Meet the speakers – Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE event

From April 27-28, the world’s largest companies will convene at Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE, a two-day event taking place at London’s historic Tobacco Dock and virtually.

The event will also be broadcast live via a fully interactive virtual platform so you can tap into keynote sessions and panels delivered by leading executives from across the world – from Sweden to Malaysia, Germany to the US – giving you the opportunity to network, share ideas, and soak up actionable and unique insights to further your business.

This two-day event, organised by BizClik Media Group, publishers of Business Chief, Supply Chain Digital Magazine and Procurement Magazine, follows the highly successful inaugural Procurement & Supply Chain Live event last September, which brought together hundreds of supply chain and procurement leaders from the world’s leading companies – Oracle, Shell, UK Parliament, Vodafone, Lufthansa, Santander and Amazon, among many others – to discuss the future of the industry.  

And the upcoming two-day in-person and virtual event promises to do the same, but with even more attendees, 1,000+, and speakers expected.

Join supply chain and procurement leaders and 70+ keynote speakers as they tackle supply chain and procurement challenges head-on and gain industry insights from multiple industries with different applications, from operations and supplier management to cybersecurity and sustainability.

Sessions will be held simultaneously across four stages (two in person, two virtual) with a number of roundtables and panels addressing the hottest topics in supply chain. As well as being streamed live, these sessions will also be available for registered attendees to watch on-demand.

The main theme for this second event will focus on risk and resilience and will address everything from digital procurement and transformation to supply chain sustainability, supplier and contract management and digital ecosystems.

"Now more than ever, procurement and supply chain are in the spotlight,” says Scott Birch, Chief Content Officer, BizClik Media Group. "From pandemic pressures to container ship congestion, geopolitical uncertainties to food and energy security – it’s a world full of risk…. but also, resilience. Leading organisations and executives have found a way, through innovation, perseverance, and flexibility."

Risk and resilience is main theme

The main theme for this second event will focus on risk and resilience and the future of the industry, with keynotes, panels and fireside chats addressing everything from digital procurement and transformation to supply chain sustainability, and supplier and contract management to talent attraction and retention.

Discover from technology and consulting firms how technologies are being leveraged to manage supply chain challenges and disruptions and from public and private sector organisations, including the NHS and Nestle, on how technology has helped enabled their supply chains to be more agile and resilient.

Discover how Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust was able to de-risk its supply chain and how Maersk used AI to manage supply chain disruptions.

Hear from executives in the public and private sectors, from consultancies such as Boston Consulting Group, Gartner and EY; tech giants including Google, Uber, SAP and IBM; financial institutions like Morgan Stanley, Santander, Barclays and Fannie Mae and large corporations, from bp and Maersk, to Nestle, Budweiser Brewing Group and Visa – not to mention the public sector with speakers from the NHS, Department of Transport, Cabinet Office and National Treasury of South Africa.

Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE takes place at Tobacco Dock, London, 27-28 April 2022 and is powered by Interos Inc, SAP and UST.

8 supply chain and procurement speakers not to miss – from Uber to IBM

In anticipation of Procurement & Supply Chain LIVE, we select 8 supply chain and procurement leaders who will be speaking during the event about challenges, solutions, strategies and transformations.

1 Brish Bhan Vaidya

Head of sourcing APAC

Uber

A certified sourcing, procurement and S2P leader, Brish Bhan Vaidya has more than two decades of global experience across industries and verticals, and is considered a disruptor, innovator and change management leader in cost optimisation and operation excellence. 

Throughout his procurement supply chain management career, he has led and managed large value global and regional spend across various categories including marketing, technology and workplace, and has worked with global majors including American Express, Accenture, British Telecom, and most recently Uber, where he has led the strategic sourcing and supply chain function for all Uber business lines for APAC for the last five and a half years. 

As one of the early members of Uber’s sourcing function, globally, and the first of the sourcing function’s employees in the India South Asia region, and second in APAC, Brish Bhan has been instrumental in helping the business expand across Asia-Pacific. 

At the event, Brish Bhan will discuss supply chain risk and resilience. 

2 Philip Halanen

Head of sourcing and sustainability

Wyndham Hotels & Resorts

Senior leader Philip Halanen specialises in managing complex million-pound operations and high-profile supplier partnerships and has international experience in the design, implementation and embedding of supplier management and strategic procurement programmes across multiple sectors. 

Having spent the first eight years of his career in a variety of operational roles in the airline and professional services industries, including with Gatwick Airport and IAG, Philip now heads up sourcing and sustainability for Wyndham Hotels & Resorts where he is responsible for the design and delivery of the company’s regional sustainability strategy, including oversight of the implementation and growth of the Wyndham Green Programme.

He is also responsible for ensuring the firm’s regional procurement strategy delivers a sustainable and ethical supply chain across EMEA.

At the event, Philip will discuss supply chain sustainability during a fireside chat. 

3 Bob Booth

Head of transformation – finance and supply chain

IBM

Passionate about finance and supply chain transformation, Bob Booth has more than three decades of experience in various roles in finance, consulting, technology, analytics and BPO. He is passionate about and a subject matter expert in human-centric change in finance and procurement, solving client business challenges by applying new technologies in global business and IT transformations. He has shaped and delivered global finance and procurement transformation programmes that have involved multiple technologies and transformed a range of operating models. 

Bob has worked in finance and procurement leadership consulting roles at EY, Capgemini and Accenture, leading the startup of Capgemini’s procurement BPO business in Europe and building an integrated team of leaders across consulting, technology and BPO who generated annual sales of over US$200m. 

