What To Expect at Arkestro Optimal ’26: Speakers, Workshops, Breakouts, and More
AI is changing what procurement and supply chain teams can accomplish, but the bigger question is how that intelligence gets applied to the decisions that affect enterprise performance.
That’s the focus of Arkestro Optimal ’26, happening October 13th-15th in Houston. This year’s theme, Unlock the Predictive Advantage, will explore how organizations are using Predictive Procurement to expand their reach across enterprise spend and deliver measurable results faster.
Over three days, attendees will hear directly from leaders putting these approaches to work through keynotes, breakout sessions, workshops, and customer stories. The agenda is focused on what teams are doing now, what they’re learning as they scale, and where AI is creating new opportunities across procurement and supply chain.
Meet the Leaders Behind What’s Next in Procurement
Want to hear how leaders are putting predictive procurement to work? Optimal ’26 brings together voices from across procurement, supply chain, and business, with perspectives ranging from enterprise adoption to the priorities shaping executive decisions.
A few of our featured speakers include:
- Mark Kaczynski, CFO & SVP, Information Technology, Nissan Americas
- Michael Raphael, Chief Procurement Officer, JLL
- Chris McQuire, Supply Chain Director, ONEOK
- Joshua Flowers, Senior Manager, SCM IT Category Management, Chevron
- Christopher Foster, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, CenterPoint Energy
You’ll also hear from Arkestro’s Co-Founders Ron Desantis and Edmund Zagorin, and other members of the Arkestro team. Together, these procurement professionals offer a firsthand look at how the market is evolving and how organizations are finding new opportunities to create value.
See the full lineup of speakers here.
Build Your Optimal ’26 Experience Around Your Priorities
Not every procurement team is trying to solve the same problem, and Optimal ’26 gives attendees a way to focus on the challenges that matter most to their organizations. The breakout program is organized around four tracks, each reflecting a different stage or priority in the pursuit of greater commercial value.
- Tangible: See how procurement teams can turn predictive procurement into measurable savings while getting results sooner.
- Scalable: Explore ways to expand procurement’s capacity and productivity without adding to the workload.
- Transformational: Consider how predictive approaches can reduce cycle times and change how work gets done.
- Long-term: Discover strategies for sustaining value and protecting commercial outcomes across the supply base over time.
With three waves of breakout sessions, attendees can shape their conference experience around the areas where they have the most to accomplish. The result is a breakout program that lets each attendee spend more of their time exploring the priorities that are most important to them.
Explore the breakout tracks.
Go Deeper in Breakout Sessions
This year’s breakout sessions will move beyond broad AI discussions to focus on the issues procurement and supply chain teams are working through now. Across three waves of sessions, attendees will hear how organizations are applying Predictive Procurement, expanding the spend they can influence, and finding new ways to create value across the business.
Topics will span everything from emerging AI use cases and changing supplier dynamics to new approaches for managing complex categories and enterprise spend. The sessions are designed to give attendees a closer look at how procurement is evolving and what teams can learn from organizations already putting these ideas to work.
Learn more about the sessions here.
Get Hands-On With Specialized Training and Workshops
Why wait for the mainstage to begin? Start building practical skills before the first keynote with hands-on workshops designed to help you put new ideas to work. These training sessions give you an early opportunity to gain useful knowledge and explore the topics that matter to your role and your organization.
Arkestro Advanced Certification: Design at Scale: Take a deeper dive into global procurement, sourcing, and portfolio governance while learning how predictive technology can accelerate work at scale (for customers only).
Arkestro 101: Fundamentals of Predictive Procurement: Go inside the Arkestro platform and discover how predictive workflows turn a blank screen into a fully built sourcing event.
GAP Partner Negotiation Workshop: Building Commercial Resilience: Explore a more strategic approach to negotiation and learn how organizations can build resilience before volatility reaches the negotiating table.
SIG Speak CFO Workshop: Reframe how procurement communicates its value to finance leaders. Work through a real organizational challenge and leave with a draft CFO pitch you can put to use within 30 days.
Click here for a full rundown of workshops.
See Where the Future of Procurement Is Headed
Predictive procurement isn’t standing still. At Optimal ’26, you’ll have a chance to look beyond what organizations are doing today and explore what’s next.
Rob DeSantis’ keynote, “Unlock the Predictive Advantage,” sets the stage with a look at the opportunities ahead. You’ll also see that thinking in action during the “Always on, Arkestro in Action” session, led by Arkestro product gurus Ben Leiken and Bob van Leeuwen. Customer sessions will add another perspective, showing how organizations can build on their predictive procurement capabilities as they scale.
Together, these sessions offer more than a look at what’s happening at Arkestro today. They provide a window into how procurement is evolving with AI and how Arkestro is thinking about the future and where predictive procurement could go next.
See You in Houston at Optimal ’26
Ready to see the Predictive Advantage in action? Join us in Houston October 13th-15th for Optimal ’26.
Beyond the sessions and workshops, there’s plenty of time to meet fellow procurement professionals. The Partner Pavilion gives you a place to mix and mingle, while receptions and dedicated networking time give you more opportunities to connect with other attendees.
The Predictive Advantage isn’t just something you’ll hear about at Optimal ’26. It’s something you can actively explore throughout the event and see how it comes to life.
We hope you’ll join us at Optimal ‘26 and see the Predictive Advantage for yourself, from strategy through execution.