Actionable Agenda

What does it take to build a future-ready operations network in one of the world’s most complex industries? Join Steffen Lang, President of Operations at Novartis, for a forward-looking conversation on how Novartis is reimagining its global operations — combining digital innovation, sustainability, and patient-centricity to create a resilient, intelligent, and purpose-driven supply chain. This session will explore how Novartis is not just preparing for the future of healthcare — it’s actively shaping it.

This keynote explores how Schneider Electric’s business strategy is deeply rooted in its supply chain strategy—driving sustainability, resilience, and innovation at scale. Ranking #1 in Gartner’s Top 25 Supply Chain for the third consecutive year and recognized as the World’s Most Sustainable Company by Corporate Knights and TIME, we believe this story will resonate strongly with TFEST’s audience of global supply chain leaders.

Procurement and supply chain leaders face unprecedented pressure to drive efficiency, mitigate risk, and unlock new value. Yet, a pervasive challenge persists: unreliable, unstructured data that impedes agility and visibility. This session will demonstrate how pioneering organizations are leveraging cutting-edge AI and Deep Learning to move beyond manual data clean-up, establishing a "Trusted Data Foundation" that underpins both hyper-efficient procurement and a truly resilient supply chain.

This session explores how leading companies are transforming from linear supply chains to complex, resilient ecosystems, driven by recent disruptions. The session will explore  the end-to-end supply chain, encompassing everything from raw materials to reverse logistics, and delve into supply chain orchestration – the art of synchronizing all elements for proactive, intelligent coordination.

Key to this is ecosystem design, ensuring a unified strategy across internal functions and external partners. We'll uncover core components like strategic planning, sourcing excellence, synchronized manufacturing, and optimized logistics, alongside crucial customer service and reverse logistics. 

An experience based discussion on how supply chain leaders need to adapt their
leadership to the extremely volatile environment we now operate in. This will explore the role of leaders in guiding their team through uncertainty, whilst performing, through real life transformational leadership. Not only is the environment we operate in changing continually, presenting new challenges where conventional leadership can struggle, the new generation of future leaders have a different frame
of reference for success. How do the current leaders adapt their style to meet this dual challenge in a consistent, human centric way.

Procurement can be a powerful catalyst for innovation. This session explores how procurement leaders can move beyond a transactional role to become strategic partners within their organizations.

You will learn how to:

• Drive Innovation: Proactively identify and source cutting-edge solutions by collaborating with suppliers and internal stakeholders.
• Optimize Costs: Implement advanced strategies to not only reduce costs but also to create long-term value.
• Foster Collaboration: Build strong, strategic relationships with suppliers and cross-functional leaders to accelerate product development and unlock new opportunities for growth.

In today's volatile, high-stakes business environment, the supply chain must do more than deliver products, it must deliver value. In this provocative and practical keynote, Maciej Kaniowski, the former Chief Operating Officer at Avon and one of the Top 20 Global Supply Chain Leaders, calls on organisations to activate a “game on” mindset: one rooted in ownership, urgency, and an unwavering focus on business outcomes. Maciej will share a real-world, leadership-driven approach to re framing the supply chain as a strategic powerhouse that directly influences enterprise metrics - top-line growth, EBITDA performance, working capital optimization, and customer retention. Drawing on his experience navigating complex transformations across corporate and private equity settings, he will demonstrate how high-performing teams, when built and led with purpose, can elevate supply chain operations from functional excellence to enterprise-wide influence.

This session delves into critical aspects of talent development, focusing on how emotional intelligence can transform supply chain capabilities. We will examine the direct link between investing in your workforce and achieving organizational resilience, encompassing enhanced line maintenance and productivity. A key theme will be exploring the essential human skills required for effective collaboration between humans and machines in the augmented intelligence era. Finally, leaders will gain actionable insights for cultivating emotionally intelligent, future-ready teams capable of navigating the evolving landscape of supply chains.