Meet The Speakers

Eli Manning is a two-time Super Bowl champion and two-time Super Bowl MVP who spent his entire 16-year NFL career with the New York Giants.

One of the most accomplished quarterbacks of his generation, Manning led the Giants to Super Bowl victories over the New England Patriots in 2008 and 2012. He was selected to four Pro Bowls, holds numerous Giants franchise records and was inducted into the New York Giants Ring of Honor following his retirement in 2020.

A graduate of the University of Mississippi, Manning was the first overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft and remains one of the most respected leaders in professional sports. He rejoined the Giants in 2021 in an off-field role supporting business development, marketing, fan engagement and community relations.

Manning is also recognized for his philanthropic work and was co-recipient of the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award. Today, he hosts ESPN's "Monday Night Football With Peyton and Eli" and "Eli's Places," while also pursuing a range of business and investment ventures.

Manning and his family reside in New Jersey.

Nikki R. Haley served as the 116th Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.

Elected governor in 2010 at age 38, Haley was the youngest governor in the country and the first female governor in South Carolina history. During her tenure, South Carolina cut taxes, strengthened reserves, attracted more than $20 billion in new investment and became one of the nation's fastest-growing economies. In 2016, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

President Donald Trump appointed Haley as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, where she served as a member of the president's Cabinet and National Security Council. At the UN, she championed reform, defended U.S. interests and promoted human rights. Forbes named her one of the world's 100 most powerful women.

In 2024, Haley ran for president, becoming the first Republican woman to win a presidential primary. She currently serves as the Walter P. Stern Chair at the Hudson Institute and on the Board of Trustees at Clemson University. Haley is a two-time New York Times best-selling author and lives in South Carolina with her husband, Maj. Michael Haley.

Alex Gorsky is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson. He began his Johnson & Johnson career as a sales representative in 1988, advancing through positions of increasing responsibility across business units, geographies and divisions. In 2012, he became the seventh leader to serve in the dual role of chairman and CEO. He became executive chairman at the end of 2021 and held the role until his retirement in January 2023.

As part of the company's commitment to serving more than a billion people each day, Alex oversaw significant breakthroughs in their pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer portfolios. Additionally, throughout Alex's tenure, Johnson & Johnson consistently earned recognition for its innovation, effective management and strong global reputation.

Through his work as a member of the executive committees of the Business Roundtable and the Business Council, Alex's influence has shaped both the healthcare landscape and the greater business community. He currently sits on the board of directors of Apple, IBM, JPMorgan Chase, the Cleveland Clinic and the Travis Manion Foundation, and serves on the Board of Advisors, Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

He also works with companies across the healthcare and technology landscape as a general partner with Iconiq Capital and as the co-founder of the Alderline Group. Alex completed his undergraduate education at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and earned his M.B.A. from Wharton in 1996.

The Honorable Valerie Jarrett is Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of The Obama Foundation where she is overseeing the creation of a new world class cultural and civic institution on Chicago’s south side, and the Foundation’s programs that inspire, empower, and connect people to change their world.

Ms. Jarrett is also a Senior Distinguished Fellow at The University of Chicago Law School, and the author of the New York Times bestselling book Finding My Voice: My Journey to the West Wing and the Path Forward, published in April 2019.

Jarrett is Board Chairman of Civic Nation and serves on the boards of Walgreens, Ralph Lauren Corporation, Ariel Investments, The University of Chicago, and the Sesame Street Workshop. Jarrett also serves on the Bank of America Enterprise Executive Development Council and the Microsoft Advisory Council.

Ms. Jarrett was the Senior Advisor to President Barack Obama from 2009-2017, making her the longest serving senior advisor to a president in history. She oversaw the Offices of Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs and Chaired the White House Council on Women and Girls.

Ms. Jarrett has a background in both the public and private sectors. She served as the Chief Executive Officer of The Habitat Company. During her tenure Habitat was the largest multi family housing developer and manager in Chicago. Prior to joining Habitat, Ms. Jarrett was the Commissioner of Planning and Development for the city of Chicago, and Deputy Chief of Staff for Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. She practiced law for ten years in the private and public sectors.

