients. As a 100% solution-agnostic organisation, we see it as our responsibility to recommend, implement, and optimise whatever solution best fits our client’s needs.
Over the years, we’ve worked with many great platforms and have seen Jaggaer work especially well with RiseNow clients who require highly configurable, end-to-end solutions, like in complex manufacturing, public sector, and higher ed. Jaggaer has a huge breadth of functionality. However, regardless of which platform an organisation chooses, the real challenge goes well beyond implementation – it’s ensuring that the technology is fully adopted and operationalised. Our role isn’t just to help implement, but to build the operating models, governance structures, and user adoption strategies that ensure our clients get full value from their tech investment. We’re proud of the work we’ve been able to accomplish alongside Jaggaer in this regard.
As JAGGAER’s first implementation partner, what has your experience been in aligning RiseNow’s services with JAGGAER’s solutions to drive value for customers? Can you share any key outcomes from this collaboration?
As a firm who has worked across source-to-pay and procurement technology providers, helping clients navigate solution selection, implementation, and optimisation, our knowledge and experience with Jaggaer is amongst our deepest. One specific area where we’ve driven tremendous joint success is in higher education, where Jaggaer has been widely adopted.
Higher ed procurement isn’t easy—too many disparate, decentralised systems, too many stakeholders, and too little visibility into spend. We’ve seen institutions struggle with decentralised purchasing, a lack of contract compliance, and outdated procurement processes that drain time and money.
It’s always such a pleasure to see the relief and excitement of our clients as they work closely with ours and Jaggaer’s team to cut complexity and solve problems instead of creating new ones.
Interview with Matt Stewart, CEO at RiseNow
With a focus on procurement transformation and operational optimisation, how does RiseNow help organisations maximise their investment in JAGGAER’s technology and achieve their business goals?
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention RiseTalent here – a unique apprenticeship program we just launched that trains and develops talented recent college graduates, career changers, veterans, and more to work within our clients as world-class system administrators, ensuring that the tech is always optimised and adapting to changing business environments.
The initiative is designed to give organisations access to onshore, US-based resources to sustain and optimise their procurement technology investments. Jaggaer’s entire client base should all have an easy way to continuously improve and refine their deployment, especially as we see new innovation with intake and orchestration, agentic procurement, and whatever else will undoubtedly come our way in the coming years!
Our number one focus is to provide the roadmap, governance, and talent strategy to ensure our clients see sustained success, not a one-time project.
Looking ahead, what role do you see RiseNow playing in the evolving supply chain optimisation landscape, particularly in light of JAGGAER’s continued advancements in digital transformation and automation?
Here’s the thing I wish people would remember more often: technology alone doesn’t drive transformation. It’s an incredible enabler, and we’re proud to have brought Jaggaer to so many environments over the years. But it’s how an organisation ties that technology to their desired business (not just procurement!) outcomes that determines true success.
There’s tension in the market right now between what will be automated, and what needs to be done by a human. Both are equally important, but in a world where the “old guard” is retiring, those who are mid-career are stepping up, and we’re seeing an influx of excited digital natives choosing procurement and supply chain as a career, I’m expecting an unpredictable and groundbreaking shift in how we think about “talent” (whether that talent is human or not)!
The future belongs to companies that move fast but with purpose, embrace new ways of working, and build procurement strategies that are as agile and forward-thinking as the businesses they support. The ones that see technology as an enabler, not a crutch, and surround it with the right people, processes, and structures to drive real results. I wake up every morning excited to bring this to life.
“RiseNow has been a strategic JAGGAER SI partner in North America for over 15 years, demonstrating deep expertise across numerous vertical markets. Over the past several years, they have been one of our leading partners, playing a key role in sourcing and winning several large enterprise opportunities.”
Martin Hayles SVP of
Global Aliances
Empowering Smarter Procurement and Sustainability:
The Strategic Partnership Between JAGGAER and carbmee
Interview with Prof. Christian Heinrich , Co-Founder at carbmee
Why is the partnership between JAGGAER and carbmee so crucial in today’s supply chain landscape, and how does it empower organisations to tackle both procurement challenges and sustainability goals effectively?
