Founding Director
Randall R. Kendrick Global Supply Chain Institute, University of Southern California
Dr. Nick Vyas, a practitioner in operations management and organizational excellence through the application of Blended Quality Management, AI, ML, RPA, Blockchain, and Data Analytics received his Doctor of Education from USC with his published dissertation on Conceptualization of Higher Education Excellence System (HEES): Use of Advance Data Analytics and Blended Quality Management. A Subject Matter Expert in End-to-End Global Supply Chain Management (GSCM), Vyas has led business transformation for fortune 100 companies. As USC CGSCM’s Executive Director/ Co-founder, Director of MS GSCM and as an Assistant Professor, he was presented with the Golden Apple Award for teaching excellence and recognized as a “Supply Chain Leader” for the APICS Excellence Awards. As a thought leader, he speaks at conferences on global trade, disruptive technology and GSCM. Vyas serves to make GSCM education accessible through the Gift of Knowledge scholarship at USC MS GSCM program and Supply Chain Professionals without Borders. Working closely with students, Vyas consulted for over 25 global operations across various sectors. He integrated technology and directed teams that both optimized speed-to-market and managed cost/quality.
Consul General of Mexico
Consulado General de México en Los Ángeles
As of February 26, 2024, Ambassador Carlos González-Gutiérrez serves as Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles. He was ratified to this role unanimously by the Mexican Senate in December 2023. As a career diplomat since 1987, he has specialized in the Mexican communities in the United States, the country where he has served in all of his appointments outside of Mexico. In the late nineties, he served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Mexico City, in the Program for Mexican Communities Abroad, and in 2003 he became the first Executive Director of the Institute of Mexicans Abroad (IME), an agency responsible for strengthening ties and collaboration between Mexico and its diaspora. He has had five assignments abroad. Early in his career, he was Consul for Community Affairs at the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles. Later, from 1999 to 2003, he was appointed Counselor for Latino Affairs at the Embassy of Mexico in Washington D.C. In 2009, Amb. Carlos González-Gutiérrez was appointed as Consul General of Mexico in Sacramento, where, in addition to his regular activities, he was in charge of monitoring public policies implemented in the state that could affect Mexico or Mexican communities in California. After six years in Sacramento, Ambassador González-Gutiérrez was transferred to the capital of Texas, serving as Consul General of Mexico in Austin, once again being responsible for monitoring state public policies, as well as providing the traditional general services of a Consulate General, such as documentation, protection, and community development. In September 2011, the President of Mexico conferred him the rank of Ambassador. In 2019, he began his duties as Consul General in San Diego, California, where he served until the end of February 2024. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from El Colegio de México and a Master’s degree in International Relations from the School of International Relations at the University of Southern California (USC). He is the author of several publications on the Mexican population in the United States. The Ambassador is married to Alina, and they have two daughters: Marina and Camila.
Ambassador Dr. K.J. Srinivasa is a member of the prestigious Indian Foreign Service and a senior Indian diplomat with over two decades of leadership in international diplomacy, strategic outreach, and crisis response. He currently serves as the first ever Consul General of India in Los Angeles since September 2025.
Over his 23-year diplomatic career, Dr. Srinivasa has served across four continents in roles that combined political engagement, economic diplomacy, and public service delivery. His overseas assignments include key positions at the Indian missions in Madrid, Peru, San Francisco, and Johannesburg. From 2019 to 2023, he served as the Indian High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Guyana, concurrently accredited to CARICOM and four Caribbean countries, where he deepened India’s engagement with the Caribbean region.
At home, he was Regional Passport Officer in Bangalore (2010–13) and played a pivotal role in implementing the landmark Passport Seva Project, which transformed passport issuance across India making the process fully digital, accessible, transparent and reliable. As Joint Secretary (CPV) in 2023–24, he oversaw global consular affairs including visas, OCIs and diaspora matters for India, he demonstrated operational leadership during high-pressure international situations. As the Chief Passport Officer of India, he was the force behind the nationwide rollout of India’s next-generation e-Passports and strengthening citizen services through innovation and policy reform.
His experience lies in Political, Economic and Consular Affairs, International Relations, and Operations Management.
Dr. Srinivasa is a qualified medical doctor from Government Medical College, Mysore, who transitioned into the Indian Foreign Service with a deep commitment to public service. He has trained at LBSNAA Mussoorie, Foreign Service Institute New Delhi, Fletcher School at Tufts University, and the Indian Institutes of Management in Bangalore and Ahmedabad.
He is married to Mrs. Ashwini, and they are proud parents of two sons.
Roberto Isaias is Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer of Mattel. He joined Mattel in 2002. In his role, Mr. Isaias oversees all aspects of Mattel’s global supply chain, including engineering, logistics and planning, manufacturing, procurement, safety and quality, and sustainability.
Under Mr. Isaias’ leadership, Mattel has made transformative improvements across its global supply chain, reducing costs and time-to-market while also improving service to retailers. As part of the company’s Capital Light strategy, Mattel has consolidated or exited 5 factories, optimized its manufacturing footprint, reduced complexity in the system, and increased productivity of plant infrastructure.
By 2021, Mattel factories were located in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Mexico, employing approximately 27,000 people in peak season. The company also works with leading third-party manufacturers to meet consumer demand for Mattel product.
Mr. Isaias held a variety of leadership roles at Mattel in Latin America prior to his appointment as Chief Supply Chain Officer in 2019. He served five years as Managing Director and Senior Vice President of Latin America. Previously, Mr. Isaias served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Spanish Latin America, overseeing all of Mattel’s operations in Latin America except Brazil. Prior to Mattel, Mr. Isaias worked for 12 years at Procter & Gamble in various commercial and supply chain leadership positions.
Mr. Isaias received a degree in Engineering at Universidad Anáhuac and an MBA from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. He is certified in Total Productive Maintenance by the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance.
With over 26 years of experience, I currently serve as the Chief Technology Officer of Amazon Canada, where I lead transformative initiatives across retail, supply chain, e-commerce, operations, and advanced AI & ML technologies. My work emphasizes digitization, privacy technology adherence as a Privacy Bar Raiser, and ensuring feature parity with the US across products and services. My responsibilities also include end-to-end technology, science, and analytics transformation, all aimed at enhancing efficiency and customer experience across Amazon Canada.
I am also a leadership coach, board advisor, and domain expert in supply chain technology. My work aligns with my commitment to driving innovation, fostering leadership, and mentoring professionals to achieve growth in their careers and organizations.
Dr. Noel Hacegaba is responsible for managing the day-to-day administration and operations of the Port of Long Beach. Previously, he served as the Port’s Chief Commercial Officer and successfully managed the Port’s commercial operations during a period of significant industry realignment and led the recovery of its largest terminal following the biggest bankruptcy in shipping line industry history.
Dr. Hacegaba has more than 24years of public and private sector experience spanning a variety of industries. Prior to joining the Port, he managed $200 million in contracts for a Fortune 500 company. Dr. Hacegaba is a graduate of the University of Southern California, where he earned degrees in economics, business administration, and urban planning. He also earned his doctorate degree in public administration from the University of La Verne.
He currently serves on the Boards of various industry and non-profit organizations, including the Marine Exchange of Southern California, the University of Denver Transportation Institute, and the Intermodal Association of North America (IANA), where he serves as Chairman of the Board.
Under Seroka’s direction, the Port created a Public Access Investment Plan in 2015 and has funded more than $230 million in public-serving waterfront infrastructure. Serokaeen an unprecedented number of community and visitor-serving projects along the LA Waterfront, including the public-private partnership with West Harbor, a major retail and dining development project.
While serving as Executive Director, Seroka has been appointed to serve on five federal committees to enhance the speed and efficiency of cargo movement and supply chain optimization, including the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee, U.S. Department of Commerce Advisory Committee on Supply Chain Competitiveness, U.S. Maritime Administration Marine Transportation System National Advisory Committee, Federal Maritime Commission Supply Chain Innovation Team and U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation’s former Port Performance Freight Statistics Working Group.
Seroka has also prioritized training and workforce development in the goods movement sector. He has spearheaded the planned Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach Goods Movement Training Campus, which will provide a centralized location to attract, recruit and retain workers in the logistics industry.
Seroka currently serves as Vice President for North America of the International Association of Ports and Harbors and on the Boards of Directors for the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority and Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. He is Chairman of the Executive Board for the USC Global Supply Chain Institute and serves on the Northwestern University Transportation Center Business Advisory Council.