She previously served as the director of numerous corporate and not-for-profit boards, including leadership roles as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Stock Exchange, Chairman of the University of Chicago Medical Center Board of Trustees, Vice Chairman of the University of Chicago Board of Trustees, Chair of Chicago Transit Board, and Director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Ms. Jarrett has also received numerous awards and honorary degrees, including TIME’s 100 Most Influential People Award and Forbes 50 Over 50.

Jarrett received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1978 and her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1981.

Susan Caminiti is a writer and editor whose work covers a wide range of business and social topics, including corporate profiles, health care, work/life issues, governance, sustainability and personal finance. Her writing has appeared in Fortune, Time and Money magazines, as well as on NYSE’s Big Stage digital site and CNBC Digital. Susan is a former staff writer for Fortune, where she spent 13 years and helped develop the magazine’s award-winning coverage of the retail industry.

Meche Hernandez leads global strategic sourcing operations at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. She has more than 11 years of experience leading global supply chain strategy, sourcing and operations across six countries. A PMP-certified, data-driven leader, she is passionate about delivering results through people and process.

Ruxandra Frigea is a global transformation leader with nearly 20 years of experience across finance, commercial and shared services organizations. Throughout her career, she has led global organizations and large-scale business transformations across end-to-end source-to-pay, order-to-cash and supply chain, helping organizations simplify complexity, embrace innovation and deliver meaningful, sustainable business value.

Andrew Brennan is chief procurement officer at the University of Arizona, where he leads a university wide transformation of procurement and supply chain operations across a $900 million spend portfolio. Since arriving in 2025, he has built out the university’s sourcing and contracting organization; modernized procurement, payment services, travel and card programs, and logistics; and introduced AI-driven analytics to improve compliance, transparency and service delivery to campus stakeholders.

With more than 15 years of progressive experience in procurement and supply chain leadership across university and health care systems, including prior executive roles at E&I Cooperative Services and LSU, Andrew is a recognized voice on procurement transformation, ethical sourcing and building high-performing, mission-aligned supply chain teams.

Alexander Stenzel is procurement director at Mercedes-Benz, based in Stuttgart, Germany. He leads global indirect procurement across logistics, energy, marketing, professional services and the NAFTA region, managing annual spend of more than €13 billion and an international organization of more than 200 professionals. He is a member of the Mercedes-Benz Procurement Executive Board.

Throughout his career, Alex has held leadership roles spanning strategic sourcing, procurement performance management, controlling and business transformation. He has led efforts to advance procurement excellence, accelerate digital transformation and drive data-driven decision-making across Mercedes-Benz’s global indirect procurement organization.

At GEP INNOVATE, Alex will share insights from the strategic partnership between Mercedes-Benz and GEP. He will discuss how the two organizations collaborated to advance procurement transformation, scale digital capabilities and drive sustainable transformation across the indirect procurement landscape.

Sonali Bhavsar leads Data & AI at GEP, helping enterprises modernize their data foundations and scale AI-enabled transformation. She brings more than 20 years of experience in data, AI, and enterprise transformation across global organizations.

Michael DuVall is GEP's Global Head of Supply Chain Strategy, advising leading global companies on supply chain strategy and transformation. His work focuses on helping organizations translate technology, AI, and new operating models into scalable business performance.

James Larmer is a Vice President at GEP focused on AI, procurement, and supply chain transformation. Previously a senior leader at Bain & Company and founder of PwC's AI Lab, his work focuses on how organizations redesign strategy, operating models, and decision rights as intelligent systems move from recommendation to execution.

As vice president of consulting at GEP, Pranav has led several successful transformation engagements and helped enhance GEP’s services capabilities. He has worked across a diverse range of manufacturing environments, including pharma, oil and gas, and heavy industrials.

While his experience spans all of GEP’s industry verticals, Pranav is particularly passionate about supply chains in manufacturing. As part of GEP’s supply chain consulting leadership team, he supports business development, thought leadership, capability building and analyst relations.

