23-25 October - Phoenix, AZ
2022 Elite Americas
Post-Event Resources
Post-Event Survey
CEU Certificate Request
Sessions and Presentation Downloads
Day 2: Conference Programming / Monday, October 24, 2022
Monday, October 24, 2022 / 9:15 AM - 9:45 AM PST
Danny Thompson
SVP, Market & Product Strategy,
apexanalytix
Danny Thompson is VP of Market and Product Strategy at apexanalytix and is responsible for defining, communicating and leading our company’s software product strategy and roadmap. He works closely with our customers to ensure that each solution helps them meet their business objectives. Danny has a proven track record in the procure-to-pay arena, with a strong background in ERP implementation, process automation and financial shared services. He previously was VP of Product Management at Tungsten Network, a global business-to-business e-invoicing firm. He also is a former global process driver for invoice-to-pay at Pfizer. Danny earned his B.A. from Harding University.
Monday, October 24, 2022 / 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM PST
Breakout Sessions - Round 1
How to Set Up and Drive Supplier Diversity Programs
Learn, from both a buyer and diverse supplier, how to make an impact with your supplier diversity program.
Chuck Stefanosky
Supplier Diversity Director,
Independence Blue Cross
Chuck Stefanosky is a distinguished award winning supply chain and supplier diversity and inclusion strategist. Chuck is Independence Blue Cross’s Supplier Diversity Director and is responsible for leading their best-in-class and award winning supplier diversity program. He is also a frequent speaker and panelist on topics related to strategic sourcing and supplier diversity. Additionally, in positions with previous employers Mr. Stefanosky has experience directing a broad range of both administrative and finance functions including, accounts payable, accounts receivable, logistics support, project management, human resources, procurement, strategic sourcing, information services and facilities management.
Mr. Stefanosky is a member of the Institute of Supply Management and maintains both Certified Purchasing Manager and Certified Professional in Supply Management designations. Mr. Stefanosky has published numerous procurement related articles. Mr. Stefanosky joined Independence Blue Cross in 2002. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Gannon University and a Master of Management and Business Administration from Penn State University.
Avis Yates Rivers
CEO,
Technology Concepts Group Intl (TCGi)
Let’s Collaborate on Fraud!: Addressing Real World Fraud Scenarios
Ray Swetnam
Director of Finance and Procurement,
Koch Business Solutions
Ray moved into the Sr. Manager Supplier Enablement role at Koch Global Services in May 2021. Under his leadership, the supplier enablement team has transformed into a fully leveraged capability supporting nearly all of Koch Industries Supplier onboarding and master data management. His team’s focus has been to deliver accurate and timely supplier information to the enterprise they support all while reducing fraudulent payment risk.
Before joining Koch Global Services, Ray was accounting manager at The LYCRA Company which was a divestiture of INVISTA™ (Koch Affiliate) where he implemented the purchase price allocation accounting efforts with a focus on fixed assets and inventory costing. Prior to exciting opportunity to lead the accounting efforts of The LYCRA Company Ray worked in many different roles at INVISTA™ mostly in the plant finance or product costing space. Throughout his tenure at INIVSTA™ he had the opportunity to lead the product costing and plant finance team through an ERP implementation. Ray is a graduate of the University of Central Missouri.
Ken Reatherford
Director of Finance Global Operations,
AT&T
With 32 years of finance experience at AT&T, Ken Reatherford has had a very fulfilling career and is proud to call AT&T ‘family.’ As the Director of Accounts Payable, Global Operations, he leads several teams responsible for all aspects of paying AT&T suppliers and employee expenses, which combined process over 22M invoices worth $120B and issue over 18M payments to suppliers and employees. Prior to being the Director of Operations, Ken’s previous roles included Project Management, Mergers and Acquisitions, Financial System Support and Operational Support all in lead positions.
He was born, raised and currently resides in the Midwest region of the US. He spends his free time with his rescued Bullmastiff, working in his yard and on home projects, spending time with family and traveling both abroad and within the US.
