IN-PERSON MEETINGS TEMPLATE

How do you make confident innovation and investment decisions in supply chains when uncertainty, stakeholder misalignment and execution risk are often bigger constraints than technology itself?

Apr 29, 2026 8:30
—
17:30
BST
·
Central London, UK
Register interest
For senior practitioners only
How this meeting works
  • Practitioner-led working session
  • No pitches
  • Small-group, facilitated discussion
  • Works best when you can engage actively
  • Chatham House Rule
  • Limited places to preserve quality

Why this meeting exists

Supply chain leaders are under sustained pressure to modernise operations, improve resilience and unlock efficiency — often simultaneously, and usually with imperfect information.

In practice, progress is rarely blocked by a lack of ideas or technology. It is more often slowed by uncertainty about where to start, difficulty aligning stakeholders around priorities, and concern about committing capital without confidence that change will translate into real operational impact.

This meeting exists to create the conditions for better decisions. Not by presenting solutions, but by giving experienced practitioners the space to examine trade-offs, surface hidden constraints, and test thinking with peers facing similar pressures.

What you'll leave with

You will leave with clearer perspective on the decisions you are facing, greater confidence in the assumptions underpinning them, and a more grounded sense of which next steps are likely to create real momentum in your context.

Participants typically leave with:

– clearer framing of the problems that actually need solving
– a better sense of where to focus effort and where not to
– practical insights drawn from peers who have tried, failed, adjusted and learned
– increased confidence to align stakeholders around a coherent path forward

The aim is not consensus or a single “right answer”, but better judgement.

Plenary / panel themes

These whole-room sessions focus on the shared operating context — including common innovation blockers and enablers — that shape everyone’s decisions. Their purpose is to establish a common frame of reference, so that the roundtable discussions can focus on specific capability and decision areas with less ambiguity.

Confirmed

Innovation by Design: Operating Models for a More Volatile World

  • What’s really holding back innovation in operational settings — even in capable organisations — and why volatility changes the rules.
  • How leading supply chains define a clear ‘north star’ operating model without over-specifying solutions too early.
  • How enterprise organisations design operating models that enable safe experimentation, learning and scale — and what mid-market supply chains should borrow (and avoid).
  • How planning and data foundations can be future-proofed without assuming unlimited budget or rip-and-replace programmes.
  • How operators turn innovation into a repeatable capability — not a series of disconnected pilots — by sequencing ambition against business-case reality.
  • Real examples of how ‘start small, learn fast, scale deliberately’ plays out differently at enterprise scale versus mid-market supply chains.
LED by:
To be confirmed.

Data Orchestration without Boiling the Ocean

Potential

Decision-Led Data Foundations for Scalable Innovation:

  • From operating model to data model: how decision rights and ownership define what data actually needs orchestrating.
  • Why orchestration matters: connecting decision flows across planning, procurement, logistics, manufacturing and service.
  • Avoiding the “boil the ocean” trap: prioritising a few high-value decision flows that deliver fast ROI.
  • From integration to orchestration: moving beyond brittle point-to-point interfaces to modular, adaptable patterns.
  • Minimum viable data foundation: what to build first, what to delay, and what is commonly over-engineered.
  • Sequencing for mid-market reality: progressing from cleaning to predicting without multi-year transformation programmes.
  • Managing ownership and complexity: balancing central strategy with local autonomy across IT and operations.
  • Measuring progress: tracking decision impact in year one, not waiting for architectural perfection.
LED by:
To be confirmed.

Digital Fluency as a Supply Chain Leadership Skill

Potential

Becoming a smarter buyer, not just a faster mover:

  • Understand the digital concepts and modular trade-offs leaders need to navigate.
  • Discover how digital fluency empowers better decisions around build vs buy vs partner.
  • Learn how to embed experimentation, learning and metrics into day-to-day operations without losing control.
LED by:
To be confirmed.

Workshop: Planning Transformation in Practice

Confirmed

A practical, peer-led walkthrough of the upstream decisions that determine whether planning transformations succeed or stall before tools, vendors or programmes are locked in:

  • Framing the right planning problem before solutions, tools or vendors enter the conversation.
  • Separating root causes from symptoms when planning performance breaks down.
  • Assessing organisational readiness across data, process, governance and trust.
  • Sequencing ambition, stakeholders and investment to prepare for change.Making confident build vs buy vs partner vs wait decisions.
  • Understanding where pilots and agile approaches genuinely reduce risk — and where they create false confidence.
  • Structuring governance to enable fast learning without losing operational control.
  • Translating insight into a credible, investable planning roadmap.

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LED by:
To be confirmed.

Capital-Efficient Innovation

Confirmed

With supply chain CFOs, transformation leaders and innovators. Making the numbers work while keeping ambition intact:

  • CAPEX vs OPEX trade-offs in modular programmes
  • Unlocking value from existing IP and data sets
  • Prioritising under resource constraints
  • Building robust business cases for change that reinforces & delivers corporate strategy
LED by:
To be confirmed.

Roundtable discussions

Roundtable discussions run in parallel for 60 minutes at set points during the day (09.50, 12.00 and 14.20), following whole-room sessions that establish shared context. Each roundtable focuses on a specific decision area or challenge and is facilitated to support practical, peer-level exchange rather than passive presentations.

The themes below reflect areas currently being explored based on participant interest and ongoing discussions. Final roundtable topics are confirmed as discussion hosts and participant interest become clearer.

