Zycus Horizon 2023

As the founder and CEO of Zycus, Aatish defines the vision and roadmap of all technology and innovation at Zycus. Aatish Dedhia started Zycus in 1998 with a vision to leverage technology to solve business problems.

He harnessed the power of Artificial Intelligence technology for practical business purposes to create a powerful suite of solutions for the fields of procurement and finance. Under his dynamic leadership, Zycus has emerged as the industry leader in its business space. He has been responsible for the company's success in the fiercely competitive international market.

His astuteness and strategy has been the pillar of Zycus' success. Prior to Zycus, Aatish enjoyed a flourishing career at Intel Corporation in the United States and was part of the core design team on the Pentium-II processor.

At Intel, Aatish also introduced Internet and Intranet technologies within the Pentium-II group for improving group work and knowledge management. Aatish is a widely known professional in the IT industry and has been invited as a speaker at several international forums.

He has a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, India and a Master of Science (MS) in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University, U.S.

Mr. Sawchuk is a Principal, Global Practice Leader and advisory leadership team member with The Hackett Group, an intellectual property-based strategic consultancy to global companies.

He has over 20 years of experience successfully advising hundreds of Fortune 500 as well as midsized companies across all industries globally. Mr. Sawchuk has provided operational and transformational guidance in strategy and organizational change as well as process design and digital technology enablement to significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of these companies.

He is globally recognized (and won several awards) in his specialty of supply management including strategic sourcing and risk management. He is cited regularly in business publications, a frequent presenter at industry and academic events, author of numerous research papers and books, and a current and past member of the advisory boards of several developing companies as well as the supply chain degree program at the University of South Florida.

Mr. Sawchuk’s background includes engineering, operations and sales roles with both United Technologies and IBM. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering from Union College and a Masters in Business Administration from Binghamton University (State University of New York). He is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Business Administration from the University of South Florida.

Duncan contributes to Forrester's offerings for Sourcing & Vendor Management Professionals and for Application Development and Delivery Professionals. He is a leading expert on business application strategies and how to get the most from strategic software partners, including packaged applications, SaaS, and custom development. By researching enterprises' experiences in dealing with key software providers, such as IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP, Duncan helps clients create sound sourcing strategies, nurture better supplier relationships, and get better outcomes from their strategic software investments. He also advises software providers on pricing strategies and commercial trends.
Duncan is also a leading expert on ePurchasing applications, such as eProcurement and supplier risk and performance management (SRPM), with a particular focus on the increasing overlaps and conflicts between ePurchasing and sell-side B2B eCommerce. He advises clients on their application strategy in these areas, how to make good choices between alternative solution providers, and how to get the best results from implementation.
Previous Work Experience Prior to joining Forrester in 2006, Duncan worked for seven years for QAD, an international provider of enterprise solutions for manufacturing companies, in various product management and product marketing roles. Most recently, he had global responsibility for radical changes to QAD's pricing and licensing strategy.
Duncan qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG and then joined Courtaulds, a diverse multinational manufacturing company. In 10 years with Courtaulds, he held various line finance and IT roles before becoming project manager in a corporate team, managing systems-enabled business improvement projects around the world.

A CPA, CMA with 15+ years of progressive experience in all areas of accounting within the manufacturing industry. Has been consistently recognized as a high performer with a strong work ethic, advanced analytical skills and the capability to thrive in a dynamic environment.

Through years of experience in various positions; developed strong business acumen, superior organizational skills, strong communication skills, and proven record of dedication to teamwork. Worked in partnership with various functional team leaders to resolve variances, refine forecasts, develop budgets, and identify opportunities for improvement.

An experienced professional with expertise and hands on experience in property management, procurement, trustee services, strategy development & implementation, sales, marketing, product management, risk management, channel development, process re-engineering, project management, financial reporting and business services.

As Vice President for Corporate Development at Zycus Inc., Richard Waugh leads strategic initiatives in the areas of new product introduction, market development, thought leadership, analyst relations, and strategic partner development programs.

