Zip Community Spotlight: Daniel Calderon, Procurement Lead at Cedar

Procurement Lead @ Cedar

About Daniel: Please meet one of the founding members of the Zip Community: Daniel Calderon! Daniel currently leads procurement at Cedar and brings a rich international background to the role, having lived in Colombia, Paris, and now New York. We sat down with Daniel to learn more about his unique journey into procurement.

What first led you into procurement? Like any procurement role, I didn’t find procurement; it found me! I studied industrial engineering in Colombia, and during my internship at a soap factory, I met a guy who was the buyer for the company. He’d travel to Italy and Europe to source secondhand machines. I was like: that’s the job I want. You needed to understand engineering, but you weren’t stuck inside a factory all day, which I hated. That moment stuck with me.

Later, I got a scholarship to study in France and found one of the top master’s programs in procurement. That’s what set me on this path. My first role was with L'Oreal in Paris, and I was buying raw materials for cosmetics. I knew straight away I was in the right career.

What is an interesting trend or challenge you are currently thinking through in your role? This week, I attended both Zip’s AI Summit and DPW, and the key takeaway from the conferences (especially around AI) is how technology is reshaping what we do. I’ve been thinking a lot about how to use that to elevate the function. You can spend all your time in the weeds, doing operational stuff, or you can figure out how to 10x or even 100x your value by leveraging these tools.

Someone at DPW said, "The future procurement org is one person with an army of agents." That really stuck with me. It’s about replacing yourself with AI, not in a bad way, but so you can create a new job for yourself that didn’t exist before. That’s the mindset shift I’m working on.

What is the best career advice you have ever received? Don’t take it too seriously. That came from a past boss, and it really stuck with me. I’ve never been one for five-year plans. I tend to follow my curiosity and stay open to what’s in front of me. A great example? This past week, going to DPW wasn’t on my radar until I went to the AI Summit, and it turned into one of the most valuable things I’ve done recently. You have to leave space for unexpected things to happen.

Outside of work, what is your hobby or passion that brings you joy? Art and creativity. I love visiting galleries, watching great films, reading, writing, anything that taps into my creative side. I used to see my job as my entire identity, and now I don’t. I love what I do, but it’s not all of who I am. That shift has helped me find a healthier relationship with work.

What about the Zip community are you most excited to explore as it develops? I’m a solo procurement leader. I don’t have a team; I report to a controller who trusts me to run procurement. It’s great in terms of independence, but it can also be lonely. What excites me most is connecting with other procurement people and speaking the same language. When I was at DPW, that’s what I appreciated the most, just having conversations without an agenda. That’s when interesting things emerge.