Pratik Patel

Since joining Mastercard in 2018, Pratik Patel has built an SOW program around the three pillars of transparency, decency and respect. The program is centralized around one MSP and one VMS to drive global consistency, standardization and elimination of waste in the category management of the spend to drive better, faster and cheaper execution aligned to Mastercard labor needs for people that require system/badge access.  

Before Mastercard, Patel honed his expertise in procurement during a 13-year career at Energizer. “That taught me how to manage relationships and how to negotiate,” he says.

Relationship building at Mastercard remains one of his top priorities. “It’s about understanding our business, our suppliers and our labor force, including how can I help drive value for them,” he explains.

A repeat CW Program Game Changer, Patel has focused on minimizing data variability for the last three years. He created a centralized rate card system, standardized a capability matrix to assess supplier risk and built a method of 16 triggers evaluated for the optimization of Mastercard’s supply base. Waste is present in every process, but Patel is focused on eliminating waste in all facets of the execution of labor and rightsizing the supplier base to minimize activities associated with maintaining a supplier in a company system. He continues to focus on enabling increased data predictability to help manage a contingent workforce program.

Considering Patel’s focus on the human dimension of work, it is little surprise that this lifelong learner recently received a certification in artificial intelligence and machine learning. “I’m fascinated by understanding how you apply the technology — the ethics and governance,” he says.