Richard has an extensive background in B2B E-Commerce. He helped launch GE's Trading Process Network (TPN), the first on-line Marketplace for Sourcing and Procurement. He was also Co-Founder of B2eMarkets, one of the first SaaS (Software as a Service) Sourcing Suite providers and later covered the Supply Management market as an Industry Analyst for the Aberdeen Group.

Scott Thein is Deputy General Counsel with StoneX Group Inc., a financial services organization listed on NASDAQ: SNEX. His role is focused on transactional and regulatory legal support for the global StoneX organization with specialization in US FCM and Swap Dealer operations. Prior to his current role with StoneX, Scott was an associate in the Capital Markets Department of the US-based law firm, Polsinelli, focusing on Commercial Mortgage Backed Securitizations (CMBS), Collateralized Loan Obligations (CLOs), and general lending work. He began his career as in-house counsel to two regional natural gas and electric power companies in the Mid-West of the United States.

Over a career spanning more than 40 years, Steve has held senior procurement and operations positions with large and small, public and private, and for-profit as well as non-profit organizations. He is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY and served five years on active duty as an officer with the 82nd Airborne Division where he completed 40 military parachute jumps. Steve started his civilian career at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, MO, and it was while working for Hallmark that he was introduced to procurement and found his professional calling. During that time, he also earned an MBA from the University of Missouri at Kansas City. Most recently, Steve was the Chief Procurement Officer at the College Board for five years, after previously serving as Vice President of Global Sourcing at the National Geographic Society. Prior to that he was the Vice President of Supply Chain Management at Vertis Communications, a national printer of advertising circulars and direct mail promotions. In between his procurement assignments he also held senior operations positions as a Plant Manager and Vice President of Operations for different manufacturing firms. He retired in 2021 to spend more time with his wife of 47 years and six married children and 20 grandchildren.

With over 20+ years of history in leadership and success in sourcing and procurement, with extensive experience building strategy, lowering costs, and overseeing the performance of vendors. Has Built a formal sourcing and procurement function from the ground up, overseeing $300MM in annual spend for a $5B specialty property and casualty insurance firm. Is a Procurement Executive possessing a winning blend of subject matter expertise, skill in vendor management, and practical experience leveraging analytics and data.

A supply chain professional, Ruth has worked at Philips and Mars before joining Heineken. A qualified Master Brewer, who switched into the Procurement arena a decade ago, Ruth is now the Director of Global Procurement Enablement based in the Netherlands. Responsible for all elements of procurement enablement, Ruth has guided the team on a transformational journey from being a process focused organisation to one which is now recognised as leaders who use technology to enable the business to drive decision making.

Passionate about team development, and finding different ways to work with suppliers, has allowed the organisation to deliver projects in a way which should be possible.

Hervé Le Faou serves as the Chief Procurement Officer at HEINEKEN, the world’s most international brewer. HEINEKEN operates in over 70 countries globally and is committed to surprising and exciting consumers everywhere. Since joining HEINEKEN in 2016, Hervé has been leading a transformational programme within the Global Procurement function, with the intention of creating a world-class strategic sourcing community that operates as a true business partner.

His Procurement community currently manages €14 billion of spend and consists out of 900 professionals based around the globe. Creating sustainable business value for both internal and external stakeholders is the key focus of the second chapter of the transformation programme. Together with his team, Hervé strives to make a positive impact that lasts and touches areas beyond the cost and cash agenda.

Having spent over half of his professional career abroad, Hervé brings a strong international leadership to his team. This, coupled with his strong passion for people, innovation and brands, has proven to be a great recipe for success when leading transformations in the food and beverage industry.

Previous Organisations:

• Worked in Unilever, Danone, Cadbury, Kraft-Heinz prior to joining HEINEKEN
• Undertaken a variety of roles in Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement and General Management

• Graduated from Arts et Metiers  “Grande École” in Mechanical Engineering.