Contract Compliance: Case Studies in Getting What Was Agreed Upon
Walk through examples of real contract compliance recoveries to learn which types of supplier agreements are ripe for an audit.
Phil Beane
COO & EVP, Global Transaction Compliance Solutions,
apexanalytix
Marlon Azada
Senior Contract Compliance Auditor,
apexanalytix
How and Why UPS Brought Shared Services Back In-House
Learn how UPS went from a small finance team to 1,200 employees across finance, procurement and customer service in Medellin, Colombia.
Tim Pidgeon
Controller Coordinator, GBS Finance,
UPS Global Business Services
Tim is the Controller Coordinator of UPS Global Business Services for the Americas. In his role, he is responsible for all GBS Finance activity in the Americas, encompassing operations in Columbus, OH, Dallas TX, Mahwah NJ, Mexico City and 2 operations in Medellin Colombia.
Tim has been with UPS for over 39 years with leadership positions in all areas of Finance & Accounting, Financial Systems and UPS Domestic and International Operations. Tim holds degrees in both Accounting and Finance from Bentley University, Project Management certification from Boston University and Executive Continuing Education certification from Emery University. He is also on the Board and Past President of the Atlanta Community Toolbank, a non-profit located in Atlanta GA.
International Operations. Tim holds degrees in both Accounting and Finance from Bentley University and Project Management certification from Boston University.
Sergio Rodriguez
Senior FDI Economic Development Executive,
PROCOLOMBIA
Monday, October 24, 2022 / 2:50 PM - 3:50 PM PST
Breakout Sessions - Round 2
7 Categories of Supplier Risk and How to Manage Them
Your future competitive advantage will depend on resiliency during disruption. Learn how to integrate risk management into every stage of the supplier life cycle so you can make decisions before your supply chain is severely impacted.
Joni Geurts
Director of AP & Fraud,
JetBlue Airways
In her 20 years at JetBlue, Joni has had a long list of positions – working in reservations, customer commitment, legal, vacation packaging, and her current position in Finance. Joni received a B.S. from the University of Utah – after spending three years at the University of Kansas, where she studied Pre-Law and claims alum status!
The knowledge and experience she gained from working in all areas of the airline was a huge bonus when she transitioned to the Finance department from Marketing. “I knew that from my variety of experience in the airline I had a huge advantage because I knew who to ask for just about anything.” Although Joni had no prior finance background, she had the management skills that were needed to turn the department around – and after eleven years of Joni’s efforts in AP, the department has automated 95% of all payments, captured more than $3.5 million annually in discounts, and improved the DPO from 17 days to 40 days. Additionally, with 25% corporate growth in the last seven years, the headcount in AP has remained flat. When she is not working, Joni enjoys spending time with her husband, four children and two grandchildren in Salt Lake City.
Danny Thompson
SVP, Market & Product Strategy,
apexanalytix
Danny Thompson is VP of Market and Product Strategy at apexanalytix and is responsible for defining, communicating and leading our company’s software product strategy and roadmap. He works closely with our customers to ensure that each solution helps them meet their business objectives. Danny has a proven track record in the procure-to-pay arena, with a strong background in ERP implementation, process automation and financial shared services. He previously was VP of Product Management at Tungsten Network, a global business-to-business e-invoicing firm. He also is a former global process driver for invoice-to-pay at Pfizer. Danny earned his B.A. from Harding University.
Market Conditions Have Changed: How to Increase Overpayments Recovered by 23% a Year
COVID, price increases and labor shortages have all combined to fundamentally change the supply chain. Learn how AP can identify issues stemming from outside AP faster and protect the company from hidden money.
Pete Erdner
VP of Commercial Operations,
apexanalytix
Chip Reid
VP of Global Audit Sales,
apexanalytix
Deploying P2P Technology on Your Own Timeline
Have zero or minimal P2P technology? Learn how to assess which technology to leverage, how to effectively deploy on a global scale and make updates as your business operations changes.
