Exploring the Human Side of e-Invoicing: Ellen Leith on the “E-Invoicing Pulse”
This year’s Comarch User Group (CUG26) brought together e‑invoicing professionals from around 40 countries in Kraków – a fitting backdrop for a week of expert insight and forward‑looking conversation. Among the many voices we caught up with was Ellen Leith, CEO and Founder of the Purchase to Pay Network (PPN), who joined us for a quick interview. 👥
For Ellen, e‑invoicing’s progress doesn’t make the human side of the job any less important – if anything, the opposite. “You can never really replace human curiosity, insight, and empathy,” she says of working alongside AI.
The same balance shows up in how she thinks about running e‑invoicing across multiple markets. She values standardized, HQ-led processes for their visibility but warns against ignoring local differences, calling it “a dangerous position to be in”. Her advice is to find a flexible partner to handle country-specific mandates rather than attempting to track all regulations alone. 🧭
That similar appreciation for people carried over into her time at CUG26. With roughly 40 countries represented, she saw the event less as a showcase of technology and more as proof of how far it’s spread – and, in her words, simply meeting the people behind it is often the best part of being there.
🎥 Watch the episode to hear Ellen’s full thoughts on mandatory e‑invoicing, her honest first reaction to the idea years ago, and her verdict on whether a PDF counts as a real e‑invoice.
