With inflows into environmental, social and governance products hitting 140% in 2020, investors are increasingly scrutinizing these factors when looking for growth opportunities as socially responsible investing continues to gain steam.

Translating data to meaningful insights plays an instrumental role in driving visibility into the entire supply chain, making the realization of ESG objectives easier, according to Toby Yu (pictured), managing director at KPMG LLP.

“When you think about ESG, I think you’ve got to be very data-driven … so that should be a priority focus of how do you retool yourself to be able to acquire mass amounts of data,” Yu explained. “I think that’s why it’s so important to be able to have a platform like Coupa to be able to gather that data; acquire external sources of data, such as ESG-related data; and make that available to all parties and be that source of truth so that you can drive the behavior.”

Yu spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Lisa Martin during the Coupa Inspire event, an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the KPMG-Coupa Software Inc. partnership and how data-driven strategies transform the supply chain and make ESG objectives a reality. (* Disclosure below.)

The outward-in approach

Talking to suppliers, internal business partners, and employees makes understanding the supply chain process easier, according to Yu.

“Take an outward-in approach as you’re thinking about your new strategy … focus on what your employees are saying about your supply chain,” Yu advised.  

In the post-pandemic era, Yu believes it has become more pressing to revamp operating models with data to drive the spend and make accountability distributed.

“In the commercial world, in many cases, you have to influence the buying behavior, and you can’t do that without data,” he added.

With technology driving business, the IT and business alignment cannot be separated.

“The new folks coming out of college have to have that skillset, because process and technology are completely linked,” Yu stated. “I think organizations of the future and the most successful ones will know how to actually be more human-centric and be able to harness the data through technologies.”

To solve the new challenges of tomorrow, Yu believes the KPMG-Coupa partnership is a stepping stone toward more innovations.

“They offer a platform to get access to the data and simplify it for our clients so that they can focus on the relationships and drive the collaboration with their suppliers,” Yu stated.

The CPO role is becoming more strategic because it acts as a transformation change agent, Yu added.

“The regulatory environment, consumer behavior and investor community are driving towards ESG,” he said. “As a result, the CPO’s role in that equation is ever so important when it comes to delivering and operationalizing ESG.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Coupa Inspire event.

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Coupa Inspire event. Neither Coupa Software Inc., the sponsor for theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE