Procurement predictions for 2021

Walter Charles, formerly Chief Procurement Officer at Biogen—and former CPO at Kraft, Kellogg’s, and J&J—has the unique perspective of serving on supply-chain leadership teams and leading procurement transformations across biotechnology, consumer packaged goods, pharmaceutical, and medical device businesses. Walter holds an MBA from Columbia University and an M.Eng. from Stevens Institute of Technology.

SVP of Strategy & Procurement at Fairmarkit. Former CPO & VP, Corporate Services at VSP Global (2013 to 2021). Prior CPO and VP S2S at salesforce.com (2008 to 2013) and Oracle Corporation (1998 to 2008). M.Sc. Management from Saint Mary’s College of California with professional credentials from SIG, NAPM and NCMA. 2018 Hall of Fame inductee into SIG. 2019 CPO of the Year, Ardent Partners.

Amy Fong advises enterprises on maximizing value from strategic provider relationships in outsourced services categories. Amy has more than 20 years of experience in industry, consulting, and advising with a focus on procurement, supply chain and organizational effectiveness. She has authored numerous publications and speaks frequently on source to pay process improvement and managing complex supply chain partnerships. Prior to joining Everest Group, she was a Senior Advisor and Program Leader with The Hackett Group’s Procurement Advisory Program. Previously she held various industry and consulting roles with Hewlett Packard, Sonoco Products Company, and Archstone Consulting.

With 20 years in Sourcing and Procurement, Rendi has extensive experience in building and restructuring Source-to-Pay and Travel and Expense programs. She has a depth of experience in simplifying processes and delivering value and innovation to the enterprise. She has a passion for networking which lead her to start the Silicon Valley Sourcing Leaders industry peer group. Rendi also serves on the Board of Directors of Milele Home, a non-profit organization helping street children in Kenya obtain education as well as rebuilding their lives and reconciling their families.

Kevin Frechette is the CEO and Co-Founder of Fairmarkit, the autonomous sourcing platform. Since starting Fairmarkit as a tail spend automation solution, he has met with and learned from thousands of supply chain and procurement executives to understand where technology can transform procurement. Kevin’s current focus is on exploring the possibilities for AI and automation across procurement and supply chain processes, most recently Generative AI. He notably has led Fairmarkit to being ranked 159th fastest growing company in America by Inc5000. Most importantly, he’s a girl dad to two “spirited” daughters and just expanded the family welcoming his son Grady :)