Seroka’s footing in the maritime industry was established as a sales support representative at American President Lines (APL) Limited’s Cincinnati office in 1988. After several key overseas positions in China, Indonesia, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, he returned to the U.S. in 2010 to become President – Americas for the shipping line in Phoenix where he managed APL’s Liner Shipping business, including 1,000 employees, and was responsible for all commercial, port terminal, intermodal, land transportation and labor activities throughout the region. Seroka holds an MBA and Bachelor of Science in Marketing from the University of New Orleans.
Tod Burwell is the President & Chief Executive Officer of BAFT (Bankers Association for Finance & Trade). He is responsible for leading the association in its mission to provide thought leadership, best practices, advocacy, education and training, and a common industry voice for the global transaction banking community.
Mr. Burwell has over 35 years of trade, supply chain and cash management experience as a banking practitioner, and a consultant to global corporations and suppliers of strategically integrated international trade solutions.
Prior to joining BAFT, Mr. Burwell was a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase and held senior global management roles responsible for trade operations, launching the logistics business and managing global product sales for trade finance and logistics management. He began his career at Bankers Trust NY (subsequently Deutsche Bank), in various trade, cash and e-commerce roles, including the development of FI outsourcing, internet-based solutions, and B2B market exchanges.
Mr. Burwell has both undergraduate and master’s degrees from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. He serves on the board of the University of Washington Global Bankers Program, and the editorial board of Trade Finance Global. He was also a graduate Assistant Instructor at the Dale Carnegie Institute for Effective Public Speaking and Human Relations.
Wynn Austinis the Founder and CEO of Wynn's Kitchen, a natural food business on a mission to share authentic Asian flavors made from all-natural ingredients. Her best-selling, Keto-friendly, Sugar-Free Saté Asian Chili sauce is available at several retail partners, including Erewhon Market and Seaside Market, as well as online via Amazon.
Before her venture into the food industry, Wynn spent over a decade at a Fortune 500 financial institution, where she achieved the title of Vice President by managing a portfolio of high-net-worth clientele. She also founded and managed a luxury event planning firm for high-profile clients. Wynn's entrepreneurial skills, strong business acumen, and ability to cultivate key relationships have been central to her success. She holds a B.S. in Finance from San Diego State University.
Dimitri Geges is the Vice President of Operations at Levitt Foods (Branding Iron Ranch and Ranchers Processing), with 17 years of experience in the fresh produce and meat industry. A strategic leader and USC Marshall School of Business graduate, Dimitri specializes in global supply chain management, manufacturing, procurement, and operations. With a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and a passion for innovation, he is dedicated to driving industry growth, optimizing processes, and helping others achieve their professional goals.
Mr. Mount has been Senior Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer since August 2024 and brings over 30 years of experience in U.S. and global supply chain management and procurement. Most recently, from January 2023 until August 2024, Mr. Mount served as the Chief Supply Chain Officer for Zaxby’s, a privately held American fast casual chicken restaurant chain headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Prior to that, from 2017 until January 2023, Mr. Mount served as the Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Operations and Senior Vice President, Logistics and US Retail Supply Chain with Starbucks Coffee Company. From 2011 to 2017, Mr. Mount served as the Global Chief Supply Chain Officer with Yum! Brands where he focused heavily on margin improvements for the company’s three international brands. Prior to joining Yum! Brands, in addition to spending a period of time consulting, Mr. Mount held leadership roles in consumer products manufacturing with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Mr. Mount received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and his MBA from the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business.
John Moseley was named Chief Commercial Officer in 2018. He joined the Port of Houston Authority in 2010, successfully leading the port’s global sales efforts. Moseley started his career in international supply chain, maritime transportation and logistics and has held expanding roles in the U.S., Europe and Latin America with ocean carriers and beneficial cargo owners in addition to experience in the NVOCC, international freight forwarding and customs house brokerage sectors. Moseley earned a bachelor’s degree in international business administration from CaliforniaState University at Los Angeles and an MBA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Isenberg School of Management. In his current role, he is responsible for driving and executing Port Houston’s public terminal commercial strategy. He oversees Port Houston’s real estate, trade development and economic development departments, as well as administration of Harris County’s Foreign Trade Zone, the largest FTZ in the United States. Moseley actively serves as Vice Chairman of the Economic Alliance Houston Port Region and as well as the executive board of the Containerization & Intermodal Institute in New York/New Jersey. He is a board member of the Houston Export District Council and committee member of the International Trade and Investment Committee at the Greater Houston Partnership. As corporate fellow at the University of Houston Downtown, Marilyn Davies College of Business, Moseley actively participates in the classroom at the graduate level. Past contributions have included board positions with the American Metals Supply Chain Institute, having served as Chairman of the Ports Committee, President and CEO of the board of the Brazil-Texas Chamber of Commerce, as well as various boards including the International Transportation Management Association of Houston, Netherlands American Business Association, International Trade Club of So. California, and the Advisory Board of the Center for Logistics and Transportation Policy Program at the University of Houston, Main Campus.
Caryn is a Managing Director in Global Payment Solutions at Bank of America. She is Portfolio Head in Global Trade & Supply Chain. She joined the firm in 2019. Caryn serves as a Vice-Chair on the International Chamber of Commerce Banking Commission. She is part of the Women in Transaction Banking Council for the Banker’s Association for Finance & Trade. She was nominated for the Advocate for Diversity Award at the Women in Payments USA Symposium in 2024. She received a 2022 Latina to Watch award from the Association of Latino Professionals for America. She lives in New York City and previously held positions within global trade at J.P. Morgan where she worked for 12 years.
Kathryn Moncur is the IBM Global Consulting Leader, dedicated to supporting a Top 10 GISB Bank. She manages the IBM’s relationship across all IBM services and ecosystem partnerships.
She is an experienced strategy and finance leader with 20+ years of experience in roles of increasing scope, business scale and geographic reach. With a proven track record as a trusted and strategic advisor delivering business outcomes for IBM and its clients.
She has led cross discipline solution teams focused on delivering Data and Analytics at scale, Digital Transformation, Finance Transformation, Payments and Application Modernization.
Prior to her current role, she held key IBM executive roles including, Client Vice President supporting a large global credit card company, Global CFO Watson Financial Services & Promontory, and Global CFO Analytics Solutions.
Where she drove large scale projects to radically simplify the portfolio and execute divestments, as well as acquisitions and partnerships with a focus in Financials Services. She also steered a global cross-disciplined acquisition workstreams to transfer of business and employment, supporting scale and stability for a Risk and Regulatory acquisition.
She is passionate about identifying and developing the next generation of talent. She is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario in Finance and Economics with Distinction. An active Executive Board member and Treasury at Eskolta. And a Pilates and Dog enthusiast.
Lev Peker joined DFS in June 2025 as Chief Executive Officer. Lev’s background is in the auto aftermarket industry, and he brings a wealth of experience in replacement parts and supplies to DFS, with a particular focus on go-to-market strategy, customer acquisition, and exclusive brand development.
Lev joins DFS from CarID, where he served as CEO since 2023, leading one of the most comprehensive digital platforms for automotive parts and accessories. Prior to CarID, he was the CEO of CarLotz, a consignment-to-retail marketplace for used vehicles. During his tenure, he led a strategic turnaround and prepared the company for its merger with Shift Technologies. Before that, Lev served as CEO of CarParts.com, a leading e-commerce retailer of aftermarket automotive parts and accessories. Earlier in his career, Lev was Chief Marketing Officer at Adorama for over 3 years, where he led all marketing functions, including SEO, digital strategy, and customer experience.
Lev received his B.S. in Accounting from the University of Southern California and his M.B.A. from UCLA Anderson School of Management. Lev is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Carsten Jepsen is a supply chain and logistics executive and CEO of MVP Logistics, a full-service third-party logistics provider specializing in various transportation modes, warehousing and supply chain solutions across North America.
At MVP Logistics, Carsten leads the company’s strategy, growth, and organizational development with a clear focus on customer value creation by simplifying complex supply chains and improving end-to-end performance. Under his leadership, the company has built a reputation for high-touch service, flexible solutions, and speed of execution, leveraging a solutions-first operating model that prioritizes transparency and execution.
Before joining MVP Logistics, Carsten spent more than two decades in senior roles at large international organizations, where he led logistics, supply chain, and corporate development initiatives. His background combines operational leadership with strategic planning and commercial execution, including experience in complex, large scale transformations in multi-national environments.