Daniel Braune is the Head of Procurement at Hapag-Lloyd AG. During his professional tenure of more than 15 years, Daniel has performed increasingly senior roles in procurement and logistics functions viz. strategic buying, category management, supply chain management to leading global procurement.

His work experience spans mulitple business environments and industries from automation to communication to Power Transmission/Distribution. Daniel has undertaken his education in Germany and US.

Cheryl M. Katz is a highly respected Strategic Sourcing Director at Synovus Financial Corp. where she acts as a trusted advisor to Stakeholders; sharing business and contract knowledge and expertise, leading collaborative, cross functional teams and helping internal customers remove risk and deliver transformational results and big wins to stakeholders and leadership, across a wide variety of financial services, manufacturing and service businesses and organizations.

Chris Donofrio is a creative, result oriented procurement professional with diverse background and experience in conducting spend, risk, market and supplier analysis, purchasing, contract and project management, and demand supply and forecast planning. Proven skilled negotiator who consistently guides down costs, exceeding expectations. Excellent interpersonal skills that build mutually beneficial relationships with clients, suppliers and business partners. Specialty is problem resolution excels during change and enjoys a challenge.

Neil Schloss is the Sourcing Manager for Indirect Procurement at Perdue Farms Inc. supporting IT and Marketing sourcing requirements. He holds a BSIE from University of Buffalo and MBA from New York Institute of Technology. He has held leadership roles for Direct and Indirect procurement areas for more than 40 years in a variety of verticals. They would include heavy industrial organizations like Carrier Air Conditioning, Black & Decker – Kwikset Div., Financial, Insurance and most recently CPG - Meat Processing. He has extensive experience with e-Procurement deployment and effective Procurement engagement within early project creation. He enjoys golf, racquetball and family while living in Scottsdale, AZ.

Canda Rozier is the Founder and President of Collabra Consulting, focused on procurement transformation, sourcing excellence, and cost improvement. She was most recently SVP (CPO) Global Procurement & Real Estate, at NTT Security, with responsibility for strategic sourcing, category management, procurement, cost reduction & spend management projects, and vendor contract negotiations, as well as all global real estate and facilities.

With over 30 years industry experience, Canda was previously Chief Procurement Officer and SVP Global Real Estate at First Data Corporation, where she led the centralization and globalization of strategic sourcing/procurement and the operational transformation of real estate/facilities management worldwide, and had a senior role in the $29B private buyout of FDC.

Previous roles have included senior positions at Unisys/Burroughs and American Express. Canda has served on the Advisory Board for the Sourcing Industry Group (SIG), and is based in Colorado with a BA from Davidson College. She is a Certified Intelligent Automation Professional (CIAP). She‘s a frequent contributor to sourcing industry publications, and speaks at industry conferences and events globally, and is a 2019 Sourcing Star Award Winner of the SIG Future of Sourcing Award.

As the Founder and Chief Editor of the Procurement Insights blog, Jon Hansen has gained an international reputation for delivering unique and meaningful insights into the procurement world and business in general through a variety of mediums including radio and television.

A sought after speaker, writer, and moderator; he is a two-time Ottawa Finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for having built and ultimately selling his software company for $12 million.

With 40 years of high-tech industry experience and almost as long in procurement, Jon’s recognition as one of the Top 50 Procurement Influencers globally reflects the value that he brings to our industry.

Thierry Fausten is the founder of Informed Decisions GmbH, and the exclusive Country Partner for CIPS business services in Switzerland.

He has over 25 years of experience in automotive, pharmaceuticals and consulting industries. His interventions focus on procurement and supply management excellence and collaborative innovation, enabling organizations to identify, create and capture additional value.

Prior to this, he was entrusted with global leadership roles in global 250 firms, to transform organizations, processes and systems to enhance business agility, flexibility and attract best talents and suppliers.

Thierry Fausten completed his doctorate at Cranfield University School of Management and holds an Executive MBA in Multicultural Management from ESCP Europe. He is also MCIPS certified.

