Get to know our speakers:
Prof. Dr. Stephan Wagner
Chair of Logistics Management, ETH Zurich
Next to supporting start-ups and innovations in the procurement & supply chain area, Professor Wagner holds the Chair of Logistics Management and is Faculty Director of the HumOSCM Lab at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zurich). From 2008 to 2019 he was Director of the Executive MBA in Supply Chain Management (MBA ETH SCM). Prior he served on the faculty of WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Germany, and worked for 10 years as head of supply chain management for a Swiss-based technology group and as senior manager for an international top-management consulting firm. He obtained a MBA from Washington State University and a Ph.D. and Habilitation degree from the University of St. Gallen.
Karin Hagen-Gierer
Chief Procurement Officer, Sandoz
Karin Hagen-Gierer has joined Sandoz as their Chief Procurement Officer in 2023. Prior, she was active as Global CPO at Ardagh Group and served as CPO at Sanofi. Prior to joining Sanofi, Karin spent 24 years with Unilever in Switzerland, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Germany and held senior management positions in Finance and Procurement. She is passionate about driving digitale initiatives and embraces changes through leadership and technology.
Patrick Reiss
SVP Procurement Strategy & IT Systems, Deutsche Bahn
Patrick Reiß is responsible for Strategy & IT Systems as SVP in Procurement at Deutsche Bahn. Prior, he served as the Vice President of Global Spend Governance at DB Schenker, overseeing the international governance function of Procurement and Real Estate Management. Prior to his time at DB Schenker, Patrick Reiß worked in various industries and held different procurement roles, ranging from operational to strategic procurement in various commodity groups, as well as project procurement. In recent years, he has increasingly focused on international transformation projects, tool implementation, and cross-functional cost optimization initiatives. Regarding a forward-thinking procurement organization, he places a clear emphasis on the areas of people, data, and technology.
Vel Dhinagaravel
CEO & Founder, Beroe
As the CEO and President of Beroe Inc, Vel is the guiding hand behind Beroe ‘s transition from a start-up to a mature, global enterprise with more than 400 people .Beroe is the result of a study that Vel conducted in 2003 with the CPOs of fifty Fortune 1000 companies. Before founding Beroe, Vel had extensive procurement and supply chain consulting experience for over 30 Fortune 500 companies.
Passionate about procurement, travel, architecture and entrepreneurship, Vel‘s idol is Tom Enders, the CEO of Airbus. Vel is married and has two kids.
Drasko Jelavic
CEO & Founder, Cirtuo
Drasko Jelavic is the founder of Cirtuo. Drasko has played a significant role in the digital transformation of the procurement industry by dedicating thousands of hours to researching and developing Cirtuo Guided Strategy Creation™. As a result, Cirtuo’s AI-powered solutions identify hidden savings, mitigate supply risks, and quickly guide category managers through category analysis. Led by Drasko and his team, Cirtuo remains a trusted solution adopted by procurement professionals in 40+ countries worldwide
Lukas Wawrla
Co-founder, Archlet
Lukas is the co-founder and Managing Director of Archlet, the Swiss-based strategic sourcing software company. After studying Supply Chain Management at the renowned ETH in Zürich, Lukas was intrigued by the challenges posed by large amounts of data for modern Procurement teams. He now works relentlessly to provide customers with a seamless solution that empowers every Procurement pro to drive value for their organization.