Protect your company’s reputation and revenue from the first time you engage with a supplier and throughout the supplier lifecycle.
By Topic
By Speaker
8:00 am | March 16, 2025
Icon attendees and their 21+ guest may choose one Sunday Welcome Activity during conference registration. Activities have limited spots so sign up before you miss out!
Start and end times vary for each event.
9:00 am | March 16, 2025
Come get your Icon badge and enjoy some treats between 9 AM – 4 PM.
6:00 pm | March 16, 2025
We’re excited to take over the Country Music Hall of Fame for a private VIP dinner experience. You will get to step inside the history of country music. All the instruments, costumes, rare photos, one-of-a-kind recordings, films and priceless artifacts of the people who shaped country music’s story.
6:00 pm | March 16, 2025
Join us for networking and dinner to kick off Icon 2025 from 6 PM – 9 PM!
8:30 am | March 17, 2025
Steve Yurko, CEO of apexanalytix, will open the conference welcoming the attendees and lay the foundation for exploring breakthrough best practices from industry leaders.
Icon is more than just a place to learn—it’s a space to connect. Build meaningful relationships with global peers through valuable networking opportunities in an inspiring environment. From thought leaders in procurement to financial shared services experts, you’ll engage with a community dedicated to driving value and excellence in your field. Solutions. Relationships. Value.
Welcome to Icon, where your next big idea will take shape!
8:45 am | March 17, 2025
Master of Ceremonies, Stephanie Atkin, will introduce Icon’s the inspiring agenda, highlight opportunities to connect with global finance, procurement, and shared services leaders, and set the tone for impactful networking.
9:00 am | March 17, 2025
Join Chris Sawchuk, Principal and Global Procurement Advisory Practice Leader at The Hackett Group, as he shares insights from the 2025 edition of The Hackett Group’s Procurement Agenda and Key Issues Study. This comprehensive study surveyed procurement leaders at global midsized and large enterprises in late 2024, gathering data on their strategic priorities and initiatives for the upcoming year.
In this informative webinar, Chris will delve into the key findings from the study, including:
9:30 am | March 17, 2025
Transforming compliance into a competitive edge can seem like a daunting task, but with the right strategies, it becomes a game-changer. This session is designed to guide Compliance Officers, IT Managers, Procurement Leaders, and Finance professionals through the intricacies of building and deploying a global Know Your Supplier (KYS) program.
Attendees will explore critical aspects of global compliance deployment, including overcoming challenges like managing multiple ERP systems, navigating regional nuances, and driving change management across diverse operations. Learn how to reduce cycle times—achieving a 70% improvement where 20% was the original goal—and mitigate risks through standardized, globally unified processes.
Featured topics will include:
The session will also discuss the future of supplier compliance, including third-party risk management, data accessibility, and emerging challenges such as data privacy laws in markets like China.
10:15 am | March 17, 2025
10:30 am | March 17, 2025
Join industry experts in a dynamic panel discussion exploring the rapidly evolving procure-to-pay (P2P) landscape. With technology driving transformation and global compliance shifts, the P2P process in 2025 is set to reach new heights of efficiency and innovation. This session will discuss emerging trends reshaping procurement, including the impact of global e-invoice mandates, the integration of generative AI into workflows, and the increasing importance of cross-departmental spend visibility. Attendees will gain actionable insights into how these advancements are redefining vendor relationships, strengthening fraud controls, and driving operational transparency.
Speakers to be announced.
11:15 am | March 17, 2025
The rapid evolution of AI is transforming how businesses evaluate and manage supplier risk. Join us for an in-depth session exploring how cutting-edge AI technology can streamline vendor risk assessments, saving time, enhancing accuracy, and improving compliance.
This session will showcase how AI-powered tools redefine traditional processes, allowing businesses to complete detailed assessments of high-risk and critical suppliers in mere minutes—reducing the time from hours to just 15–20 minutes.