Tim Cummins is President of World Commerce & Contracting and a Professor in the School of Law at the University of Leeds. For 25 years, Tim has led the world in developing research and standards for the Commercial and Contract Management discipline, an achievement that was recognised by the Financial Times ‘Market Shaper of the Year’ award in 2019.

Over that time, he developed the world’s only non-profit association dedicated to Commercial and Contract Management, working with its 80,000 members in both public and private sector to improve the quality and integrity of trading relationships. Tim’s inspiration came from a career in Finance and Commercial Management, spanning multiple industries and countries and providing insight to the critical role that commercial innovation plays in delivering business and social value.

Lisa Leemans currently leads the Third Party Risk Management function for Westfield Insurance. Joining Westfield in 2015, Lisa was asked to design, build and mature the third party management capabilities as part of a foundational center-led Procurement function.

Lisa came to Westfield with over 20 years of broad-based global supply chain management experience in both manufacturing and financial services. Prior to joining Westfield, Lisa spent over 5 years as Senior Vice President and Director of Corporate Procurement at KeyBank with responsibilities in both category management and third party risk management.

Lisa earned her Master’s in Business Administration at the University of Nebraska and her Bachelor of Science, Industrial Engineering from Iowa State University.

Lisa is active in Westfield Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, leading the Abilities Advocates Network, a Westfield Employee Resource Group. Lisa is a member of the Sourcing Industry Group, a former board member of Ohio Minority Supplier Development Council and actively involved at her church and in several regional charities.

Westfield Insurance is one of the nation’s 50 largest property and casualty insurance groups, represented by a network of more than 900 independent insurance agencies. Westfield provides commercial insurance in 21 states, personal insurance in 10 states and surety services to customers in 50 states.

Adrian Oyekanmi serves as Senior Vice President, Strategic Sourcing for Radisson Hotel Group. He is responsible for developing and enhancing its market leading procurement platform that serves and protects the needs of the Radisson Hotel Group. His charge includes creating opportunities to leverage the vast global spend of RHG with best-in-class vendors while enabling the hotels access this value through market leading technology. Oyekanmi is based in Brussels and reports to Iñigo Capell, Executive Vice President & Global Chief Resources Officer.

Oyekanmi is an industry veteran who joined Radisson Hotel Group in April 2017, initially based out of the Minneapolis office. Since then, he has worked to develop and implement a comprehensive sourcing strategy built to improve the value proposition for the entire hotel portfolio and its owners, focusing on cost reductions and service delivery while promoting the company’s responsible business practices.

Prior to joining Radisson Hotel Group, Oyekanmi spent 17 years with Starwood Hotels & Resorts. Most recently he served as Vice President of Supply Chain, where he led finance and business analytics, contract management, the implementation of an award-winning procure-to-pay platform, and Six Sigma process improvement. His other assignments at Starwood include Controller, Director of Finance, and Regional Director of Finance.

He received an International Baccalaureate diploma from the United World College of the Atlantic in the United Kingdom, and a Bachelor of Science degree in building and construction management from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. Oyekanmi is also a Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (ACMA, CGMA).

Kim is responsible for developing the strategy of and leading Procurement Operations at Daiichi Sankyo Inc. She provides procurement leadership, business impactful reporting and develops best practices for purchasing policies, technologies, operating procedures. She also collaborates with stakeholders and business owners on process design for the Source to Pay process, as well as technology transformations and process re-engineering efforts that have an enterprise-wide efficiency impact. Her dept manages compliance activities relating to procurement processes while creating and executing training programs to liaise with the business, legal, audit, IT, sourcing and finance. Procurement Operations is also responsible for managing the Small Business Administration program, supplier risk mitigation and monitoring, and supplier onboarding.

Upcoming soon!

Upcoming soon!

Experienced as VP Purchasing in the automotive sector, production, non-production and after-sales. Both Corporate and field experiences in international environments. Cross cultural mindset as manager of people and projects • Skilled in Change management.

