Michael van Keulen joins Omnea as CPO in Residence
Former Coupa procurement chief Michael van Keulen will advise Omnea on product strategy and customer transformation work.
By Colin Brandt · Enterprise Reporter
· 3 min read
Omnea has appointed former Coupa executive Michael van Keulen as CPO in Residence, giving the procurement software company an operator with nearly three decades of finance, procurement and enterprise-transformation experience. The August 4 announcement matters for Omnea’s product and customer work: van Keulen is set to contribute to its product strategy and roadmap while helping customers with procurement transformations.
The appointment does not make van Keulen Omnea’s chief procurement officer. CPO in Residence is the title announced by the company, and the release did not disclose compensation.
Van Keulen’s background spans procurement roles inside large consumer businesses and advisory work at an established procurement technology provider. He helped establish the procurement function at VF Corporation, whose brands include The North Face, Timberland and Vans, before becoming head of procurement at Lululemon. He subsequently spent five years at Coupa, initially as chief procurement officer and later as practice leader, advising large organizations on procurement transformation and digital strategy.
What will Michael van Keulen do as Omnea’s CPO in Residence?
His stated remit is to apply his procurement experience to Omnea’s product strategy and roadmap, and to guide customers through procurement transformations. That combines an internal product role with customer-facing work, rather than assigning a conventional executive procurement title.
Van Keulen said he had sought a role focused on customers and end-to-end process transformation. He also framed AI as an opportunity to change how procurement software works, criticizing what he described as products with similar underlying architectures and improved interfaces.
Omnea describes its AI-native procurement platform as an agentic operating system for procurement and supplier management. The company says the product connects corporate systems, automates workflows, and gives people and software agents a shared place to manage suppliers and spending.
Growth figures reported alongside the appointment
Alongside the hire, Omnea reported that its revenue tripled in the 12 months through June 2026, marking its third consecutive year of growth above three times. It did not provide an underlying revenue figure, valuation or total employee count in the release.
The company also reported 64% global headcount growth in the first half of 2026 and 250% expansion of its New York team. Omnea said PayPal, Just Eat and T. Rowe Price selected its platform during that period.
Founded in London, Omnea reports offices in New York City and more than $75 million raised from Insight Partners, Khosla Ventures and Accel. The company’s announcement identifies Ben Freeman as its founder and chief executive.
The hire puts a former procurement leader with experience at both operating companies and Coupa into a role intended to inform Omnea’s roadmap and customer work. The release does not set out specific product changes or a timetable tied to van Keulen’s appointment.
