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OWS26 PROGRAM

Where Strategy Becomes Reality: A Conference for the Leaders who Turn Ideas into Outcomes.

KEYNOTES

Check Back Often — Program in Progress — Additional Sessions Coming Soon!!!

FUTUREPROOFED - BUILDING RESILIENCE IN UNCERTAINTY

Kevin Parikh, COP, Chairman & CEO, Avasant

In an era of geopolitical fragmentation, economic volatility, and rapid technological change, enterprises face a new strategic imperative: becoming futureproofed. Traditional models focused on efficiency and cost optimization are no longer enough. Organizations must build dynamic resilience — operating models that anticipate disruption, absorb shocks, and adapt at speed.

In this session, Kevin Parikh explores how global enterprises can strengthen resilience by rethinking sourcing strategies, global delivery networks, transformation roadmaps, and AI adoption. He will examine the realities reshaping today’s operating environment, from supply chain concentration and jurisdictional risk to AI-enabled delivery and more adaptive contracting models.

The discussion reframes resilience not as a defensive response, but as a strategic advantage rooted in agility, intelligent operations, global diversification, and forward-looking governance. Attendees will leave with a clearer view of what it means to be truly futureproofed — prepared for uncertainty and positioned to turn disruption into opportunity.

THE AGENTIC SOURCING REVOLUTION: FROM AI PILOTS TO AUTONOMOUS & ASSISTED SOURCING

June Dozier, Director of Technology Sourcing, Meta

Strategic sourcing has moved beyond manual, Excel-driven processes into a new era of agentic and AI-enabled decision making. What began as isolated pilots and automation experiments is rapidly evolving into autonomous and assisted sourcing models that operate with greater speed, intelligence, and scale.

In this session, June Dozier explores how AI is reshaping the end-to-end sourcing lifecycle — from market intelligence and supplier discovery to negotiation support, risk sensing, and ongoing optimization. She will examine where autonomous sourcing delivers real value today, where human judgment remains essential, and how leading organizations are designing governance, controls, and trust into AI-driven sourcing models.

Attendees will gain a practical view of how AI can elevate sourcing from a reactive cost function into a proactive growth and value engine — and what sourcing leaders must do now to prepare their teams, data, and operating models for what comes next.

THE NEW GEOGRAPHY OF WORKFORCE: WHAT SOURCING LEADERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LOCATION & TALENT

Michelle Needles, COP, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Enterprise Solutions, Savills

As global sourcing strategies are being rewritten in real time, location has become a competitive weapon — and talent is the prize. Drawing on Savills’ Tech Cities 2025 research, this keynote explores why leading sourcing and delivery hubs are no longer defined by cost alone, but by their ability to attract, develop, and retain highly mobile, selective talent.

The session also introduces insights from the newly released Matcha Index, highlighting how culture, wellness, and everyday lifestyle factors increasingly shape how talent experiences place. Together, these perspectives challenge sourcing leaders to move beyond traditional scorecards and adopt a broader set of economic, talent, and human-experience metrics.

Through real-world case studies, attendees will see how organizations are testing assumptions, validating — or invalidating — location decisions, and building sourcing strategies that are resilient, talent-led, and future-ready.



PROCUREMENT AI: FROM FUNDAMENTALS TO FUTURE TRENDS

Dan Schuffert, COP, Divisional Vice President, Strategic Sourcing, HCSC
Skanda Janakiram, Partner, PwC Strategy&

As artificial intelligence moves from experimentation to enterprise capability, procurement is emerging as one of the functions most directly reshaped by this shift. This keynote frames AI not simply as a set of tools, but as a catalyst for rethinking how procurement operates, decides, and delivers value.

The session begins by grounding leaders in the core concepts and realities of procurement AI today — clarifying what is working, what is overstated, and how organizations are using AI to drive greater visibility, efficiency, and insight across their spend and supplier ecosystems. It then explores AI’s expanding influence across the procure-to-pay lifecycle, highlighting how intelligent systems are reducing friction, improving accuracy, and accelerating outcomes.