Erik brings the knowledge and experience of nearly 20 years of strategic sourcing in indirect and direct categories across various industries including pharma, education, retail and manufacturing. He’s held various leadership and strategic project lead roles across sourcing, supply chain, data and analytics.

As Director, Analytics and Insights at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Erik leads advanced analytics and insights to enable fact-driven decision making and advancing the capabilities of the Strategic Sourcing and Corporate Services team. The role has a combination of strategic and hands-on responsibilities to deliver advanced analytics and insights, drive continuous improvement and support departmental goals and objectives.

Prior to joining Vertex, Erik served as Director of Sourcing Enablement at Viatris, an organization formed through the merger of Mylan and Pfizer’s entity, Upjohn. In this role, Erik was responsible for leading a global team focused on process, governance, analytics and technology to enable strategic sourcing. Throughout his career, he has led global teams, implemented sourcing technologies and built collaborative relationships with internal stakeholders, external partners and suppliers. He has led global category sourcing, integrated company procurement and sourcing operations, implemented procurement technology, provided API risk mitigation programs, and built API market intelligence tools.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Pennsylvania State University and resides with his family in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area.

John has over 20 years’ experience leading and executing cross-functional business process and technology transformation projects including ERP consolidations, Source to Pay implementations, and managing service transitions. He currently leads the Procurement Technology team at Regeneron’s Strategic Sourcing and Procurement Center of Excellence where his focus is on organizational improvements leveraging technology solutions.

Prior to Regeneron, he managed service transitions for the procurement solution services provider, Chain IQ which included delivery of Sourcing, Operational Procurement, Category Management and technology solutions for their clients. He believes successful transformations require a compelling vision, reduction of waste, simplification, and dedicated people.

Stefanie Givens-Wilson leads La-Z-Boy Incorporated's Indirect Procurement department as well as the newly established Supplier Diversity & Inclusion program. In addition, Stefanie holds the role of Co-Chair of La-Z-Boy's Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Council. She was responsible for designing and executing La-Z-Boy's annual Supplier Summit as well as La-Z-Boy's Supply Chain University.

Stefanie started of her career in the automotive industry. She was chosen to be a part of Chrysler's Management Trainee Program, a rotational program allowing her to gain experience in manufacturing, logistics, operations, and procurement. She moved on to senior procurement roles with both domestic and Japanese Tier I automotive suppliers.

Stefanie is known for thinking strategically, driving operational excellence, delivering financial performance, and making a positive impact.

Stefanie holds a Master's degree in Quality Management from Eastern Michigan University and a Bachelor's in Supply Chain Management from Michigan State University. She resides in Southeast Michigan with her husband and three boys.

Neil is an accomplished commercially focused CPO with diverse experience in both the private and public sector across Automotive, FMCG & Higher Education.

He is interested in leading innovative and collaborative challenges that drive sustainable commercial and business outcomes as procurement partners with the business and its external partners. He chaired the Program Committee for the University Procurement Hub and is current Chair of the Finance Committee for a large NFP and sits on the Procurement Committee for HPV.

Neil is passionate about progressing the procurement profession in innovative spaces including technology, smart automation and sector collaboration.

An experienced professional with more than 20 years in the software industry in sales management positions. Thomas is associated with Zycus since 4 years and heads sales in EMEA region.

He strives to help customers drive business value from their digital transformation journey.

Anil Wadhwa, the Director - Technology Consulting at EY has rich and diverse experience spanning 18 years, having worked in Consulting firms for the last 11 years and before with that with leading technology companies​.

He has led and transformed organisations and business by successful and continuous IT innovations to deliver strategic business outcomes leveraging latest cutting-edge technology. ​

Whit Andrews is a Vice President and Distinguished Analyst in Gartner Research. Mr. Andrews addresses, in particular, organizational impacts, use cases and business opportunities for AI. He discusses the impacts of blockchain on business strategy and the evolution of blockchain adoption and application. He works in the Applications and Software Engineering Group. He is a host of the Gartner Techwave podcast for clients.

