Joseph DeMarco - Chief Procurement Officer at ABM Industries | Real Leadership

What does it really take to turn procurement from “the department that says no” into a genuine strategic partner?

In this episode, Jim sits down with Joseph DeMarco, Chief Procurement Officer at ABM Industries, one of the largest integrated facility services companies in the world. ABM keeps airports, hospitals, stadiums, warehouses, and office towers running behind the scenes, self-performing 70-85% of the work for more than 20,000 clients, including 57% of the Fortune 500.

Joseph leads a team responsible for more than $1 billion in annual spend, and since joining ABM in 2023, he's driven a transformation that's organizational, technological, and — in his words — above all relational.

Joseph's path to the role wound through Allstate, Zebra Technologies, Baxter, and Stericycle, where he rose to Vice President of Global Sourcing and Procurement before ABM came calling with a strikingly similar mandate: build a center-led, world-class procurement function from the ground up.

What makes this conversation stand out is how candidly Joseph talks about the moments that shaped him — including a stretch early in his career when a demanding new boss made him question everything, until a friend's blunt advice pushed him to develop one of his most valuable skills. Joseph also unpacks his “invisible ledger” philosophy, drawn from Stephen Covey's concept of the emotional bank account, and how it governs the way he builds trust with stakeholders and suppliers alike.

In this episode, we cover:

ABM's scale, and how a facility services company that self-performs the majority of its work operates differently from a typical vendor

The Elevate strategy, and how ABM is using technology and data to transform a business with 115 years of experience

What it means to build a “center-led” procurement organization, and why it depends more on relationships than policy

The “invisible ledger” concept, and how making deposits in trust pays off months later

The Kraljic Matrix, and how understanding supplier leverage shapes negotiation strategy

How to align incentives when operations and procurement seem to be pulling in different directions