*indicates that this theme is currently under consideration

*

Network design for resilience & agility

  • Map critical nodes and vulnerabilities, then expand into multi-scenario simulations that balance cost, service, and sustainability.
  • Build modular digital twins that plug into existing planning systems and evolve into adaptive, continuously optimised networks.
  • Reinforce resilience through selective redesigns that deliver measurable savings and fund further agility.
Hosted by:
Jane
 
Smith
,
Head Honcho
Independent / Unaffiliated
Mark
 
Taylor
,
Supply Chain Director
Independent / Unaffiliated
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
*

AI's impact on integrated planning

  • Introduce targeted AI use cases—forecasting or exception detection—before extending automation across functions.
  • Connect AI models through open APIs, enabling planners, suppliers, and finance to share common insight layers.
  • Mature into a self-optimising, AI-orchestrated planning ecosystem where autonomous agents continuously balance demand, cost, and risk.
Hosted by:
Jim
 
Random
,
VP
Independent / Unaffiliated
CO-Hosted by:
Jane
 
Smith
,
Head Honcho
Independent / Unaffiliated
*

Network design for resilience & agility

  • Map critical nodes and vulnerabilities, then expand into multi-scenario simulations that balance cost, service, and sustainability.
  • Build modular digital twins that plug into existing planning systems and evolve into adaptive, continuously optimised networks.
  • Reinforce resilience through selective redesigns that deliver measurable savings and fund further agility.
Hosted by:
To be confirmed.
CO-Hosted by:
To be confirmed.

Focused 1:1 conversations

Alongside group discussions, each in-person meeting includes time for structured 1-to-1 conversations. These are not open networking slots or random introductions.

Ahead of the meeting, participants share a short context profile covering the decisions they are currently working through, their operating environment, and where they are seeking clarity. This allows us to suggest 1-to-1 conversations between participants who are grappling with similar questions, even if their organisations or industries differ.

The aim of these conversations is to go deeper than is possible in group sessions — comparing how decisions are being framed, what trade-offs are being considered, and what has or hasn’t worked in practice.

Best Practice Leaders

Our session leaders are selected for their direct experience of tackling the challenges addressed in this meeting. They participate fully as peers in the room and remain engaged throughout the discussions, sharing practical experience and lessons learned from real decisions.

Keynotes, Panellists & Invited Experts

Confirmed
Jim
 
Random
 
VP
Independent / Unaffiliated
Tentative
Mark
 
Taylor
 
Supply Chain Director
Independent / Unaffiliated

Discussion Hosts

Confirmed
Jane
 
Smith
 
Head Honcho
Independent / Unaffiliated
Tentative
Mark
 
Taylor
 
Supply Chain Director
Independent / Unaffiliated

Discussion Co-Hosts

Confirmed
Martha
 
Focker
 
COO
Independent / Unaffiliated

How the day works

The day is designed to balance shared context with focused peer discussion, with time built in for informal exchange and follow-up conversations.

Arrival & informal coffee

Settle in, meet other participants, and establish the context for the day.

Whole-room context setting

Shared discussion exploring the operating context, including common innovation blockers and enablers shaping current decisions.

Parallel roundtable discussions

Focused peer discussion around specific decision areas, with groups re-forming across the day to explore different perspectives.

Focused 1:1 exchanges

Time built in throughout the day to follow up conversations, explore overlaps, and connect around shared challenges.

Reflection and next steps

A closing discussion to surface insights, identify areas for follow-up, and explore how ideas move forward beyond the room.

Who this meeting is for

This meeting is designed for people working through real operational and innovation decisions, rather than those seeking presentations or general inspiration.

Who for

This meeting is for you if you are working through real operational or innovation decisions, are responsible for shaping outcomes, and value candid peer discussion over presentations.

This meeting is particularly relevant if your organisation is operating with limited transformation bandwidth, where innovation decisions must compete with day-to-day operational priorities, and where the cost of getting decisions wrong is high.

You may recognise this context if:

  • Transformation responsibility sits alongside operational roles rather than in a dedicated central team
  • There is limited internal capability bridging supply chain, IT, and data decision-making
  • Advanced analytics or data science capability is constrained or externalised
  • Major decisions involve multiple stakeholders, increasing delivery and trust risk

Who not for

This format may not be a good fit if your primary objective or organisational context looks very different:

  • You are primarily looking to pitch products or services
  • You are seeking a traditional conference with formal presentations
  • You are not in a position to engage openly with peers
  • You are attending mainly to gather leads or contacts

This meeting may also be less useful if:

  • You are looking for a ready-made solution rather than working through a decision
  • Your organisation has extensive internal transformation, data, or innovation capability and you are primarily seeking implementation support rather than peer sense-making
  • You are attending mainly to validate an already-decided course of action rather than to test and refine thinking

What happens next

Participation is confirmed through a short, staged process designed to ensure a good fit and a productive discussion for everyone in the room.

Step 1: Register interest

Start by registering your interest. This includes a short set of questions to help us understand your role, current priorities, and areas of interest. This helps us ensure the discussion remains relevant and peer-level.

Step 2: Confirming fit

We review each request to confirm that the meeting is a good fit, based on role, context, and the focus of the discussion. If it is, we’ll confirm your place by email.

Step 3: Shaping the discussion

In advance of the meeting, we may invite you to indicate which discussion areas are most relevant to you and to share any specific questions or challenges you’d like to explore. This helps us finalise the agenda and prepare the sessions so they reflect what participants are actually working through.

Step 4: Final confirmation and preparation

Once the agenda is confirmed, we’ll ask you to reconfirm your participation by selecting your roundtable preferences and providing a little more context. This step helps us balance the groups and ensure the discussions are as useful as possible.

Step 5: Your personalised agenda

Ahead of the day, you’ll receive a personalised agenda showing which roundtables you’ll be joining and suggested one-to-one conversations, along with visibility of who else will be attending.

At each stage, we aim to keep the process lightweight and transparent, while protecting the quality of the discussion for everyone involved.

‍

Register interest
For senior practitioners only

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