Prior to joining Gartner in 2000, Mr. Andrews was a senior editor at Internet World magazine for four years, where he covered electronic commerce and the major web portals. Previous to that, he worked as a newspaper reporter.​

Rohan Ranadive is a global business leader with over 22 years of leadership success in Banking, Financial Services and Technology. He has consistently inspired and led large and diverse global teams to achieve business resiliency and operational excellence while effectively balancing risk management and regulatory compliance.

In his current role at Truist, Rohan is responsible for leading Third Party Risk Management program and Enterprise Offshoring services across 5,000+ third parties driving operational resilience and business excellence. Prior to Truist, Rohan was Head of Intelligent Automation at BB&T and was responsible to lead & drive enterprise adoption of emerging technologies such as RPA, Natural Language Processing, Machine Learning, Deep Learning and Artificial Intelligence. Rohan holds an MBA from Wake Forest University and is a graduate of the Stonier School of Banking and the Wharton Leadership program.

Rajeev Karmacharya is Head of the Strategic Sourcing and Category Management group in Fannie Mae. Rajeev leads a team of category management, sourcing / contracting and supplier enablement professionals managing $4.5+ billion in external spend.

Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Rajeev was a Principal at global management consulting firm Kearney, where he was one of the leaders in their Strategic IT and Operations Practice. Rajeev holds a Master of Industrial Administration (MBA) degree in Finance and Marketing from Carnegie Mellon University and a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania.

Brian Roche is responsible for Westfield’s enterprise procurement function and the development and execution of source-to-pay capabilities including category management, third party risk management, operational procurement and process automation.

Brian joined Westfield in April 2015 from Citizens Bank, where he served in various leadership positions managing vendor risk, strategic sourcing events and technology, and training programs. Before that, he was Vice President, Senior Sourcing Strategist for Key Bank National Association. In all, he brings 20 years of procurement, financial and leadership experience to his position with Westfield.

Brian earned his graduate degree in Information Systems Management from Case Western Reserve University, and his undergraduate degree in Finance from Ohio University.

He is a former member of BITS, the technology policy division of the Financial Services Roundtable, an industry group with expertise on managing supply chain risk, and served as a charter Steering Committee member on Risk Management Association’s Vendor Management Roundtable. He is also a current member of Sourcing Industry Group and provides thought leadership in other industry forums on evolving areas of supply chain management.

After practicing law for nearly nine years with large law firms in Manhattan, Ari is now a leading speaker, ghostwriter and industry analyst. He focuses on legal technology, law-related issues, electronic discovery, and professional services to empower individuals and organizations with creative ideas for standing out and leveraging technology to raise their profiles.

Ari has had the honor of keynoting events in the U.S., including the 2010 ABA Techshow, the U.K. and Australia. He has also appeared at over 50 law schools in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K.

Maurus is visionary leader who devoted his entire professional journey to legal innovation and operations. He is driven by the deep belief that legal activities can be embedded better and more simply with other players, functions and companies.

As an active member of the ASSOCIATION OF CORPORTE COUNSEL, and a regional CORPORATE LEGAL OPERATIONS CONSORTIUM (CLOC.ORG) leader, Maurus works to establish transparency around activities and cost in the legal function and has helped legal teams to develop process innovation and leverage technology to simplify, expedite and improve quality legal activities.

He is passionate about the NOVARTIS purpose to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives and focuses her own efforts as well as those of her teams on ensuring that Novartis delivers for patients.

Coming soon!

Amanda is an adaptive leader with a strategic and corporate business focus and has experience across various government agencies and in diverse functions. She brings a high level of curiosity and critical thinking to her roles which has led to the development of customer-focused solutions that deliver good outcomes within sound corporate governance frameworks.

She has taken on roles and projects focusing on strategic leadership and change management through reform of key business support functions for the organisation.

Amanda is also a strong advocate for a better place for all West Australians and is an active in community organisations supporting the environment and community engagement.

She holds post nominals of MLM, GAICD, FLWA and MIPAA.