Pranav holds an MBA with honors from the Indian School of Business and a degree in information technology from the University of Mumbai.

Magnus Bergfors is part of Gartner’s Sourcing and Procurement team within Supply Chain Research. He advises chief procurement officers and procurement technology leaders on digital transformation initiatives, including technology strategy across the source-to-pay landscape.

Magnus helps clients understand the market, evaluate vendors, prioritize investments, negotiate contracts and apply best practices across source-to-contract and procure-to-pay technologies, including spend analysis, supplier management, e-sourcing and contract life cycle management. He also advises clients on emerging technologies such as AI, orchestration and advanced analytics across sourcing and procurement.

Linas Polteraitis, chief supply chain officer at Terex, is a global supply chain leader with extensive experience transforming complex industrial supply chains to drive resilience, agility and sustainable growth.

At Terex, he oversees global supply chain strategy across a diverse manufacturing footprint. Linas brings a pragmatic, innovation-led perspective on how organizations can use digital technologies, data and AI to rethink supply chain performance and create competitive advantage.

Dr. Marsha Anderson is senior manager of the Sourcing Center of Excellence, where she leads initiatives focused on advancing sourcing capabilities, process excellence, supplier governance and third-party risk management.

With extensive experience in supply chain, strategic sourcing, process improvement and supplier management, Dr. Anderson is passionate about transforming how organizations identify, assess and manage supplier risk, moving beyond compliance to create a more proactive and resilient approach.

She holds a Doctor of Business Administration in supply chain and global operations and brings a strong focus on leveraging technology, data and innovation to strengthen procurement and supplier risk practices.

Quang Ho is senior manager of Supply Chain Management AI and Digital at Chevron, responsible for advancing AI, digital and data transformation across the global supply chain management organization. Drawing on extensive experience in procurement, contracts, category management and supply chain operations, he helps shape how emerging technologies are applied to drive business outcomes at scale.

He holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and has completed executive education through Stanford University.

Under Subhash’s leadership, GEP has become a leading provider of procurement and supply chain solutions to global enterprises and one of the fastest-growing firms in the industry. He founded GEP in New Jersey in 1999, and the firm now has approximately 7,000 employees in offices and operations centers around the world. Media outlets, industry analysts and technology research firms regularly recognize GEP as one of the most innovative companies in the procurement and supply chain software and services sector. GEP is guided by core values of customer-centricity and caring for its employees, with a strong focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and is proud to be recognized as a Great Place to Work® across its operations worldwide.

Subhash was named Entrepreneur of the Year by EY. As an active member of the World Economic Forum, he focuses on the intersection of digital innovation, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, sustainability, procurement and global supply chains. He is also a strong supporter of GEP’s corporate social responsibility initiatives in communities around the world. Subhash and his wife, Roopa, focus their philanthropy on child poverty, education and women-related issues. Before co-founding GEP, Subhash led strategy, supply chain, procurement and global outsourcing engagements at Accenture.

Subhash has a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering, an M.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Rhode Island, an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University Department of Chemical Technology in Mumbai and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he serves on the Council on Chicago Booth.

Roopa Gandhi is president and founder of GEP. She founded the company with a vision to build an organization that creates a positive, sustainable impact for employees, clients and communities.

Roopa is a passionate advocate for women’s education, advancement and opportunity, both within GEP and through her support of nonprofit organizations. She also champions a strong employee culture and leads initiatives focused on holistic growth and development.

As part of GEP’s broader corporate social responsibility efforts, Roopa serves on the board of Akshaya Patra USA, a nonprofit working to ensure children in India are not deprived of education because of hunger.

Roopa has spoken at global forums including the World Economic Forum and has been recognized by organizations including the Women Presidents Organization, EY, NJBiz and Supply & Demand Chain Executive. She also serves as a council member of the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

Roopa holds an MBA from the University of Chicago, an M.S. with highest honors in industrial pharmacy from Long Island University and a B.S. in pharmacy from Mumbai University.