Since 2017, he has been IBM’s UKI lead for transformation across its consulting, BPO, intelligent connected operations and enterprise applications teams supporting client transformations in finance, procurement and supply chain.

At the event, Bob Booth will deliver a fireside chat on finance and supply chain transformation. 

4 Jonathan Colehower

Global supply chain practice lead

UST

With more than 20 years of experience under his supply chain belt, Atlanta-based Jonathan Colehower is a skilled executive with deep experience in operations and in enterprise applications in marketing and sales. 

His first job after business school was with Accenture in its supply chain strategy practice, where he helped to grow a small team of smart problem solvers into a world-class supply chain consulting firm. His consulting career continued at McKinsey where, as a consultant for two years, he solved complex supply chain problems. He has also worked in the software business, as VP for worldwide applications marketing at Oracle and most recently serving as the chief marketing officer at Manhattan Associates, the market leader in supply chain applications technology. 

Joining technology powerhouse UST seven months ago, Jonathan leads the development and delivery of UST’s global supply chain products and services. He is also a strategic advisor for software tech company CargoChain, which develops an information-sharing platform for the global supply chain.

At the event, Jonathan will discuss private trading networks – essentials for improving visibility in multi-echelon supply chains.

5 Larry Phelan

Chief supply chain services officer

EY

Described as an authentic, inclusive and inspirational business enablement leader, Larry Phelan is an experienced transaction advisor and professional services consultant who has more than three decades of experience in consultancy at two Big Four firms, PwC and EY. 

Following a decade spent at PwC as deputy global chief information officer, where he supported clients looking to transform operations and implement enterprise and business systems, Larry moved to EY where he has spent the last 23 years in increasingly senior leadership positions. As chief procurement officer at EY, Larry is responsible for travel, meetings and events, real estate and facilities management, technology sourcing and external content, talent management and acquisition and emerging markets. 

He has received various awards and recognition, including the 20121 EY Chairman Value Award, WBENC platinum level award for support of women-owned businesses, and was named in the Top 100 Supply Chain Leader by Supply Chain Digital. He was also a finalist for the EY Better begins with you award in 2015 and the World Procurement Leader award in 2016 and 2017. He is also a member of multiple procurement professional organisations and is a member of the Global Practice Group, one of 125 of the most senior executives at EY.

At the event, Larry will discuss how to get the board to see your function as strategic, not just transactional. 

6 Rajeev Karmacharya

Head of strategic sourcing and category management

Fannie Mae

With more than 20 years of industry and consulting experience in business, supply chain and technology strategy, Rajeev Karmacharya has worked with senior leaders and C-level executives at various leading Fortune 500 companies. 

Rajeev began his career at A.T. Kearney where he spent a decade in the consulting firm’s strategic IT and operations practice driving client business transformation and optimisation initiatives. Rajeev has been with Fannie Mae for nine years, where he currently leads the strategic sourcing and category management group addressing US$5bn spend portfolio. He deals with every aspect of stakeholder engagement and supplier interaction, from category planning and sourcing strategy development to negotiations, contracting and supplier onboarding. 

He also founded a niche consulting firm in supply chain, procurement, and technology strategy. He is currently a member of the advisory board for the world’s premier global association for sourcing and procurement professionals SIG, and a member of the supply chain advisory council for the University of Maryland.

At the event, Rajeev will feature on a panel discussing the future of work.

7 Alisa Bornstein

Chief procurement officer

Visa Europe

A well-versed leader in the world of procurement, Alisa Bornstein has more than 25 years of experience in leading and transforming procurement organisations, partnering with and supporting business to achieve cost, revenue and ESG objectives. 

Beginning her career at telecoms giant Ericsson, where she worked her way up to global indirect sourcing lead, Alisa joined Travelogica Consulting as a partner, before taking on the role of head of procurement at BT Benelux. Over the last decade, Alisa has held various executive positions in the procurement function, including at Telia, Millicom (Tigo), IHS Towers, where she established group strategic sourcing, and Arm, where, as CPO, she designed and executed a significant transformation of the procurement function. 

She joined Visa Europe at the start of 2021 as chief procurement officer, where she leads on sourcing, overseeing the payment giant’s end-to-end strategic and operational procurement. Partnering with global teams, she supports business cost and revenue objectives across its European clusters and markets. She is also focused on ESG in the supply chain as part of the company’s multi-year procurement transformation programme and is an advocate of diversity and inclusion. She was listed in the top 10 of the Top 100 Global Leaders in Supply Chain by Supply Chain Digital.

At the event, Rajeev will feature on a panel discussing the future of work.

8 Lucas Rulff

Head of digital procurement excellence

A.P. Moller – Maersk

With 15 years of experience working in global procurement for a variety of large multinationals, Lucas Rulff is a passionate leader of digital transformation with a unique combination of a visionary and operational mindset. Expert at unlocking and sustaining value through digitisation and change management, Lucas is expert in the development of lean, strategic processes to help facilitate professional procurement. 

Joining Maersk 10 years ago as senior manager for e-sourcing, Lucas has worked his way up the ranks to now lead digital procurement excellence, where he has brought speed and agility to procurement at Danish shipping giant. Prior to shipping, he worked as a business analyst in retail spending four years in the US at retail chain Target, as a business analyst, where he managed the sourcing process for various children’s clothing categories before relocating to Sweden and joining furniture retailer IKEA as an internal consultant managing large global sourcing projects. 

At the event, he will share how Maersk worked with autonomous negotiations’ leader Pactum and used AI to manage supply chain disruptions.