Key takeaways include:
12:00 pm | March 17, 2025
1:00 pm | March 17, 2025
Start off the session with an overview of how a global sports apparel company recently transformed their shared services operations. Then, open up the discussion with the problems your team is facing, recent success and plans for 2025. Join a group of your peers for the candid conversations that can help your company solve problems.
1:00 pm | March 17, 2025
See how Supplier Management amplifies the faint signals of risk across a broad spectrum of risk categories: financial health, cyber risk, sustainability and more.
1:00 pm | March 17, 2025
ERPs aren’t perfect when it comes to overpayment controls. Major disruptions, like ERP migrations or eInvoicing deployment, happening in tandem with enterprise obstacles like poor vendor master data or invoice submission problems, leave organizations vulnerable to spikes in overpayments.
This session focuses on how to create AP processes that safeguard your organization from overpayments—from leveraging an audit to recover lost funds, to implementing technology that prevents creates greater control.
1:00 pm | March 17, 2025
Is your P2P team prepared for substantial growth? Join this session to learn about Highgate’s digital transformation journey as it expanded from 40 to 500 properties resulting in the management of thousands of new vendors.
2:20 pm | March 17, 2025
See how automated supplier onboarding and ongoing management looks from both a supplier and buyers perspective. Hint: it’s a better experience for both.
2:20 pm | March 17, 2025
Kickoff the discussion with the latest and greatest technology to prevent payment fraud. Then have a private group conversation with your peers on fraud impacting your operations. From the constant phishing attempts to the near misses, share what you are doing to prevent the next event and learn from your peers that are facing the same problems.
2:20 pm | March 17, 2025
Struggling to build a team of driven, adaptable, and skilled individuals? Join us for an insightful roundtable discussion tailored to professionals in finance, procurement, and shared services. This interactive session will explore proven strategies for attracting and retaining top-tier talent, with a focus on identifying and cultivating team members who embody the qualities of being hungry, humble, and smart.
Learn how to create a work environment that not only draws exceptional candidates but also keeps them engaged and motivated for the long term. Walk away with practical tips and fresh perspectives you can immediately apply to strengthen your workforce and foster a thriving company culture.
2:20 pm | March 17, 2025
Nashville, TN
The complexities of third-party relationships are growing as organizations face increasing regulatory demands alongside growing complexity in operational risk and resilience. Legacy, siloed processes can no longer keep pace with today’s dynamic environments, leaving organizations vulnerable to disruptions and penalties.
This session explores the shift toward integrated, holistic third-party risk management strategies supported by modern Third-Party GRC platforms. These solutions unify fragmented processes, provide real-time insights, and automate key tasks like due diligence, monitoring, and compliance tracking. By leveraging advanced capabilities such as risk intelligence integration and automation, organizations can streamline operations, meet regulatory expectations, and build resilient third-party ecosystems that align with broader ESG and organizational objectives.
Learning Objectives
8:30 am | March 18, 2025
Your suppliers’ cyber risk is now your problem. Learn how apexanalytix can assess cyber vulnerabilities and dark web threats to identify pathways to supply chain disruptions.
8:30 am | March 18, 2025
Mistakes like overpayments, duplicate payments, and payment errors can add up to cost companies billions each year. These mistakes happen for all kinds of reasons—from something as big as a complex software migration, to something as small as a mistyped extra zero on an invoice.
Preventing these payment mistakes from going out the door means that your money can be used to further your success. During this session, we will talk through how companies are leveraging apexanalytix overpayment prevention software to prevent mistakes…in the millions.
8:30 am | March 18, 2025
Join us for an engaging roundtable discussion focused on ensuring accuracy throughout the entire procure-to-pay (P2P) process. Designed for finance, procurement, and shared services professionals, this session will explore best practices and strategies to streamline operations, enhance data integrity, and mitigate risks from contract creation to purchase orders and final payments.