Known for his pragmatic, value focused leadership style and strong bias for action, Carsten emphasizes accountability, clarity, and cross-cultural collaboration. He is passionate about developing high-performing teams and turning strategic ambition into real-world outcomes in today’s dynamic supply chain environment. Carsten believes that logistics is ultimately a relationship-driven business, where trust, transparency, and execution define success. He is currently focused on scaling MVP Logistics toward its next phase of growth and reinforcing its position as a trusted, solutions-oriented partner in the market.
Prof. Dr. Markus Mau, the head of the InstiBisognir Innovative Strategies and BVL – The German Logistics Association – representative for the EU and foreign affairs, was elected as President of ELA at the extraordinary general meeting held in Barcelona on June 6th 2023.
The representatives of the national associations, members of ELA, present in Barcelona also elected Konstantinos Haniotis (ILME organization in Greece) as a new Vice President and successor to Markus Mau in this office. The other two Vice Presidents remain Didier Granger (FRANCE SUPPLY CHAIN by Aslog) and Mirek Rumler (CSA, Czech Republic). The previous ELA President Paolo Bisogni (AILOG/Italy) was dismissed with thanks.
Bhavin Jindal is a Senior Manager at Amazon Freight, where he oversees operations responsible for 23% of Amazon's national Less-than-Truckload (LTL) throughput, generating approximately $285 million in annual revenue. Before his time at Amazon, Bhavin served as a Councilmember, he specializes in identifying operational gaps and building tools to solve them.
Bhavin believes most freight operations fail not due to bad technology or carriers, but because the right information doesn't reach the right person at the right time. He has built his career on closing this gap. His initiatives have led to significant results, including reducing logistics costs by $14 million through a visibility project and generating $47 million in new annual revenue by expanding LTL services.
Currently, he is focused on building AI tools that transform performance data into actionable signals for operations leaders. Before his time at Amazon, Bhavin served as a Councilmember for the City of Loma Linda, where he managed a $50 million municipal budget and led infrastructure and economic development projects.
Han Ryoo is a product management leader focused on strategic innovation through the application of AI, Machine Learning, and data analytics. By engineering supply chain knowledge graphs and integrating AI to drive both autonomous process automation and human-in-the-loop decision-making, Ryoogside Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designations.
A subject matter expert in supply chain digital enablement, logistics ontologies, and e-commerce fulfillment, Ryoo has led product development for large-scale global platforms. As Director of Product Management for Merchants & Logistics at Wish, he directed the roadmap for over 500,000 global merchants generating $7B in annual GMV. Overseeing international logistics for 2-3 million daily packages, he drove AI/ML and structured data initiatives to automate category prediction, metadata extraction, and policy violation detection.
Ryoo’s recent work focuses on deploying AI as an operational brain to make cross-border logistics frictionless for merchants and shippers. At Freight Right Global Logistics, he led the development of CartRight, a platform that empowers e-commerce merchants to expand globally by making freight shipping as simple as standard parcel integration. By engineering supply chain knowledge graphs and integrating AI to drive both autonomous process automation and human-in-the-loop decision-making, Ryoo directs cross-functional teams to detect anomalies, optimize global routing, and deliver end-to-end supply chain enablement.
Bethany Abbate is the Director of Artificial Intelligence Policy at the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA), a role to enhance SIIA’s advocacy and support for its members on critical AI-related policy issues at the state, federal and international levels. She has previous government affairs and consulting experience across a range of policy domains including technology, cybersecurity and financial services. Bethany’s academic credentials include a Bachelor of Arts in Civic Communication and Media from Willamette University and a Master of Arts in Strategy, Cybersecurity, and Intelligence from Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies (SAIS).
Tim Ryder leads Microsoft's US High Tech and Process Manufacturing Segments, where he helps enterprise customers thrive by fusing human judgment with AI-driven agents. He is passionate about building teams through culture, creating systems that serve customers, and developing unique solutions that drive business agility. Tim's expertise includes strategic planning, P&L responsibility, scaling company culture, and leading large distributed sales and field operations teams. He values inclusiveness, curiosity, and working on big ideas that help customers succeed in a competitive market.
Chad Engelgau is the CEO of Market Holdings and Innovairre, where he leads a global portfolio of multi-channel marketing agencies and technology providers serving nonprofits and mission-driven organizations.
He is focused on transforming marketing and fundraising through better creative, data, and technology coupled with disciplined global execution. Under his leadership, the company helps organizations improve donor acquisition, retention, reactivation, campaign performance, and fundraising efficiency.
Before joining Innovairre, Chad served as CEO and President of Acxiom, a global leader in data and marketing technology for Fortune 500 brands. His senior leadership roles included product management, sales, and marketing.
Chad writes and speaks about AI, data governance, marketing transformation, and the operating models required to help organizations turn intelligence into measurable growth.
Julio Andres Diaz is the Head of Lead Logistics for the North America Region at A.P. Moller - Maersk. He is a global supply chain and logistics executive with over a decade of leadership experience spanning Asia, Europe, and North America.
Specializing in supply chain transformation, Julio combines commercial leadership, operational modeling, and digital enablement skills to deliver measurable customer value. Throughout his career, he has successfully led multi-country teams and partnered with executive stakeholders across diverse industries, including retail, consumer goods, and industrials. Julio brings a global mindset and a strong drive for achieving outcomes over activity.
Professor & Director, Operations and Supply Chain Program
David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah
Professor Sundar is the Director of the Operations & Supply Chain Program at the David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah. In addition to teaching undergraduate and MBA/MHA students, she leads multiple Capstone projects in collaboration with leading U.S. companies operating in Utah. Dr. Sundar also serves as a preceptor in the award-winning Master of Business Creation (MBC) program and is an Academic Scholar at the Cornell Institute for Healthy Futures at Cornell University. Dr. Sundar has received numerous prestigious awards for teaching and mentorship at the University of Utah. In 2023, she was recognized as one of Utah’s 40 Women Over 40 and was recently named a Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative Fellow.
John Cordova is a transformative HR executive and business leader with over 25 years of experience driving exponential growth, operational excellence, and talent innovation across multiple industries including supply chain, retail, wholesale, manufacturing, and private equity. A proud US Army Veteran and bilingual leader fluent in both English and Spanish, John brings a rare combination of discipline, cultural fluency, and strategic vision to every organization he supports.
Currently serving as Global Chief Human Resources Officer at GCG® and President of HRforGrowth, John leads a dynamic international team developing, implementing, and supporting accelerated growth strategies across a diverse portfolio of companies. Since 2020, he has spearheaded the transformation of GCG’s global workforce—growing the organization from 20 to over 1,500 employees across North America, Asia, and Latin America.
With People Operations as the central focus and Talent Acquisition as the operational foundation for growth, John’s teams have, in the last six years, successfully placed over 7,000 employees across all levels—from warehouse staff to C-suite executives—while ensuring a steadfast commitment to cultivating diverse, inclusive, and people-first cultures.
An innovative leader and strategic partner, John has successfully combined industry expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, and a passion for empowering teams to achieve exceptional results. His leadership emphasizes aligning HR initiatives with business goals to accelerate growth, optimize organizational performance, and foster sustainable success—globally.
Christophe Kolb is the Founder & CEO of Taller, an organization that helps businesses move AI from impressive demos to reliable, large-scale deployment. Christophe is also the co-author of Cognitive Kin: How to Work, Win, and Make Meaning with Agentic AI (Simon & Schustervity, and accountability, while AI agents execute structured, repeatable, data-intensive tasks. Christophe believes this approach is a practical way to redesign how organizations create, deliver, and capture value, with governance and trusted oversight built in.
Under his leadership, Taller launched Echo, an AI platform for staffing and solutions firms. Echo unifies CRM and ATS data and uses AI agents to run end-to-end workflows across sales, solution design, and sourcing, turning early signals into measurable outcomes.
Christophe has spent his career at the frontiers of advanced technology—including neural networks, decentralized systems, and quantum computing—within the real-world constraints of industry. He has advised and built with leaders across fintech, retail, healthcare, energy, luxury goods, and software.
He holds a Ph.D. in Computation & Neural Systems from Caltech and a degree in Physics & Philosophy from Oxford. Christophe is also the co-author of Cognitive Kin: How to Work, Win, and Make Meaning with Agentic AI (Simon & Schuster, March 2026).