Looking ahead, the discussion turns to what comes next: predictive and prescriptive analytics, AI-enabled engagement models, and the early emergence of autonomous and assisted procurement for specific categories. Attendees will leave with a clearer understanding of how AI is redefining the role of procurement — and what leaders must consider now to prepare for the next phase of transformation.

SESSIONS

 

  • From Brussels to Chicago: Navigating the New AI and Cyber Digital Rulebook  Max Harris, Partner, Technology & IP Transactions, Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Emma Flett, Technology & IP Transactions, Partner, Kirkland & Ellis LLP
  • AI-Driven Transformation of IT Delivery and Governance in Global Capability Centers  Uma Viswanathan - Head of Vendor Management - Strategy and Transformation Team, Walgreens Global
  • Global Business Services: Managing Geo-Political Uncertainty   Peter George, Partner Baker McKenzie
  • Outsourcing in a Multipolar World: Adapting BPO & GBS for the New Global Reality  James Donovan, CEO and Co-founder, ADEC Innovations and Dan Lang Award Recipient
  • Breaking Bad (Contracts): What Kills Outsourcing Relationships & How to Stop the Bleeding  Michael Nacarato, COP-GOV, Senior Director, TransAmerica and Audrey Cushing, COP-GOV, Chief of Staff, Vee Healthtek
  • The Reinvention of GCCs: From Cost Play to Innovation Powerhouse  Anupam Govil, Partner, Avasant

Check Back Often — Program in Progress — Additional Sessions Coming Soon!!!

WORKSHOP


COLLABORATIVE SUPPLIER GOVERNANCE IN PRACTICE: FROM RISK CONTROL TO ENTERPRISE VALUE 


FACULTY:

   
Michael Nacarato, COP-GOV
Senior Director,
Transamerica
Jim Lee
Principal, Global Lead - Governance,
Risk & Compliance Practice
Avasant
Peter George
Partner
Baker McKenzie


This interactive workshop is designed for outsourcing and sourcing executives, leaders, governance professionals, legal, risk, and business stakeholders navigating increasing complexity across today’s third-party and supplier ecosystems. Serving as the OWS26 launchpad for IAOP’s Collaborative Supplier Governance series, the session focuses on how supplier governance must evolve in a digital, AI-enabled, and geopolitically uncertain environment.

As organizations face heightened regulatory scrutiny, expanding use of AI and automation within supplier relationships, and growing pressure to extract measurable value—not just manage risk—traditional, compliance-centric governance models are no longer sufficient. This workshop moves beyond theory to demonstrate how modern, collaborative supplier governance works in practice, combining real-world frameworks, applied tools, and practitioner insight.

Through three tightly integrated modules, participants will explore how to:

  • Design and operationalize risk-based vendor governance models, including vendor assessment, segmentation, resilience planning, and portfolio-level oversight
  • Govern AI through legal, contractual, and policy frameworks, addressing the implications of RPA, AI, Generative AI, and agentic technologies within supplier ecosystems
  • Evolve from point-in-time oversight to continuous monitoring, enabling proactive risk management, stronger supplier accountability, and improved outcomes

The workshop blends hands-on demonstrations, expert-led discussion, and peer exchange—providing practical approaches that attendees can immediately apply within their own organizations while establishing a foundation for deeper exploration in follow-on sessions.


AGENDA AT-A-GLANCE


Monday, April 27, 2026 – Pre-Conference Activity

  • 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm: Welcome Networking Event/Credentials Pick Up 


Tuesday, April 28, 2026 

  • 8:30 am: Registration and Morning Coffee
  • 9:00 am – 5:00 pm: Sessions
  • 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm: On-site Reception
  • 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm: Evening Networking Event 


Wednesday, April 29, 2026

  • 8:30 am: Registration and Morning Coffee
  • 9:00 am - 4:30 pm: Sessions
  • 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm: Cocktail Reception
  • 7:00 pm: Evening Social Event 


Thursday, April 30, 2026 

  • 8:30 am – 9:00 am: Registration and Morning Coffee
  • 9:00 am – 12:00 pm: Workshop
  • 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm: Closing Luncheon

Schedule is preliminary and subject to change.


For planning purposes only, times subject to change.

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