Gain insights into common challenges and how automation, clear workflows, and timely reconciliations can improve efficiency, reduce errors, and drive better financial outcomes for your organization. Come prepared to share your experiences and connect with peers navigating similar journeys.
8:30 am | March 18, 2025
In Q2 2025, apexanalytix will introduce the next step in managing a company’s risk with simple sophistication and actionable outcomes to critical business tasks. Join this session for a walk-through of apex’s newest offering
9:40 am | March 18, 2025
9:50 am | March 18, 2025
The panelists will share insights on best practices for streamlining P2P workflows, leveraging automation and digital tools to enhance efficiency, and driving cost savings without compromising supplier relationships. Key topics will include risk management strategies, fostering collaboration between procurement and accounts payable teams, and aligning P2P processes with broader organizational goals.
10:30 am | March 18, 2025
10:45 am | March 18, 2025
In the summer of 1993 Staff Sergeant Keni Thomas was deployed to Mogadishu Somalia with the 3rd Ranger Battalion as part of an elite special operations package called Task Force Ranger. Their mission was to find and capture a criminal warlord named Mohammed Farrah Aidid. On the 3rd of October, Keni and his fellow rangers distinguished themselves in an eighteen hour fire-fight that would later be recounted in the highly successful book and movie “Black Hawk Down”. Nineteen Americans gave their lives and 78 were wounded in the worst urban combat seen by US troops since WWII. A powerful speaker, Keni captivates audiences from beginning to end as he tells the incredible story of extraordinary individuals and how they fought to bring each other home.
Drawing from his experiences on the battlefield, Keni inspires people to achieve greatness by stressing the importance of outstanding leadership at every level, even if the only person you are leading is yourself. His message of “Train as You Fight, Fight as You train and Lead By Example” for epitomizes the Ranger motto “Rangers Lead the Way!” Keni sums it up like this, “Leadership has never been the rank, the position or the title you hold. It’s the example you set for the ones you serve. And we all serve somebody. There are people to your left and to your right who are counting on you and it’s up to you to deliver. But you will only be as good as you prepared yourself to be.”
After Mogadishu, Staff Sergeant Thomas volunteered for one more enlistment in the Army. He became an assistant team leader for a six-man ranger reconnaissance team. He earned his master parachutist rating with over 400 military free fall jumps. He completed the Special Forces Combat Diver course, became an Advanced EMT and was one of ten Americans to complete the Belgium Commando Course. Keni got out of the Army to pursue his music career and became an award-winning country music recording artist and songwriter in Nashville. He and his band Cornbread were featured in the movie “Sweet Home Alabama” and his music can be heard on country stations nationwide.
Keni continued to serve our troops with regular tours to Iraq and Afghanistan. Keni Thomas is a best selling author, an Emmy-winning producer and a regular guest on all the major news networks as a military analyst. Keni also got to be a military advisor for the Mel Gibson movie “We Were Soldiers”. He has been recognized by the President of the United States, by Congress and has been awarded the American Patriot Award for his dedicated work on behalf of our veterans and their families. Keni is most proud of his appointment as a national spokesman for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. They provide college educations to the children of our special operations personnel killed in combat or training. “Our special operations warriors are the tip of the spear. Their’s is a dangerous and high risk mission” says Thomas. “Because of that, their losses are disproportionately high when compared to the rest of our military. Taking care of their kids, is the least we can do. It’s what those dads would have wanted.” Keni is a graduate of the University of Florida and a recipient of the bronze star for valor.
11:45 am | March 18, 2025
12:00 pm | March 18, 2025
1:30 pm | March 18, 2025
1:30 pm | March 18, 2025
Join us in creating meal kits with Rise Against Hunger. This is a growing global movement to end hunger by nourishing lives, empowering communities, and responding to emergencies. Targeting remote, last-mile communities within hunger pockets designated “serious” or higher by the Global Hunger Index, this giveback will supply those in need with their own food and nutrition security as they overcome these challenges.