Abe Eshkenazi is the CEO of the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM). With over two decades of leadership experience, he has guided ASCM through significant growth, launching initiatives to promote sustainability and ethical practices. Under his leadership, ASCM has become a trusted resource for organizations navigating disruption. Abe collaborates with executives, policymakers, and educators to shape the future of supply chain management.
Andrea Adarmes is the Regional Head of Upskilling and Standardization for Maersk Contract Logistics, with 15 years of experience in the logistics and supply chain industry. A Production Engineer with a Master of Science in Global Supply Chain Management, Andrea is recognized for driving process efficiency, operational excellence, and workforce capability development.
Dr. Karen Eng has over 25 years of experience in the professional services/engineering industry and providing outstanding technical, financial, and operational service to align teams to successfully strategize and execute manufacturing solutions. As a CEO, she has a proven track record of developing successful global growth strategies that enable organizations to scale, innovate and expand market share.
Karen is the President and CEO of CSMI, a privately held engineering firm specializing in the FDA & USDA regulated industries. Karen’s career demonstrates her flexibility to work with small growing organizations to medium privately-owned companies to Fortune 100 corporations. Her close work with the Food Drug Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Agency, the International Trade Administration, and the Export-Import Bank of the United States has led CSMI to be one of the top engineering consulting services firms in both domestic and foreign markets.
Karen is a member of several prominent Boards, including National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce & Entrepreneurship (ACE) for which she serves as the current Foundation Board Chair.
She received her Bachelor of Science degree in both Biochemistry & Biology from the University of California, San Diego and her Doctorate of Optometry from the New England College of Optometry.
Michael Saludares is a project management professional with over 22 years of experience delivering complex engineering and automation programs across warehousing, material handling, and construction trades. He currently holds the position of Director, Project Management Office at Top Hat Engineering.
After obtaining a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, Michael began his career in manufacturing facilities, holding reliability engineering and maintenance roles prior to transitioning to project management executing projects as the customer but ultimately landing at industry leaders in the automation and integration space. His team focuses on enhancing customer processes through software and automated solutions.
He has installed a plethora of automation technologies and solutions including AutoStore, ASRS, DMS, AGV, gantry robots, Garment on Hangar, and GTP solutions to name a few.
Michael is a husband and father and actively serves as his sons’ grade school, middle school, and high school baseball teams as a hitting and catcher’s coach.
As the son of a former CEO at McKeany-Flavell, Craig began learning about the food & beverage industry at an early age. He officially started his career with the company in 1995 and for nearly 30 years has provided market expertise to numerous businesses in the food and beverage space.
Considered an expert in the North American sweetener markets, he provides counsel to several Fortune 500 food and beverage companies, providing a fundamental view of what is impacting the price of the ingredients they purchase. As an educator and market analyst his goal is to make everyone better at their job.
Craig’s work takes him key commodity production and manufacturing locations throughout the United States. During these visits he gathers information on the markets, distills it into usable intelligence and then disseminates it the company’s clients. He is often invited to speak at industry events such as the International Sweetener Colloquium, sponsored event of the Sweetener Users Association, the Symposium for the American Sugar Alliance, Sosland Publishing’s Purchasing Seminar, BIO Industry conference on bio-fermentation, International Sugar Organization (ISO), and many others. His market analysis is used equally by both the buy and sell side of sugar and corn sweeteners, all in the effort to help people improve and become more informed on the markets they serve.
Craig graduated with a BA degree in economics from Knox College in 1992.
Dr. Nicole Mau is full Professor at the swiss E.H.E. University. Nicole was top executive with the REWE group (one of the largest retailers in Europe with over Euro 53 bio. turnover and more then 350,000 employees) prior to this. Her positions included: establishing the department for business consulting and business development; international project management for top-strategic projects in several countries.
Nicole is co-founder of the international and interdisciplinary Start Up Smart City Concepts which develops intelligent, sustainable concepts for metropolitan regions and cities where ESG criteria are treated in an integrated manner.
With her international survey on globalization (supply, product quality, collaboration etc.) which attracted quite some media attention she had several appearances on German TV, radio, and newspapers.
An important milestone highlighting her long history in the ESG topics was her PhD research about Carbon Emission Trading (2004).
In the year 2000 MAU Consulting (mau-consulting.com), a boutique business consulting, was co-founded by Nicole. The management consultancy serves a wide range of ESG projects for family-owned enterprises and large international companies. Beside other industries the conjoint turnover of enterprises consulted in retail/wholesale is over 100 billion USD in the last years.
Since 2019 Nicole is Chairwoman of the Global Impartiality Network (GISN) of BSI.
Over the last years she published over 25 academic papers/books.
Dr. Krishna Sundar is a Professor of Clinical Internal Medicine and Director of the Sleep Medicine Program at the University of California, Davis. He is board-certified in Pulmonary Disease, Critical Care Medicine, Sleep Medicine, and Internal Medicine, and is a Fellow of the American Thoracic Society, the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, and the American College of Chest Physicians.
Dr. Sundar has extensive expertise in outpatient pulmonary and sleep medicine, and inpatient experience in ICU, trauma and hospital settings. He has served in mass disaster, bioethics and disaster preparedness committees within Intermountain Health Care and was the Director of Critical Care trials at Utah Valley regional medical center.
Stephanie Hughes is a dynamic leader with 30 years of experience in the shipping and logistics industry. As Global Client Manager at A.P. Moller Maersk, she drives End-to-End Global Supply Chain Logistics for Retail & Lifestyle Brands in the USA and serves as a Sustainability Ambassador. In 2024, she was honored as the Global Sales Master for North America.
Stephanie has held key roles, including Regional Sales Manager at MSC and National Trade Lane Manager, South Asia at GEODIS and DHL Global Forwarding. Her tenure at DHL included extensive travel in South Asia and a pivotal 2-year assignment in India.
Her success is fueled by continuous education and technological innovation, enabling her to find timely solutions. Stephanie serves on the Executive Board of the USC Marshall Randall R. Kendrick Global Supply Chain Institute, is affiliated with USiiC and IBG, and is on the Advisory Committee for the Port Houston International Maritime Conference.
Stephanie Hughes is a pragmatic leader whose blend of education and hands-on experience allows her to connect intuitively with diverse individuals, making her a standout in the global shipping and logistics arena.
Jon Poelma has held various leadership roles domestically and in foreign countries such as Singapore and Denmark. Holding roles such as Senior Director of Transpacific for Maersk, Director of Intermodal for Schneider National and President of Consolidated Chassis Management, Jon has built a depth of experience in various segments of intermodal transportation. He also held role of Vice Chairman IANA. Currently Jon serves on the boards of PMSA, Signal Mutual, and the Marine Mammal Care Center of Los Angeles.
In November 2019, Jon joined APM Terminals and was responsible for the $200 million modernization program and the terminal operations at Port Elizabeth, NJ.
In January 2022, Jon transferred from the East Coast to run APM Terminals Los Angeles with focus on major capital investments to modernize the facility.
Education Highlights:
Bachelor in Economics and Business Management from Cornell University (1996)
Masters in Transportation from University of Denver (2011)
MBA from Cornell University (2015)
Jennie Abarca is Owner of King Fio Trucking, LLC. My father was an auto-shop teacher and mechanic, so I grew up around engines, oil, and grease monkeys.I began my career in trucking at a very young age by helping a family friend who owned a trucking business. This blossomed into dispatching trucks. In 2013 I bought our first truck and King Fio was born! I have always loved the problem solving and resilience of this industry. After 11 years in business, we have grown to a 35-truck operation, 11 of those EV's. The next 10 years of my career I have solely dedicated into lowering our carbo emissions and becoming an early adopter of a zero emissions fleet.
Adam is a seasoned cleantech and non-profit executive, with deep experience in changemaking, clean energy and climate policy, legislative campaigns, regulatory processes, grassroots advocacy, collaborative partnerships, communications, and fundraising.
As the Chief Strategy Officer for Forum Mobility, a company working to electrify heavy-duty fleets and bring zero-emission goods-movement solutions to scale, Adam works to address roadblocks and accelerate effective mechanisms for the cost effective transition to zero-emission freight. Adam’s responsibilities for Forum Mobility also include policy, communications, and marketing.
Previously, Adam was the co-founder and Executive Director of Vote Solar, a national non-profit advocacy organization with the mission of a 100% clean and equitable energy system in the US. Founded in 2002, Vote Solar played a central role in making solar a mainstream energy source in the US, working on policy change in most of the states in the country.
