I n many large organisations , the sourcing and procurement function is often overlooked . At Zurich Insurance , however , sourcing and procurement is becoming a driving force for innovation , customer value and sustainability , while playing a key role in enabling the business to fulfil its strategic objectives . When Jaime Paiva , Regional Head of Sourcing and Procurement EMEA , first joined Zurich in 2012 , the company was in the midst of outsourcing its procurement function . He explains : “ The retained procurement organisation was down-sized and predominantly responsible for managing the service delivery from our BPO partner . The model with the BPO was based on the services being delivered out of hubs and so we lost the proximity to our internal stakeholders .”