Anaplan is a SaaS platform of business planning that uses integrated Artificial Intelligence to help organizations connect strategy with execution in critical areas such as finance, supply chain, sales and human resources. Its main value is in offering large companies a tool to plan, model scenarios, analyze data in real time and make collaborative decisions, with flexibility and agility above classic planning systems and traditional ERPs.
On October 7, Anaplan celebrated its Connect Madrid 2025an event where it showed the advantages of its scenario planning and analysis platform and also delivered its first Customer Success Award a Repsol already Importaco. During the day we had the opportunity to speak with Michele CuminRVP Sales Iberia & Italy from Anaplan, who has a long history in the technology sector in companies such as Gartner or Salesforce, on the present and future of intelligent planning.
(MCPRO) How is the demand for planning solutions evolving in the Spanish market?
(Michele Cumin) Customer attention is increasing and the market is growing. Although we are not yet leaders in Spain, we have managed to get important companies to choose us for international references and, essentially, for the quality of our technology. Now, with a local team and support, and an ecosystem of about 15 partners, we are on the path to growth.
(MCPRO) And your presence in Spain in the last two years, how has it been?
(Michele Cumin) The great evolution has been opening our subsidiary in Spain, with a team in Madrid and Barcelona. We already have about fifteen people between sales, pre-sales, marketing and partner management, and we are growing with Portugal under our orbit. The objective for 2026 is to double the workforce in commercial, pre-sales and customer success roles, since we develop projects mainly with partners. This way we maintain a light organization but with maximum capacity for adaptation and support, while the ecosystem grows at an accelerated pace.
(MCPRO) What are the types of partners that trust Anaplan and what role do they play in the Spanish ecosystem?
(Michele Cumin) We work with large global consulting firms such as Accenture, KPMG, PwC or Deloitte, and with local partners and specialized companies such as Keyrus, Spaulding Ridge, SDG Group, Valantic or Bedford Consulting, as well as other organizations such as Capgemini, Onehive, Seidor, MIC Analytics, NTT Data or Calisto Consulting. All of them have a team in Spain and provide sectoral knowledge and development capacity.
(MCPRO) What differences do you see between the planning needs of Spanish and European companies?
(Michele Cumin) The Spanish business fabric has a key peculiarity: very large companies are global, such as Inditex or Repsol, and then there are many SMEs, but fewer intermediate-sized companies compared to markets like Italy. The planning challenges, however, are universal: anticipate changes in the market, plan in detail and react with agility. Companies capable of planning down to detail usually achieve a competitive advantage.
(MCPRO) What are the most active sectors in adopting Anaplan solutions?
(Michele Cumin) We see strong traction in retail, consumer goods and manufacturing, where tight margins and the supply chain are vital. Financial services and insurance use our technology for scenario management and regulatory compliance. An example is the project with IFRS 17 in European insurers, where we help coordinate risk analysis, investment and sales teams in complex regulated scenarios.
(MCPRO) How does Anaplan help manage supply chain volatility?
(Michele Cumin) Our solution allows you to simulate complex scenarios. For example, if a company must decide whether to take on a large order, what profitability it would have depending on its own supplies and those of each supplier, how it would affect other orders, what penalties it will have, etc. These simulations include all stakeholders and allow decisions to be made with data on the table, quickly evaluating risks and opportunities. Before, a change of this type was opaque and slow; Now informed decisions are made in real time.
(MCPRO) What strategies differentiate you from large competitors with roots in ERP or traditional consulting?
(Michele Cumin) Ours is a true planning platform, not an extension of an ERP or a hybrid tool. Many clients with leading ERPs stick with our solutions because they don’t find that flexibility and depth in other systems. The same occurs with respect to platforms born from financial consolidation. Anaplan has been expressly designed for connected planning, and that is where it makes the difference. That is why both large accounts with established infrastructure and companies that seek to innovate in decision making choose us.
(MCPRO) What role do technological integrations play? Does this represent a barrier for SMEs?
(Michele Cumin) It depends on the case. The initial integration cost usually exceeds that of the license, but once done it is a “one shot”; Subsequently, the maintenance cost is minimal. For SMEs with less than 100 million in turnover, we justify the use if there is a very powerful or specific planning case; For larger companies, the efficiency and control they achieve with our solutions more than makes up for it. Our challenge is to facilitate fast and flexible implementations.
(MCPRO) How have you integrated AI into the platform? What about autonomous agents and generative models?
(Michele Cumin) We start with what we call co-planner: virtual assistants that respond with natural language to user questions and analyze situations (for example, comparing sales by countries and periods). We are now launching the co-modeler, which allows users and partners to create custom models on the fly, accelerating deployment and reducing dependence on external integrations. Our models are formed with real planning experience and each client’s data is used to increasingly refine the system, without mixing it between companies. The autonomy of the client and the partner is a priority: hence our commitment to the certification of specialists and the training portal.
Regarding autonomous agents, we see that the total leap requires trust and technological maturity, especially in critical areas such as financial planning, where human supervision remains essential due to the inherent risk.
(MCPRO) What are Anaplan’s objectives in Spain for the next two years?
(Michele Cumin) Our challenge is that all large Spanish companies can benefit from a planning platform similar to what already happens in France or the United Kingdom. Spain’s potential is enormous, but until now we were underrepresented. We want the country’s companies to have the same competitive weapons in planning and, in this way, be able to compete globally. There is a long way to go, but organic growth and local investment will allow us to make that leap of magnitude.