Adam is on the boards of Power for All, an international non-profit working to bring distributed renewable energy to the ~1B people on the planet without power, and Canary Media.
Adam is a graduate of Swarthmore College, and served in the Peace Corps in Guinea-Bissau.
Daniel Salter is a seasoned coalition builder, specializing in uniting global companies to address complex sustainability challenges and drive tangible impact. As a Senior Engagement Manager for The Climate Pledge at Amazon, he was instrumental in scaling the initiative to over 600 companies. Currently, he leads the Electrifying Drayage Alliance (EDA), a global effort to fast-track the adoption of electric trucking in major port ecosystems.
Before his time at Amazon, Daniel spearheaded international projects at Tesco focused on forest protection and responsible sourcing within agricultural supply chains. His leadership included chairing a coalition of more than 200 companies and investors under the Cerrado Manifesto to combat land-use change in Brazil and fostering industry-wide collaborations for greater transparency in palm oil and soy sourcing.
Daniel holds a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development and Corporate Responsibility from EOI Business School.
Alex Albert is a senior operating executive and transformation leader with a proven track record of building scalable operating models that drive revenue growth and enterprise value. He specializes in owning the full operating lifecycle—from go-to-market planning to supply chain, fulfillment, and customer experience—for complex, high-growth global organizations.
A collaborative and data-driven leader, Alex partners with executive teams to translate strategy into execution. He is known for bringing structure to complexity and building high-performance teams that deliver durable results across DTC, eCommerce, retail, and B2B channels.
Charan Lalwani is the Vice President of Supply Chain Planning at Starbucks. Before joining in June 2025, he was the Head of Supply Chain & Logistics and Senior Director of Ops Analytics & Insights at Gopuff from October 2021 to June 2025.
Charan's earlier experience includes a six-year tenure at Amazon, where he served as a Senior Manager of Supply Chain, Senior Program Manager, and Planning Analyst. He began his career as a Supply Chain Manager at Universal Hosiery, Inc.
Charan holds a Master of Science in Global Supply Chain Management from the USC Marshall School of Business and a Bachelor of Science in Logistics, Materials, and Supply Chain Management from California State University, Northridge.
Kristina Soric, PhD, is the Business Department Chair and a professor at Rochester Institute of Technology Croatia, where she teaches Operations Management. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the Department of Mathematics at the University of Zagreb and completed her PhD in Applied Mathematics at the Department of Pure and Applied Mathematics, University of Padua, Italy. Her primary research interests include operations research, optimization, supply chain management, and operations management.
She is a member of the Croatian Operational Research Society, where she served as president from 2000 to 2004, as well as a member of the Croatian Mathematical Society. Throughout her academic career, she has published numerous scientific and professional papers in journals indexed in relevant databases, as well as on specialized supply chain management platforms.
Kristina has collaborated with companies across Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, including Konzum d.d., Bambi d.d., Vivera d.o.o., Podravka d.d., SDA Croatia d.o.o., Atlantic d.o.o., and Tokic d.o.o. She is currently co-coordinating the EU Interreg project DINAMIC DANUBE, with a total budget of €2.4 million and involving 17 partners from 13 European countries. The project focuses on agri-food short supply chains and aims to develop a new educational curriculum for relevant stakeholders.
She is also the founder of Luyouma, a platform dedicated to the education, promotion, and implementation of supply chain management practices (www.luyouma.com). In addition, she holds a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification and is a certified trainer for The Fresh Connection simulation.
Sun Kwok is an Enterprise Leader who excels at the intersection of scale, technology, and capital efficiency. His career is focused on transforming complex operations into high-yield economic engines.
As a VP at Niagara Bottling for the past six years, Sun has held full P&L responsibility for the Supply Chain Engineering and Automation arm. By treating technology as a capital allocation lever, his team consistently delivered a minimum 6x annual ROI, scaling operations through AI-driven process reengineering. Before his corporate career, Sun was a serial entrepreneur, launching two successful ventures before age 24.
Beyond his executive role, Sun serves as a bridge between industry and academia. He has spent 15 years advising boards at UCLA, CalPoly Pomona, and UC Fullerton to ground future leaders in technical pragmatism. He is also a frequent keynote speaker on AI and Supply Chain at institutions like MIT and USC.
Fred Gilbert is a seasoned leader with over 25 years of experience in the global supply chain and logistics industry. He specializes in building and scaling contract logistics businesses by designing innovative solutions, securing complex deals, and cultivating strong teams.
Currently, Fred leads Product Strategy & Growth Enablement for North America Contract Logistics at A.P. Moller – Maersk. In this role, he oversees a $1.5B+ business and manages a team of over 20 senior sales leaders focused on delivering integrated logistics solutions across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.
Fred has a proven track record of driving significant growth and has closed landmark deals, including a $250M omni-channel fulfillment agreement. His expertise spans scalable omni-channel fulfillment, automation deployment, and designing resilient supply chains. Known for being a hands-on leader, Fred excels at translating strategy into execution while building strong, long-term customer relationships founded on honesty and accountability.
Andy Call is Dean of the Leventhal School of Accounting and the Alan Casden Dean’s Chair at the University of Southern California. He graduated with a PhD in accounting from the University of Washington, after earning his MAcc capital markets, managers’ forward-looking earnings guidance, the role of the media in disseminating accounting information, and the involvement of employee whistleblowers in the discovery of financial misreporting. His research has been published in leading academic journals, including Journal of Accounting and Economics, Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, and Review of Accounting Studies, and has been featured in many prominent media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, CFO Magazine, The Motley Fool, and CNBC. Professor Call currently serves as an editor at The Accounting Review, has taught financial reporting topics to both undergraduate and graduate students, and has received numerous teaching and research awards.
Prior to joining the Leventhal School of Accounting, Professor Call served as the Director of the School of Accountancy at Arizona State University and began his career as an assistant professor of accounting at the University of Georgia. He graduated with a PhD in accounting from the University of Washington, after earning his MAcc and BS degrees in accounting at Brigham Young University.
Randall R. “Randy” Kendrick is the founder of Xebec, a national logistics real estate platform and has served as its CEO since inception in 1996. He leads the company’s development, acquisition, and capital markets strategies while serving as Chairman of its Executive Committee. Randy has close to 40 years of experience in logistics real estate.
In 2021, Kendrick acquired Sandow Lakes and currently serves as CEO of the Sandow Lakes Ranch Venture, LLC (“SLR”). The project consists of approximately 33,000 acres of land. With this acquisition, SLR became one of the largest private owners of fully permitted and vested water rights in the state as well as one of the largest electrical infrastructure projects in the state.
As part of the master plan for Sandow Lakes, Xebec is developing ‘The Switch’ – a world class Advanced Manufacturing & Logistix Campus. Upon completion, the 3,300-acre “Mega Site” will be home to some 35 million SF of modern advanced manufacturing and logistics space.
In 2024, Mr. Kendrick spearheaded the establishment of Sandow Lakes Energy Company (“SLEC”), with focus on developing a 1,200 Mega Watt Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (“CCGT”) plant at Sandow Lakes. As CEO of SLEC, he is dedicated to bringing the nation’s most efficient CCGT plant online by the end of the decade.
During the pandemic, Kendrick also established a Class A soundstage business in Sylmar, CA. Sylmar Studios will complete construction in 2025. The company is also developing sound stages, and recording and creator studios in Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY.
Kendrick earned a BS in business administration from USC and completed the University’s Real Property Development and Management Program in 1986. As a patron to USC and Marshall Business School, he endowed the Kendrick Global Supply Chain Institute to be a global leader in the study of supply chain technologies.
With over 30 years of experience, Vince Iacopella is the Chief Strategy Officer at Alba Wheels Up International LLC. Olafsonzes in managing global customer relationships in Transpacific markets, particularly with imports and exports considered trade-sensitive by US agencies like CBP and the FDA.
As part of the senior management team, Vince drives growth through strategic development, mergers and acquisitions, and the exploration of new markets and services, including e-commerce. He focuses on fostering collaboration between the private sector and government agencies, such as his work with the Commercial Customs Operations Advisory Committee (COAC), to align commercial practices with regulatory policy.
Vince is a licensed Customs Broker and the 2020 recipient of the Stanley T. Olafson award.
