GEP INNOVATE 2025 - SPEAKERS

Fareed Zakaria hosts Fareed Zakaria GPS for CNN Worldwide. He is a columnist for The Washington Post and a bestselling author.

Fareed Zakaria GPS is a weekly international and domestic affairs program that airs around the world on CNN. Since its debut in 2008, it has featured interviews with Barack Obama, Emmanuel Macron, Narendra Modi, Vladimir Putin, Benjamin Netanyahu, Condoleezza Rice, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Greta Thunberg, and the Dalai Lama, among others.

Dr. Michio Kaku is one of the world's most recognized physicists and futurists and the New York Times bestselling author of “Quantum Supremacy.” As science correspondent for CBS This Morning and host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Science Fantastic," he reaches millions through his insights on emerging technologies and their business implications. 

A Harvard physics graduate with a Ph.D. from UC Berkeley, Dr. Kaku holds the Henry Semat Chair in Theoretical Physics at City University of New York and is co-founder of string theory. As a regular keynote speaker at conferences, he is an expert at helping business leaders understand how scientific breakthroughs will reshape commerce, finance and supply chains in the coming decades.

Oscar Munoz, former CEO and Chairman of United Airlines, has led an accomplished career, spanning senior financial positions at Coca-Cola, Pepsico, AT&T, and US West. He also served as President and Chief Operating Officer of the North American rail-based transportation supplier CSX Corp. He is a board director at Salesforce, TelevisaUnivision, and Archer Aviation. He also serves as a Trustee of the University of Southern California, as well as the Brookings Institution, and he is an independent trustee for Fidelity and a CNBC contributor.

During his tenure as CEO, he presided over one of the most dramatic corporate turnarounds in airline history, ultimately achieving top-tier reliability, customer satisfaction and financial profitability. He is regarded by employees and customers for his focus on earning back trust for the airline through a unique leadership style characterized by empathy, transparency and authenticity. 

A first-generation college graduate with degrees from the University of Southern California and Pepperdine, he was twice honored by Hispanic Business Magazine as one of its ‘100 Most Influential Hispanics’, honoring his journey as an immigrant who is the first person of Hispanic heritage to run a U.S. airline. 

He is the author of the Wall Street Journal best-selling memoir, “Turnaround Time: Uniting an Airline and its Employees in the Friendly Skies.”

Under Subhash’s leadership, GEP has become a leading provider of supply chain solutions to global enterprises worldwide, as well as one of the fastest-growing firms in the industry. Subhash founded GEP in New Jersey in 1999, and the firm now has approximately 6,000 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 supply chain software and services sector. The firm is guided by core values of customer-centricity and caring for its employees, with an increasing focus on diversity, equity and inclusion. GEP is proud of its recognition 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 is focused on the intersection of digital innovation, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, and sustainability in procurement and global supply chains. He is a strong proponent of and contributor to GEP’s robust program of corporate social responsibility initiatives, undertaken in communities around the world. Subhash and his wife, Roopa, have focused their philanthropy on child poverty, education and women-related issues. Prior to 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 and an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from the University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT) in Mumbai. Subhash also holds an MBA from the Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago, where he also serves as a member of its advisory board, the Council on Chicago Booth.

Santosh is responsible for GEP's customer growth strategy across procurement and supply chain platforms. Previously, he led GEP's professional services organization, deploying GEP's platforms to clients globally and enabling value from ongoing customer success. 

He has 20 years of experience in driving digital transformation for global organizations, shaping strategy, and driving execution across cloud ecosystems, best-practice S2P processes, data management, platform deployment, change management, and ongoing digital innovation. 

Santosh holds an MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering.

Sopan Shah leads global procurement for IHG®, a leading global hospitality company with 19 hotel brands and over 6,300 hotels in 100+ countries. 

Under Mr. Shah’s leadership, the IHG® Global Procurement organization is dedicated to creating value for all stakeholders by being simpler, faster and better in all activities across the supply chain, working collaboratively with those who stay, work, and partner with IHG® to deliver breakthrough results. 

Mr. Shah has had a broad 20-year career in supply management with leadership roles at Nestlé, NBCUniversal, General Mills and Intel before joining IHG®.

As the Chief Nuclear Officer at Urenco USA (UUSA), Paul Lorskulsint oversees nuclear safety, industrial safety and security. His dedication to nuclear safety and innovation underscores his commitment to advancing sustainable energy solutions. 

At UUSA, he has held leadership roles across compliance, supply chain, logistics and operations. He has also played a pivotal role in securing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's approval to increase UUSA's uranium enrichment levels up to 10% U-235, a significant advancement for the U.S. civil nuclear industry. 

Mr. Lorskulsint previously worked at Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory, where he supervised operations of a submarine prototype to train U.S. Navy personnel. In addition, he has contributed to the development of future nuclear leaders by delivering sessions at the World Nuclear University's Summer Institute.

John Gordon oversees U.S. Steel’s raw material supply chains to leverage iron ore assets as a unique competitive advantage and generate real value. This includes increasing vertical integration with the company’s Mini Mill segment, optimizing metallics mix and expanding commercial opportunities within the metallics space. 

Before joining U.S. Steel, Mr. Gordon held leadership roles at companies including Johnson Matthey, a global leader in sustainable technologies, Clariant Mining Solutions and Freeport-McMoRan Inc. , where he focused on managing major capital projects, optimizing costs and processes, and overseeing supply chain plant maintenance and engineering.

Karim Jumma is a product management executive with more than 25 years of experience in procurement, supply chain, and logistics technology. As head of product management at GEP, he leads the strategy, development, and execution of innovative solutions that drive efficiency, resilience, and digital transformation for global enterprises. 

Before joining GEP, Karim played a pivotal role at E2open, where he led the expansion of its ocean logistics portfolio, overseeing a logistics network and integrating advanced transportation management systems. His expertise in product transformation, supply chain visibility, and data-driven decision-making also contributed to operational efficiencies and business growth at INTTRA and Wallenius Wilhelmsen, where he led digital innovation in ocean shipping and global logistics. 

Karim holds an MBA in strategy and finance from Columbia Business School and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mumbai University. Beyond his professional work, he is passionate about hiking, biking, and exploring nature.

Micky Keck is part of the team that advises application leaders on procurement and strategic sourcing applications. This includes helping define and identify technologies across the source-to-pay landscape and creating procurement technology strategy. Mr. Keck helps clients understand the market landscape, prioritize investments, evaluate vendors and determine best-fit, negotiate contracts, and deploy best practices across a variety of market segments including Source-to-Contract (S2C) (spend analysis, supplier management, e-sourcing, and contract life cycle management) and Procure-to-Pay technologies. He also assesses and advises clients on the use of emerging technologies, such as AI, RPA, and advanced analytics, across sourcing and procurement. Additionally, Mr. Keck has a special focus on AP Invoice Automation and Supplier Information Management. 

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