Procurement leaders are ready to RECODE, and they're showing up in force. DPW Amsterdam 2026, taking place September 30 to October 1 at RAI Amsterdam, is sold out, with 2,200+ attendees from 50+ countries, including a record 100+ CPOs, more than five times the size of DPW's 2019 debut. The full house signals that procurement has moved from experimenting to executing, with expert-led Guided Tech Safaris, matchmaking technology and the first-ever Influencer of the Year award, to be revealed live at today's DPW Awards.
AMSTERDAM, Oct. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- DPW Amsterdam 2026 is underway today at RAI Amsterdam, a sold out event bringing together more than 2,200 procurement and supply chain leaders from 50+ countries and 35+ industries for two days of packed stages, a busy Expo Hall, technology showcases and a constant flow of meetings and conversations.
The scale of this year's event marks a striking moment for DPW founder Matthias Gutzmann, who remembers a very different DPW just seven years ago.
"I still remember my sister working behind the registration desk because I didn't have the money to hire anyone. And today… 2,200 people here at the RAI."
When DPW launched in 2019, it attracted 400+ industry leaders from 33 countries. Today, the event is more than five times that size.
This isn't simply a bigger DPW. It is a rebuilt one.
The move to RAI Amsterdam has created room for more immersive technology experiences, more intimate formats and more intentional networking — all built around this year's theme: RECODE.
A FULL HOUSE FROM THE START
The event opened Wednesday with pianist Iris Hond, a live band, dancers, a harpist and host Terrance Lamonte Jr. setting the pace before attendees moved into a full program of keynotes, discussions, demonstrations, pitches and interactive sessions.
Center Stage was packed throughout Day 1, with senior procurement leaders and major industry voices tackling the questions defining the AI era — from former Genpact President and CEO Tiger Tyagarajan's opening keynote on building the AI blueprint for the next decade, to Siemens CPO Klaus Staubitzer's candid look at the "good, bad and ugly" of recoding an enterprise operating model, McKinsey's Theano Liakopoulou on turning procurement into a strategic control tower, and John Deere's Gia Duke on using agentic AI across sourcing and supply chain workflows.
Today, the program continues with sessions covering everything from AI investment decisions and scalable transformation to procurement's role on the CFO agenda and the next generation of procurement talent.
The event will culminate today with the DPW Awards, recognizing the startups, corporate teams and individuals shaping the future of procurement and supply chain. Winners will be revealed live across four categories. The Early Stage and Growth Stage Awards honor procurement and supply chain tech startups and scaleups. The Digital Innovation Award recognizes corporate teams using AI and technology to drive measurable transformation. And Influencer of the Year, a first for DPW, celebrates the thought leaders shaping the conversation, from content creators to CPOs who make their mark online and on stage. Finalists were selected by an independent panel of CPOs, investors, analysts, founders and industry experts. The closing session promises a high-energy finish to an event that's already delivered plenty of it.
WHERE THE CONVERSATIONS ARE HAPPENING
The Expo Hall has been in constant motion, with attendees moving between more than 150 solutions across 10 technology domains and 100+ startups.
Guided Tech Safaris are taking small groups of attendees straight into the technology. Each safari is a curated, expert-led walk through the Expo Hall, built around a specific theme, that stops at the solutions and founders most relevant to it. At each stop, a corporate customer talks through how the solution works in practice, giving attendees the chance to hear from, and question, the people actually using it. The experience has been deliberately redesigned around evaluation rather than simply exhibition, with immersive activations, live demonstrations and opportunities to challenge the claims being made.
And networking has been designed with the same principle in mind.
DPW's matchmaking technology helps attendees find relevant people based on what they're looking to achieve, then connect and book meetings through the event app. The goal isn't simply to meet more people. It's to make it easier to find the right people — whether that's someone facing the same procurement challenge, evaluating a similar technology or able to help move an initiative forward.
Longer breaks, a central meeting area and more intimate formats are keeping those conversations going well beyond the scheduled sessions.
WHY THE ROOM IS FULL
The audience in Amsterdam reflects a procurement industry at a point of transition.
Alongside 100+ CPOs, a DPW record, the event has brought together procurement practitioners, technology leaders, founders, investors and 150+ future leaders under 30. More than 500 global companies are represented, alongside 100+ startups and 80+ startup founders.
For Gutzmann, the significance of the crowd goes beyond attendance. "A full house isn't a vanity metric. It's a signal," said Gutzmann. "Procurement leaders are done piloting. They're ready to rebuild, and they came here to do it in person."
That is the thinking behind RECODE.
DPW's 2026 theme is built around a simple reality: AI is no longer the story. Execution is. The question now is how procurement organizations redesign work, decision-making and the relationship between people and intelligent systems to create meaningful results.
As DPW puts it: It's time to redesign how procurement and supply chain really work.
AND THE ENERGY DOESN'T STOP AT THE EXPO HALL
Eleven side events are bringing attendees together across Amsterdam, from a padel open and a founders' canal cruise to a bowling social and a Michelin Guide dinner. The week kicked off Tuesday evening with DPW's iconic opening party at StrandZuid, and the after party later today will close it out, continuing a tradition that has become a defining part of the DPW experience: packed rooms, informal conversations and plenty of energy once the conference floor closes.
Because the value of an event like this isn't only what happens on stage.
It's the conversation that starts between sessions. The introduction that turns into a meeting. The founder who demonstrates a technology in person. The CPO who shares what actually happened after the pilot. The unexpected connection that turns out to be exactly the right one.
And with more than 2,200 people in the building, there are plenty of those conversations happening right now.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 2,200+ attendees
- 50+ countries
- 35+ industries
- 500+ global companies
- Record number of CPOs attending
- 100+ startups
- 80+ startup founders
- 150+ solutions across 10 technology domains
- 150+ future leaders under 30
- 100+ speakers
- 100+ sessions
- 6 Tech Safaris
- 11 side events, including 2 iconic parties
ABOUT DPW
DPW is the global tech ecosystem for procurement and supply chain. As the superconnectors of the industry, its flagship events, DPW Amsterdam and DPW New York, bring together the full value chain — including startups, technology leaders, enterprises, investors and procurement practitioners.
Through its events and broader ecosystem, DPW connects leaders with the people, technologies and real-world evidence they need to challenge assumptions, validate what works and move forward with greater confidence.
Founded in 2019, DPW has grown from its first event of 400+ industry leaders from 33 countries into a global platform for procurement and supply chain innovation.
Media Contact
Laura Garcia, DPW, 1 3657373343, [email protected], https://www.dpw.ai/
SOURCE DPW
Share this article