Kate Jostworth is the Head of Business Development for First Mile Drayage and Depot products for USA for Maersk. Her scope includes solution design, pricing, and performance for customers needing trucking services for their intact ocean containers across 12+ trucking terminals and brokerage functions. This represents a portfolio of over 600,000 truck moves a year. Kate has 20 years of experience within the Maritime Logistics Industry across Operations, Procurement, and Commercial functions. Kate holds a Master of Science in Supply Chain Management from the University of Tennessee, where she completed her master’s thesis on the operational considerations to balance a dual fleet of diesel and battery electric Class 8 trucks. Her research continues as she assists Maersk with the development plans to enable the transition from diesel to BEV to support Maersk 2040 Sustainability goals. Kate believes in the power of collective giving to empower women and the communities they live and is a member of Together Women Rise and Women’s Impact Fund to bring this belief into practice.
Robert Khachatryan is the founder and CEO of Freight Right Global Logistics. Robert’s first brush with business was selling newspapers in the streets of Yerevan at the age of 9. The son of a microbiologist turned businessman Robert always had a unique appreciation for both commerce and science.
Robert Khachatryan is a member of the board of advisors of The Randall R. Kendrick Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Southern California (USC).
Robert started Freight Right in 2007 out of his 2-bedroom Los Angeles apartment. He was so convinced that there was a better way of freight forwarding that he made the leap and started the company in the 2007-08 economic crisis, armed with nothing more than a borrowed credit card, a young immigrant’s drive, and an ambitious goal of building a world-class logistics company. Over the following 16 years, Freight Right built its reputation on stellar execution first, then transformed itself through technology. Aside from the continuous development of its proprietary tech, Freight Right is an authority on emerging supply chain technology and the go-to launch partner for some of the biggest innovators of the logistics industry.
Robert has been a contributor to the Journal of Commerce, Bloomberg, FreightWaves, The Los Angeles Times, Forbes, and several other prominent publications on the topics of logistics and supply chain technology. Robert has been a featured speaker at the Transpacific Maritime Conference (TPM), Freightos FreighTech, USC Supply Chain Summit, and more.
Maia Benson is the Chief Commercial Officer for GCG, bringing over 20 years of experience building and scaling SaaS businesses in high-growth corporate environments. She is recognized for her transformative work as Shopify’s second U.S. employee, wherecustomer-obessedng and fulfillment into $Bs in shipping spend, $1 billion investment in Shopify Fulfillment Network and investments in Six River Systems and GlobalE. Before GCG, Maia scaled venture-backed FlavorCloud as their Chief Business Officer partnering with the best global 3PLs in the market and lead Pitney Bowes into the multi carrier shipping world by building and scaling SendPro. An active investor, Board member, and dedicated educator, her career is marked by customer-obessed and data-driven GTM rooted in entrepreneurial first principles and passion for accelerating global commerce and logistics into the AI age.
Alexandria Collis is an operations and customer experience executive recognized for driving growth and transformation in the ecommerce and retail sectors. Most notably, she spent nearly 7 years scaling Princess Polly – the largest brand in the a.k.a. Brands portfolio and one of the fastest growing fashion companies worldwide. There, she partnered directly with the Co-CEOs and a.k.a. Brands leadership on board level strategies shaping global operations, customer experience, and U.S. retail expansion.
She was among the first U.S. leaders at Princess Polly, building the customer experience function from the ground up before expanding into full operational leadership. She scaled operations to millions of annual orders, reduced unit costs, and drove AI/automation from 0% to 65% while leading omnichannel innovation. She expanded global support to serve millions of customers, sustaining CSAT above 90%. She also designed and executed the U.S. retail blueprint, launching the brand’s flagship store with record setting traffic and national press coverage, and represented Princess Polly at its NYSE IPO.
Alexandria has been recognized globally as a Top 50 Woman Leader in Consumer Products & Retail and a Retail TouchPoints 40 Under 40 honoree, in addition to multiple Stevie and Globee Awards including Executive of the Year. Her thought leadership and work has been featured in Forbes, WWD, Bloomberg, Vanity Fair, and more.
Drawing on her background as a professional athlete, Alexandria brings resilience, discipline, and a performance driven mindset to leadership. She is a visionary, passionate about building scalable ecosystems, breaking down silos, and empowering teams to deliver innovation, growth, and long term value creation.
Pawan Joshi joined e2open in 2003 and serves as Chief Strategy Officer, responsible for driving corporate strategy and growth through strategic client engagement and break-through innovation. He works closely with executive leadership to develop the company’s vision and strategy and deepen market understanding of e2open’s capabilities and value, in addition to partnering with clients in their journeys to world-class supply chain performance. Over his two decades with e2open, Pawan has held multiple leadership roles in Product Management, Professional Services and Sales.
Prior to joining e2open, he spent three years at i2 Technologies in Product Management, where he helped companies in the manufacturing, transportation and retail sectors optimize key business processes for maximum profitability.
Pawan received his undergraduate degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (New Delhi) in manufacturing sciences and engineering. He then completed his master’s degree in manufacturing systems engineering and ultimately his Ph.D. in industrial engineering at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison. Pawan has also taught graduate courses in manufacturing systems and distributed supply chains.
David Angus Reeve, VP Supply Chain Operations and Manufacturing has served on paid staff at the American Red Cross Biomedical Services for 44 years and as a volunteer for 10 years from high school through graduate school. David is responsible for a variety of functions including 5 manufacturing facilities in the northeast, the plasma sample management facility in Birmingham, AL, 18 biomedical warehouses and 17 supply kitting centers across the nation, and 4 disaster response warehouses. His chain of command also directs the supply delivery logistics to blood daily mobile operations, fixed site locations, blood processing labs, and blood product distribution locations. He also oversees biomedical equipment maintenance and repair, and the implementation of complex transformational programs and projects. David has served in a variety of regional and national leadership positions during his tenure. He has graduate degrees in Business Administration and Healthcare Administration. David has completed numerous marathons and half marathons; he also has served on multiple domestic and international mission trips.
Nayan Khamar is the Director of Server Demand Planning at Microsoft and a seasoned leader in Supply Chain Planning & Operations. With extensive experience across the cloud, retail, and consumer goods sectors, Nayan excels at building award-winning teams and leading transformational change. His expertise lies in strategic thinking, process & product innovation, and integrating analytics to drive business results.
With over 15 years of experience, I specialize in acquisition planning, solicitation development, and contract execution across diverse contract types. My work has contributed to key organizational initiatives, including introducing a “2-Step ITB” acquisition strategy that streamlined processes at the directorate level. Recognized as Subcontracts Manager of the Year in 2025, I continue to support cross-functional teams as an SET Chair and advisor, advancing procurement excellence through collaboration and innovative sourcing strategies.
I contribute to fostering leadership and organizational growth while pursuing a Master’s in Global Supply Chain Management. My expertise in contract management, A.I., emotional intelligence, and team-building underpins my mission to drive operational efficiency and strategic partnerships in complex procurement environments.
Kraig Conrad is CEO of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) and Chair of the Commerce & Contract Management Institute (CCM Institute). Since 2018, he has led NCMA’s growth and global impact, advancing the Contract Management Standard™ (CMS™) and expanding partnerships, including with WorldCC. He brings over 20 years of association leadership, including as CEO of PRMIA and roles at NIRI, AFP, and the Corporate Executive Board. He holds a BA in Economics from USC and an MBA from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is a Certified Association Executive and serves on several advisory boards in the contracting field.
Dustin Pavon is Director of Supply Chain at Parker Manufacturing Group, where he architects and oversees end-to-end supply chain operations across three manufacturing facilities — encompassing procurement and supplier strategy, production planning, warehousing, logistics, and information systems. He has spearheaded complex M&A integration initiatives, consolidating multi-site operations under a unified supply chain framework to drive efficiency and scalability. Prior to Parker, Dustin built industry expertise across global freight and logistics at Flexport and distribution operations at Bisco Industries. He holds a Master of Science in Global Supply Chain Management from USC Marshall and a Bachelor of Science in Business and Mathematics from the University of Redlands.
Maneesh Apte is a seasoned Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur with a proven track record of building and scaling cutting-edge software companies. He is the CEO and Co-Founder of Parker AI.
Before founding AI Parker and Real Simple Labs, Maneesh served as CTO of Popstar, an AI-powered video shopping platform, and was a founding engineer at ThoughtSpot, an enterprise AI company now valued at over $4 billion. At ThoughtSpot, he earned multiple patents for pioneering AI search algorithms, showcasing his expertise in innovation and technology.
Maneesh holds a degree in computer science from Stanford University, where he distinguished himself as a Mayfield Fellow and class president. When he’s not revolutionizing industries, you’ll find him surfing or golfing along California’s beautiful coast.
