Inside Zip: Rudy Batts thinks buying should be simple

Every company hits the moment when procurement needs a full-time owner. We'll admit the irony: the company pioneering AI procurement orchestration software has been running its own purchasing without a dedicated procurement team. That changes now.

Rudy Batts has joined Zip as our first Head of Procurement, coming over from Canva, where he led global spend. He's spent his career on the practitioner side of the table, and was one of Zip's earliest and most vocal champions at his own company. Now he's here to run procurement at Zip, on Zip.

We asked Rudy about the path that brought him here, what stood out the first time he saw the product, and why he thinks AI Superagents are the biggest shift procurement has seen in decades.

Meet Rudy Batts

Role: Head of Procurement at Zip

Former top role: Head of Global Spend at Canva

What brought you into the world of procurement?

A professor in college recommended I pursue a procurement opportunity at Intel. That was the role that set the direction for everything that followed.

What inspired you to join Zip?

I believe buying should be simple. Zip makes that possible by creating a transparent, AI-powered buying experience that's easy for employees while giving procurement teams the visibility and control they need.

Zip was the first company I saw that truly reimagined how people engage with procurement. Instead of asking employees to navigate complex processes, Zip meets them where they are and makes buying feel effortless. After spending my career on the practitioner side, I wanted to help build the future I always believed procurement could become.

What was your reaction the first time you encountered Zip?

My first thought was, "Finally, someone is rethinking how procurement should work." I hadn't seen a product tackle the operational challenges of procurement in such a thoughtful and refreshing way. Zip clearly set out to build an entirely better experience for employees and procurement teams alike, rather than digitize old processes.

What are some of the problems in procurement you believe Zip helps solve?

What I love is that Zip makes doing the right thing the easy thing.

Employees don't have to figure out the procurement process; they just tell Zip what they need. Behind the scenes, procurement gets better visibility, stronger compliance, and faster workflows, so the team can spend more time solving business problems instead of managing processes.

What are you most excited about in the next era of procurement?

AI Superagents. We're moving beyond copilots to intelligent agents that can execute routine procurement tasks, surface insights proactively, and free procurement professionals to spend more time on supplier strategy, risk management, and creating business value. I believe this will be the biggest transformation our function has seen in decades.

What advice can you give for those seeking digital transformation?

Don't digitize a broken process. Take the opportunity to rethink it. Too many companies move old headaches into new software. The biggest wins come from simplifying the experience first and letting the technology amplify that.

What's your favorite Zip feature?

The seasonal animations. Who says procurement software can't be fun?

Ready to work with us?

Find out how Zip can transform your procurement processes. Connect with our team to learn more.