The JAGGAER and carbmee partnership is crucial because it integrates sustainability directly into procurement workflows, addressing the growing need for companies to balance cost efficiency with ESG commitments. Many organisations struggle with Scope 3 emissions visibility, making carbon reduction complex and fragmented. This partnership embeds carbon footprint tracking, risk assessment, and reduction planning into procurement, ensuring sustainability isn’t an afterthought but a core decision-making factor.
By leveraging carbmee’s EIS™ platform within JAGGAER’s sourcing module, companies can measure product and supplier emissions, set reduction targets, and align sourcing with net-zero strategies. This enables procurement teams to go beyond compliance and proactively mitigate supply chain emissions while maintaining efficiency.
This partnership empowers organisations to turn procurement into a sustainability driver, helping them meet regulatory demands, optimise supplier selection, and gain a competitive edge in an increasingly ESG-driven market.
How will the collaboration between JAGGAER and carbmee help both companies scale their impact, drive innovation, and improve outcomes for customers, especially in terms of integrating sustainability into procurement processes?
This collaboration enhances the JAGGAER One platform by integrating carbmee’s automated carbon tracking and ESG reporting, making sustainability an essential part of procurement. It allows both companies to scale their impact by embedding real-time emissions insights into sourcing decisions, giving customers the ability to assess Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions automatically.
For customers, this means moving from basic compliance reporting to data-driven carbon reduction strategies. By replacing manual assessments with automated supplier emissions tracking, risk scoring, and reduction planning, procurement teams can make smarter, sustainability-aligned decisions without added complexity.
Additionally, the partnership enables organisations to shift from price-based comparisons to Total Value of Ownership (TVO) analysis, ensuring every sourcing decision aligns with financial, environmental, and strategic business goals. This drives innovation in sustainable procurement, helping companies optimise supplier selection while accelerating their path to net zero.
The integration of ASO is a key aspect of this partnership. What makes this integration particularly unique, and how will it deliver significant value to JAGGAER’s customers in terms of calculating Risk Scores?
The Advanced Sourcing Optimizer (ASO) integration with carbmee’s EIS™ platform is unique because it brings real-time carbon impact visibility into procurement decisions. Unlike traditional systems that prioritise cost and quality, this integration enables automated sustainability risk assessment alongside financial and operational factors.
JAGGAER customers can now link supplier emissions data and product carbon footprints to assess environmental impact at every stage of sourcing. This allows procurement teams to identify high-risk suppliers, predict sustainability risks, and align sourcing with corporate ESG goals.
Additionally, contract management is streamlined, ensuring pre-defined sustainability clauses are applied automatically. Companies can now enforce carbon reduction commitments across all suppliers, reducing compliance risks.
By shifting from a cost-centric to a risk-adjusted sourcing model, JAGGAER customers can proactively mitigate supply chain disruptions, regulatory penalties, and reputational risks—all while ensuring their procurement strategy supports long-term sustainability goals.
Looking towards the future, what is your vision for the JAGGAER and carbmee partnership, and how do you see it evolving to further support organisations in their journey toward sustainability and smarter procurement decision-making?
The vision for this partnership is to create a seamless, intelligent procurement ecosystem where cost efficiency and sustainability are fully aligned. By continuously enhancing AI-driven predictive analytics, real-time carbon tracking, and automated ESG compliance, JAGGAER and carbmee will help organisations proactively reduce emissions before procurement decisions are made.
Future developments may include expanded Scope 3 collaboration tools, allowing businesses to work directly with suppliers to improve sustainability metrics and reduce overall carbon impact. Deeper automation will also enable real-time carbon impact forecasting, helping companies integrate netzero strategies directly into sourcing operations.
Ultimately, this partnership will transform procurement from a cost-driven function into a strategic enabler of sustainability, ensuring companies can achieve net-zero goals, optimise supply chain resilience, and maintain competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving market.
“Our partnership with carbmee represents a major step forward in helping our customers integrate ESG considerations seamlessly into their procurement strategies. By combining Jaggaer’s advanced sourcing capabilities with carbmee’s deep expertise in sustainability data, we are enabling businesses to make more informed, responsible decisions in an increasingly complex regulatory landscape.”