Nilay Parikh is the founder and CEO of Arvist, a company focused on helping warehouses and logistics operators achieve real-time quality assurance and compliance using AI and existing infrastructure. Nilay’s vision is to make technology practical and accessible, enabling businesses to solve everyday operational challenges without adding complexity.
Prior to founding Arvist, Nilay spent a decade in the supply chain industry. His career spans advanced manufacturing, technology, and global supply chain operations, where he has led initiatives such as setting up centers of excellence and leading global software teams across regions. Nilay holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Southern California.
Beyond Arvist, Nilay is a hands-on builder with a lifelong interest in engineering and design. He has built everything from a 4D printer to a racecar, reflecting his curiosity and drive to turn ideas into practical solutions. Having lived on three continents and speaking four languages, he values diverse perspectives and global collaboration.
Brent joined City National Bank in 2015, based in Los AngelesPrior to City National Bank, Brent worked with Cargill, structuring and distributing global trade and supply chain transactions, and Vanguard as a fixed income asset manager covering the energy sectorBrent earned his B.S. in finance from the University of Arizona, an MBA from UCLA Anderson, and is a CFA charter holderBrent has 20 years of global markets experience with focus on supply chain finance
PhD, Stanford Business School; MBA, American University in Cairo; BSEE, Cairo University. Expertise in digital business strategy in messy environments, business models for digital platforms, real-time management. Director of Research for Marshall’s Institute for Communications Technology Management 2001-2007. Inducted Fellow of Association of Information Systems in 2008. 7-time winner of Society for Information Management’s Annual Paper Award. Senior Editor of MIS Quarterly and founding Associate Editor of Information Systems Research. UNDP advisor in Egypt, Fulbright scholar in Finland, field projects in Dubai and Denmark. Received 2021 USC Marshall Faculty Mentoring & Leadership Award.
Brexton is the Global Co-Head of Compute Infrastructure across Cantor/BGC/Newmark where he leads cross-group efforts on all things physical AI and compute infrastructure including frontier labs, hyperscalers, data centers, manufacturing, power/energy, robotics, space, defense, and everything in between.
Feng Chen is an operations management scholar. Her research interests include process analysis, supply chain management and supply chain analytics, and experimental study of behavioral impact on operations decision making. She teaches courses of operations management and data analysis for decision making. Feng received her Ph.D. in business administration from University of Southern California
Dr. Burns is an Associate Professor of Management Science and Supply Chain Management at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), joining UAH in 2009 as a group hire between the College of Business and the College of Engineering. Laird Burns is a supply chain, quality and reliability, big data, data analytics and complex systems researcher with more than 30 years of industry and government experience spanning more than 100 organizations in over thirty industries across five continents, including as an expert witness in supply chain management, operations management, engineering management, and forecasting. He earned his Ph.D. from Michigan State University, focusing on supply chain disruptions and resilience, with an emphasis on complex systems.
He is a co-inventor of industry-leading artificial intelligence (AI) enhanced forecasting algorithms and reliability algorithms that overcome many “unforecastable” challenges in complex supply chains, particularly for long-life highly engineering systems (through his business, Burns Research LLC). He interests and experience are in complex AI-driven forecasting applications – particularly for system sustainment components and subsystems and other highly engineered long-life systems, AI-driven reliability analytics for highly engineered long-life systems, business process mapping and process improvement, advanced analytics and dashboards, performance metrics, enterprise data systems, supply chain disruptions and resilience, supply chain strategy & design, supply chain innovation, supply chain risk for large scale engineered systems, autonomous vehicles, smart energy grids, dynamics of integrated supply networks, computer modeling, systems engineering, and complex systems.
Dr. Burns previously held national and international automotive quality certifications through Automotive Industry action Group (AIAG) as Lead Assessor in TS-16949, QS-9000, TE-9000 and ISO-9000; as well as automotive certifications in Reliability and Maintainability (R&M), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA); Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA), Statistical Process Control (SPC); Production Part Approval Process (PPAP); and Advanced Product Quality Process and
Control Plans (APQP).
Prior to earning his Ph.D. in Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University he had more than twenty years of industry experience. He has extensive experience in the following non-exhaustive list of industries: defense – U.S. Army weapon systems, additive manufacturing, aviation, aerospace, aluminum closures, automotive components & automotive assembly, autonomous vehicles, bearings, coatings (plating, vapor deposition, nano), computers, destructive & non-destructive testing, distribution, electrical energy production (smart grid, solar), energy storage, facilities design and layout, food (red meat, poultry, processed foods, commercial bread/bakeries, commercial confectionery), forgings, furniture, governmental agencies, high precision manufacturing, industrial equipment design & manufacturing, international export and import, logistics, material handling, materials, metallurgical testing & analysis, missiles, primary metals, remanufacturing, residential products and services, services, solar energy, space launch systems, stamping, thermal processes, technical paint, and transportation.
Mr. Mount has been Senior Vice President, Chief Supply Chain Officer since August 2024 and brings over 30 years of experience in U.S. and global supply chain management and procurement. Most recently, from January 2023 until August 2024, Mr. Mount served as the Chief Supply Chain Officer for Zaxby’s, a privately held American fast casual chicken restaurant chain headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Prior to that, from 2017 until January 2023, Mr. Mount served as the Senior Vice President, Supply Chain Operations and Senior Vice President, Logistics and US Retail Supply Chain with Starbucks Coffee Company. From 2011 to 2017, Mr. Mount served as the Global Chief Supply Chain Officer with Yum! Brands where he focused heavily on margin improvements for the company’s three international brands. Prior to joining Yum! Brands, in addition to spending a period of time consulting, Mr. Mount held leadership roles in consumer products manufacturing with Coca-Cola and PepsiCo. Mr. Mount received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business and his MBA from the Santa Clara University Leavey School of Business.
Sean Elmurib is the GTM Lead at BackOps AI, a Series A startup developing an AI resolution layer for supply chain and logistics operations. In this role, he works cross-functionally to ensure customer needs are accurately translated into product delivery. Prior to joining BackOps, Sean spent six years in early-stage venture investing with a focus on supply chain technology, an experience through which he first became acquainted with the BackOps team and was ultimately compelled to join them.
Scott Garger is a Sales Director at Creditsafe where he focuses his 15 years of experience in the Business Credit field on helping companies improve cash flow and manage Credit Risk. Prior to joining Creditsafe, Scott held various executive sales positions at Dun & Bradstreet where he leveraged his work experience as a Commercial and Residential Loan Originator for a prestigious brokerage house. Scott attended Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA and majored in International Studies. He has also received an RGCP designation from the ICTF through the Thunderbird School of Global Management. Scott is an avid golfer and sports enthusiast.
Yesinne Alvarez currently serves as Director of Partnerships and Alliances for Creditsafe and supports the Trade Data Team. Yesinnea leadership professional with diverse discipline expertise in Relationship Management, Project Management, Business Development and Talent Acquisition. Yesinne began her career in International Credit Management with Thermo Fisher Scientific and International Paper. She transitioned to Executive Recruiting with a Focus on the Credit Discipline and later Information Technology.
Throughout her career she has volunteered her time to speak on the subjects of Best Practices in the Order to Cash Discipline, Management and Leadership skills for Credit Executives and the impact of Automation on Credit & A/R . She interviews and speaks with hundreds of Order to Cash professionals across many disciplines to track trends and share insights.
Prior to joining Creditsafe, Yesinne was Chief Development and Strategy Officer for the Credit Research Foundation, a not-for-profit association focused on education to the Credit to Cash community. She has previously served as the President of the Federation of Credit & Financial Professionals, a former NACM Affiliate in the Northeast. Yesinne is a graduate of Seton Hall University.
In his capacity as Director of Global Supplier Credit Risk for Nestle USA, Alvin collaborates with Procurement Leaders around the globe and is responsible for the financial evaluation of vendors supplying Nestle markets around the globe.
Alvin served as Chair for several industry Credit groups and served as Chair of the Carnation Credit Union. Alvin is on the Board of Credit Management Association (CMA) where he spearheaded the implementation of the first supply chain risk management group. Alvin has a Master of Science Degree in Global Supply Chain Management from USC, an MBA from the University of La Verne, and a Master of Science Degree in Leadership also from the University of La Verne. Alvin is on the planning committee of USC’s Center for Global Supply Chain Management and is a graduate from cohort 1 of USC’s Masters in Global Supply Chain Management.