Michael Wang
Procurement Professional in the Gaming Industry
Akhilesh Agarwal
COO & EVP, Global Procure to Pay Solutions & Applied Technology,
apexanalytix
Akhilesh leads the development of new client-focused software innovations, guided by the regular trend analyses he conducts to ensure that FirstStrike delivers real-world efficiency and productivity benefits. He also oversees test planning and reviews, risk mitigation and the delivery of seamless technical support to large global clients across country borders.
Akhilesh has almost 20 years of experience with product design and execution in accounts payable, accounts receivable and related areas. In addition to driving research and development, he also brings his technology expertise to improve and enhance the operational effectiveness and efficiency of apexanalytix audit solutions.
Before joining the APEX Analytix team, Akhilesh was vice president of technology for iQor, a provider of intelligent customer interaction solutions. He earned a reputation there for consistently delivering on high-visibility, high-performance projects. He also is a former associate director of software development for Receivable Management Services and a former project manager for Aditya International.
In a Hybrid World, How Do We Attract and Grow Talent?
Centrally-led and virtually staffed, organizations are achieving higher levels of talent at a lower cost. What is your experience with the evolution of talent in your company?
Gerard Cardillo
Vice President Global Procurement,
Charles River Labs
Gerard is the Executive Director, Category Procurement for Charles River Laboratories, the world’s largest pre-human clinical trial organization. Previously he spent nine years at Astra Zeneca, his latest role there was Senior Director, Global Lead of Facilities and Laboratory Procurement. Gerard has 30 years global Supply Chain experience with almost 25 years in Procurement. In his various leadership roles at AstraZeneca, Gerard led Global R&D Procurement, managed up to $1B in annual spend, designed and implemented Procurement’s support model to optimize broader value for the organization and developed the relevant policies and procedures to maximize compliance.
Monday, October 24, 2022 / 4:10 PM - 4:45 PM PST
Danny Thompson
SVP, Market & Product Strategy,
apexanalytix
Danny Thompson is VP of Market and Product Strategy at apexanalytix and is responsible for defining, communicating and leading our company’s software product strategy and roadmap. He works closely with our customers to ensure that each solution helps them meet their business objectives. Danny has a proven track record in the procure-to-pay arena, with a strong background in ERP implementation, process automation and financial shared services. He previously was VP of Product Management at Tungsten Network, a global business-to-business e-invoicing firm. He also is a former global process driver for invoice-to-pay at Pfizer. Danny earned his B.A. from Harding University.
Day 3: Conference Programming and Give Back / Tuesday, October 25, 2022
Tuesday, October 25, 2022 / 10:15 AM - 11:05 AM PST
Breakout Sessions - Round 3
Compliance Monitoring: ESG, Insurance and Reputation Risk
Monitoring is better done through automation. Learn how to make thoughtful decisions with all the data you need about your suppliers, and your supplier’s suppliers.
Danny Thompson
SVP, Market & Product Strategy,
apexanalytix
Danny Thompson is VP of Market and Product Strategy at apexanalytix and is responsible for defining, communicating and leading our company’s software product strategy and roadmap. He works closely with our customers to ensure that each solution helps them meet their business objectives. Danny has a proven track record in the procure-to-pay arena, with a strong background in ERP implementation, process automation and financial shared services. He previously was VP of Product Management at Tungsten Network, a global business-to-business e-invoicing firm. He also is a former global process driver for invoice-to-pay at Pfizer. Danny earned his B.A. from Harding University.
Early Payments Roundtable: What Is Everybody Doing in These Changing Financial Conditions?
Interest rates, gas prices, labor shortages... how are they impacting your early payment program?
Amy Platis
Director of Finance, APM,
Northwestern Medicine
Amy joined Northwestern Memorial Healthcare in March of 2016. As a member of the Finance Division, Amy is responsible for the direct oversight of all accounts payable cash disbursements, controls, taxes, employee expense reimbursement, corporate card program and compliance. She is also responsible for managing the vendor master file, screening all suppliers to ensure HIPAA compliance and proper 1099 reporting. Amy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration and HR from Purdue University.