Martin Hayles SVP of Global Aliances
Challenges in Alliance Management
What are some common challenges you’ve encountered in managing global alliances, and how have you addressed them to maintain strong partner relationships?
The two biggest challenges in alliance management are relationships and value. Strong partner relationships are crucial—after all, you collaborate with people you like, respect, and who show reciprocity. A partnership is much like a marriage: there are good times, bad times, and some difficult conversations. However, the key is to partner for the long-term. A significant driver for successful partnerships is the value we both derive from the relationship, particularly when it comes to customer satisfaction, market perception, acquisition costs, and long-term investment in the partnership. When reciprocity and respect are present, and when we have aligned joint goals, the outcomes are usually positive.
One of the biggest challenges with a global alliance structure is maintaining consistent, meaningful contact with key people across different regions. Each partner has its own structure, silos, and practices, which can vary from country to country, even within the same partner. To address this, it’s crucial to separate the structure and adopt a regional approach while maintaining global relations where possible.
Although vendors may have a unified structure, many global partners are, in fact, regional organisations that happen to share a joint logo. This requires additional consideration to be managed effectively. While vendors tend to operate globally, most of our partner relationships are regional. This requires a tailored market approach, where agreed upon goals and executive alignment are handled regionally on the partner side, but stay global on the vendor side. Balancing this is essential for ensuring that reciprocity and governance work effectively.
Advice for Aspiring Alliance Leaders
What advice would you
offer to professionals aspiring to lead global alliances in the technology sector?
That’s a tough one, as I’m not sure many people intentionally choose this sector or aspire to work in it. Nearly everyone I’ve met has stumbled into it from other areas. If I were to pinpoint some specifics, I’d recommend gaining a varied set of experiences from roles in Sales, Marketing, Services, Procurement, or similar fields. Global Alliances is all about understanding relationships, strategy, value, and problem-solving. Learning these skills from different perspectives is essential when managing technology sector partnerships.
It’s less about the technical aspects of a technology. In fact, if you are particularly technical, I’d advise you to consider a different career path. What’s crucial is your ability to sell the vendor’s vision, articulate the value, and understand partner success. What value do you provide them? At the core, it’s all about relationships and value.
I was recently discussing partners with our Global Head of Customer Success, and as we talked through our respective roles, I realised we are almost mirror images of each other. The way you manage, strategise, and deliver customer success mirrors how you manage partner success. While the values and drivers may differ, a Customer Success Manager (CSM) role closely matches an Alliance Director role. The main difference lies in the strategic side, which highlights the skills and attitude required for modern alliance roles.
Key Priorities and Investments for JAGGAER in 2025
What are the key priorities and investments for JAGGAER in 2025?
JAGGAER is entering its 30th year of source-to-pay innovation and 2025 represents an opportunity for us to celebrate the achievements of our customers and partners. After all we are only as successful as these customers and partners, and our priorities for the year reflect a desire to showcase the incredible ways in which JAGGAER technologies help them accelerate business outcomes. For example, we’re excited to share the stories about the group of customers who have collectively saved hundreds of millions of dollars using JAGGAER’s Advance Sourcing Optimizer (ASO) to simplify highly complex sourcing events. REV2025, our annual customer experience that brings together source-topay experts, peers, partners and analysts—being held in Miami June 23-25—will showcase unique use cases like those of our ASO customers.
With regard to investment, I’ll highlight a particular focus in product. JAGGAER has been strategic about its implementation and embedding of AI-powered technologies with the purpose and intent of enhancing human decision making. In fact, the first AI-powered tools within the JAGGAER One platform date back to over ten years ago. Our investment priorities for 2025 will continue this tradition of innovation and help organisations to manage and automate complex processes while enabling their highly resilient, accountable, and integrated supplier base. We expect an exciting year ahead.
JAGGAER, established in 1995, is a global leader in procurement software solutions, offering an AI-powered, source-to-pay platform that enhances supplier collaboration and streamlines procurement processes. Serving diverse industries worldwide, JAGGAER focuses on innovation and customer success to drive efficiency and value in enterprise commerce.
Martin Hayles SVP of Global Aliances