Micky Keck is part of the team that advises application leaders on procurement and strategic sourcing applications. This includes helping define and identify technologies across the source-to-pay landscape and creating procurement technology strategy.

Mr. Keck helps clients understand the market landscape, prioritize investments, evaluate vendors and determine best-fit, negotiate contracts, and deploy best practices across a variety of market segments including Source-to-Contract (S2C) (spend analysis, supplier management, e-sourcing, and contract life cycle management) and Procure-to-Pay technologies. He also assesses and advises clients on the use of emerging technologies, such as AI, RPA, and advanced analytics, across sourcing and procurement.

Additionally, Mr. Keck has a special focus on AP Invoice Automation and Supplier Information Management.

Kurt Albertson is the North American Practice Lead for The Hackett Group's Procurement Advisory Program, based in Atlanta, Georgia. Working with procurement and finance executives, Kurt supports their ongoing transformation agendas leveraging his experience, best practice-based research and cutting-edge frameworks.

Mr. Albertson also conducts research into topical issues, and leads client conferences, webcasts and other related events. He has 25+ years of experience in assessing procurement and finance capabilities concentrating on category management, strategic sourcing, risk and supplier management, purchasing and accounts payable, and travel expense management. Mr. Albertson offers a blend of consulting and industry experience, having served a wide variety of clients as a management consultant and managing manufacturing operations in an automotive plant.

He holds an MBA from the University of North Carolina, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Michigan. He also is a featured presenter at industry conferences and has been published in leading periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal.

Zachary Engels is the Leader, Operational Procurement for Westfield Insurance. Among his key responsibilities at Westfield is to develop and maintain the buying channel strategy and process guidelines while managing the day-to-day actions of the Procurement Operations team.

He is responsible for the implementation, administration, and oversight of all procurement technology at Westfield. Specifically those applications in the Source to Pay life-cycle and their integration with other Westfield systems including ERP. He works in close collaboration with executives in Finance, Human Resources, Information technology and other internal business units to optimize the end-to-end sourcing life-cycle. Oversees staff responsibilities for monitoring contract to invoice compliance and other key KPI’s for the department.

Additional responsibilities include the design and foundational implementation of Westfield's supplier diversity program.

Erik van Dulmen is Vice President Not for Resale Sourcing for Ahold Delhaize, leading indirect procurement in Europe. Together with the local brands in Europe his team is delivering the best sourcing solution for Ahold Delhaize’s businesses.

He is what we call a veteran within Ahold Delhaize, working for almost 35 years in different business areas. Erik started his career at James Telesuper, the home delivery business of former Ahold in the mid 1980’s as full time IT programmer. Before leading indirect procurement for Ahold Delhaize, Erik worked within the Finance department ( regional controller and head of Commercial and Logistics Control at Albert Heijn ), the operational department ( operational manager North Holland at Albert Heijn ), logistics department ( warehouse manager at Albert Heijn Zaandam ) and the commercial department ( Director Sourcing and Merchandise Dry Groceries Albert Heijn ).

Erik is born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and graduated with a bachelors degree in Economics in Rotterdam.

Nikhil Kotru is the Head of Global Supply Chain for Spirent. Offering thorough leadership, strategic, operational, and P&L experience of over 2 decades with well-known global players. Experience in P&L leadership, Organizational development, Business strategy and Thought leadership, he has a Masters in Industrial Engineering – specialization Supply Chain and Operations Research.

Paul is a seasoned leader with extensive experience across 4 of the world's most renowned multinationals (Bosch, GM, BHP, BP). He holds strong expertise in Strategic Procurement Leadership, Transformation and Digitisation, Strategic Category Management & Continuous Improvement fuelling business value through thoughtful partnership & 3rd party supplier engagement.

His passion for growth has led to significant career progression not only on an individual level but also within team development, culture building, and ongoing professional advancement opportunities for those around him. In addition, he has demonstrated remarkable leadership in creating a seamless information environment that enables value-driving interactions while managing corporate risk.