Procurement is entering a new operating era. AI is no longer a future trend or isolated experiment. It is fundamentally reshaping how organizations buy, collaborate, make decisions, and operate at scale. That’s why the theme of DPW New York 2026 is: RECODE
Not because it needed to be bigger. Because it needed to work better.
Over the past few years, procurement has changed faster than the traditional conference model around it.
AI has moved from experimentation to implementation. Technology stacks have become more complex. Procurement leaders are being asked to make bigger decisions, faster, with more scrutiny from the business.
Yet many events still work the same way.
Hundreds of people sit in rows. Speakers talk. Vendors demo. Attendees collect notes, scan booths, have a handful of conversations and go home with a long list of things to follow up on.
We wanted DPW Amsterdam 2026 to do something different.
So we took the event apart and asked one question:
What would make two days in Amsterdam genuinely more useful for the people making procurement’s biggest decisions?
The answer wasn’t more content.
It wasn’t more booths.
And it wasn’t more people for the sake of scale.
It was getting attendees closer to what works, closer to the technology and closer to the people who can help them make better decisions.
Get closer to what works
The most useful learning rarely happens when someone is simply talking at you.
It happens when you can ask the question the speaker didn’t answer.
When you can challenge the case study.
When you can compare what you’re hearing with someone dealing with the same problem.
That’s why DPW Amsterdam 2026 will include more intimate formats, more roundtables, hands-on workshops and a new Podcast Stage designed to bring people closer to the conversations.
The goal is simple:
Less sitting and listening. More questioning, testing and doing.
Get closer to the technology
Procurement leaders don’t need more access to technology.
They need more clarity about which technologies actually deserve their attention.
This year, DPW Amsterdam will bring together 150+ technology solutions, but we’ve redesigned the experience around deeper discovery.
Immersive tech activations have grown from 7 to 22. Technology companies will run live demos, customer conversations and longer-form sessions inside immersive spaces across the venue.
The startup experience and Pitch Arena have also been redesigned to make emerging technologies easier to discover and compare.
The shift is from technology exhibition to technology evaluation.
Get closer to the right people
As an event grows, networking can become harder.
More people does not automatically mean more useful conversations.
So we’ve redesigned more of the event around making the right conversations easier to find.
Longer breaks. More roundtables. A central meeting area. Smaller formats. More intentional matchmaking. More informal social environments.
The objective isn’t to leave Amsterdam having met the most people.
It’s to leave having met the right people.
The real reason we changed it
New stages, formats and experiences are not the end goal.
They are the mechanism.
For a CPO, the real value is leaving with greater confidence about where procurement should go next.
For a Head of Digital Procurement, it is leaving with a stronger view of how to get there.
That is ultimately what DPW Amsterdam 2026 is being designed around.
About DPW
DPW Amsterdam is the world’s most influential event for procurement and supply chain innovation. Each year, it unites startups, enterprises, investors, and thought leaders to define the future of procurement technology. To learn more about our mission and upcoming events, visit www.dpw.ai.
