Bristol Myers Squibb exec revamps procurement with AI and unified
Sharmita Srivastava leads the technology infrastructure for finance, procurement, and supply chain operations at Bristol Myers Squibb, coordinating systems across 48 markets and 12 manufacturing sites. Her work ensures operational choices align with patient care, a guiding principle in her strategy for enterprise-wide technology solutions.
Her professional journey began at a logistics firm in Calcutta, where she first worked with SAP systems. This initial experience set the foundation for two decades dedicated to enterprise technology and organizational change. Prior to joining BMS in 2023, she spent 15 years at Accenture, where she directed global teams through major technology upgrades. Her earlier consulting role with BMS also shaped her decision to take on a full-time position with the company.
At BMS, Srivastava has transformed finance and procurement systems from basic record-keeping tools into active decision-support platforms. The primary difficulty, according to her, lies in reconciling operational speed with strict compliance requirements—every modification must remain fully traceable from implementation. Rather than enforcing rigid standardization, her designs accommodate regional regulations, supplier networks, and plant-specific workflows while maintaining a cohesive system architecture.
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A major initiative under her leadership streamlined procurement by eliminating redundant approval steps and centralizing data into a unified platform. In 2025, BMS introduced an AI-enhanced layer for invoice processing, supplier risk evaluation, and exception management. These improvements led to 70% of invoices being handled automatically, while procurement approval times were cut by 50%. The success of these automated processes depends critically on data accuracy, flaws in supplier or order information would undermine any workflow optimization.
One of her most significant accomplishments was merging Celgene’s financial operations into BMS’s systems following the $70 billion acquisition. The integration required combining Celgene’s Oracle-based environment with BMS’s SAP infrastructure while standardizing business processes across the newly unified organization.
Looking ahead, BMS is migrating its SAP S/4HANA systems to the cloud-based SAP RISE platform, with AI integrated across finance, supply chain, and procurement functions. Initial trials show tools like SAP’s Joule copilot enabling warehouse staff to interact with data through natural language queries, a capability previously restricted to specialized analysts. Over the next 12–18 months, Srivastava will roll out AI-enhanced procurement tools and fully automated invoice processing worldwide, targeting a “perpetual close” financial model where reporting operates in real time.