Henry Pray is General Manager of the Logistics Venture Lab, a partnership between UP.Labs and J.B. Hunt building the next generation of AI-powered ventures for freight and logistics. His work spans ventures creation to automate freight execution for carriers increasing invoice accuracy and accounting for trucking companies and freight brokers. Henry previously led product for ventures across energy, industrial goods, and green tech at BCG, and built product at CreatorIQ.
Sriram Dasu’s research interests focus on sustainability, including peak load energy management and maintenance of energy distribution systems to reduce wildfire risks. He also studies mass customization and supply chain management. In healthcare, his work applies data science to improve healthcare operations. His work has been published in Queuing Systems, Operations Research, and Management Science. He has served as associate editor of Management Science and senior editor of Manufacturing and Service Operations. He has published a book on design of service operations by leveraging principles of consumer psychology.
Tawanda Starms joined Din Tai Fung North America (DTF) in 2024 as Chief People Officer, where she leads the People & Culture department with a strategic mandate to drive business performance by elevating the team member experience. In her role, she oversees the full spectrum of people operations—including talent acquisition and retention, total rewards strategy, payroll, employee relations and organizational effectiveness—while championing DTF’s mission to set the highest standards in caring for people.
With a future-forward perspective, Tawanda is actively shaping the next chapter of DTF’s growth by building a high-impact human resources function, implementing scalable systems and technologies, as well as cultivating a culture of excellence. Her focus is on developing high-performing teams and empowering leaders at all levels to thrive, ensuring the company’s long-term success is powered by its people. Under her leadership, DTF’s employer value proposition of ‘we care’ is rooted in every initiative to ensure each team member’s career, physical and financial well-being.
Before joining DTF, Tawanda served as the Chief People Officer at Vacasa, where she architected the people strategy and employer branding from the ground up. She also held multiple senior HR leadership roles at Chipotle and Taco Bell, driving transformation across complex, high-growth environments. Known for her pragmatic, business-minded approach and deep commitment to human-centric leadership, Tawanda consistently helps organizations align talent with strategy creating company cultures where individuals are valued, heard, and positioned to succeed.
As President of NNR GSP Inc, Jeff McDonald is the global leader of large multinational customers who seek to grow, innovate, and transform their business value. Specializing in building high-performing, collaborative teams, and driving strategic growth across borders, Jeff brings over 17 years of expatriate experience in Shanghai, Singapore, and Australia. Jeff has successfully led market entry and expansion efforts, strengthening partnerships with some of the world’s most respected global companies.
Jeff’s leadership is focused on delivering results and scaling operations with purpose and precision. He holds a joint MBA from the University of Southern California and Jiaotong University’s Antai School of Economics, as well as a B.S. in Marketing from Miami University. Additionally, Jeff studied International Business at Kansai Gaidai University in Japan.
As President of Delta Airlines Cargo to Delta Air Lines, Peter brings more than three decades of experience in various roles across the air cargo, freight forwarding and logistics sectors. Prior to joining Delta, he served as the Chief Operating Officer – Airfreight at CEVA Logistics, and in 2021 he was named Cargo Executive of the Year by Air Cargo World.
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) is the U.S. global airline leader in safety, innovation, reliability and customer experience. With our mission of connecting the people and cultures of the globe, Delta strives to foster understanding across a diverse world and serve as a force for social good.
John Parkinson has extensive international experience providing business, technology and communication strategy services to select global clients and private equity investment advisors to identify growth opportunities in emerging areas of technology and media. John has written or edited five books on information systems development and has contributed over 40 papers to conferences and journals. He writes a monthly column – “Strong Signals” – for CIO Insight and is a member of their editorial advisory board. He is a frequent speaker at international meetings on innovation, technology strategy, emerging technologies and related topics. John’s experience includes a senior executive role at Axis Capital, Chief Technology Officer for TransUnion and CapGemini, and a senior partner with Ernst and Young.
John has a BS in Mathematics (with minors in economics and behavioral psychology) and an MS in Information Sciences, both from University of Exeter, UK. An example of his work is included in the Computerworld-Smithsonian collection.
Jennifer Guarino-Strawn is currently Senior Vice President Global Procurement at A2 Global Electronics with over 25 years of experience in all aspects of domestic and international supply chain solutions for the semiconductor ecosystem. She leads a strong, transformational team, who rise to the occasion of solving difficult customer problems in addition to foundational sourcing needs. Jen has a proven track record of adapting strategies to changing organizational goals to drive cost control and quality. Collaborating with cross-functional teams to scale and grow global organizations, Jen blends supplier relations, strategic planning, commercial customer needs, finance and technology into formational advantage for her customers.
With over 15 years of experience in sales leadership and business development, I am passionate about transforming the supply chain industry through automation and AI-driven solutions. My background includes senior roles at Amazon and leading global sales teams that have generated significant revenue across logistics, telecommunications, and technology sectors.
As the founder of BackOps.ai, I’m focused on helping businesses revolutionize their supply chain operations. From automating manual processes to enhancing real-time decision-making, my mission is to make organizations more efficient, agile, and cost-effective. I excel at building scalable sales teams, driving strategic partnerships, and fostering cross-functional collaboration to unlock new growth opportunities.
With a strong foundation in sales strategy, stakeholder management, and operational efficiency, I’m committed to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in supply chain and logistics.
Stefan is President of Aviation Ventures at UP.Labs, where he works with strategic partners to identify high-value problems, shape AI-native businesses around them, and take them from concept to first customer. His role spans the full 0→1 arc: problem discovery, business design, prototyping, team formation, founder hiring, and converting the strategic partner into the first real customer.
Before UP.Labs, he co-founded and sold Zunos, then joined Bigtincan and helped scale product from $10M to $100M+ ARR across 500 enterprise customers, 2,000+ deployments, and more than 2M end users. Along the way he led M&A diligence and integration, and started driving the company’s AI strategy in 2022, well ahead of the market shift that followed.
I have had the privilege of gaining extensive knowledge and expertise in the field of supply chain and logistics over the course of my 25-year career. My experience has allowed me to become a respected authority in this domain, known for my ability to navigate complex challenges with confidence and precision.
As the Global Key Account Manager at Röhlig Logistics, I am entrusted with the important task of cultivating and managing relationships with our valued global clients. Through my dedication and commitment to excellence, I ensure that our clients’ needs are not only met but exceeded, earning their trust and loyalty.
I possess a wide range of skills and qualifications that set me apart. With my analytical prowess, market insight, and commitment to Lean Six Sigma Green Belt principles, I am able to create customized logistics solutions that optimize operations and drive tangible results for our clients.
Throughout my career, I have consistently delivered outstanding outcomes in highly competitive environments. My strategic leadership has driven revenue growth, expanded market share, and increased profitability for multinational enterprises both locally and internationally. My expertise includes Lead Logistics Provision, Lead Logistics Management, Integrated Logistics, and Transportation Management Services.
I am not only a leader in the logistics industry but also a recognized influencer on a global scale. As a speaker and board member, I have shaped the direction of the supply chain and logistics field. Additionally, I hold certifications in Community Emergency Response Team and Ocean Lifeguard, reflecting my commitment to excellence and dedication to the well-being of others.
In conclusion, my unwavering commitment to providing exceptional customer service, continuously improving processes, and fostering operational excellence sets me apart as a trusted professional in the field of supply chain and logistics. With a focus on achieving results and exceeding expectations, I am ready to elevate Röhlig Logistics and its esteemed clients to new levels of success.
Chad Stricklin is a supply chain, operations, and program development leader with more than 25 years of experience designing and advancing the end-to-end retail supply chain supporting Disney Parks and Resorts. His work focuses on optimizing inventory, space, processes, and logistics flow to improve operational excellence, speed to market, scalable growth, and long-term sustainability.
Today, Chad is helping shape the future of Disney’s supply chain by defining the end state first, then designing the processes, capabilities, and technology required to deliver it. He also brings that same approach to leading the Digital Guest Experience & Wireless Services team within Program Development at Disneyland Resort, enabling better Guest and Cast experiences through devices, connectivity, processes, and protection.
Outside of Disney, Chad volunteers as a Group Leader with The Supply Chain Project (TSCP), collaborating across industry, academia, nonprofits, and technology to advance best practices and help establish an operating model that redirects underutilized resources toward greater business, community, and human value.
Chad is grounded in his faith, a commitment to serving others through work in Baja, and adoptive fatherhood, all of which continue to shape how he leads.
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